Page 33 of Lost Hours
“Then let’s give the house a good once-over to see where we go from here.” Mina moved around the blood pool to survey the room. “Pay particular attention to locating her phone and purse.”
“You could try calling her again,” Nolan said. “See if her phone rings here or even vibrates.”
Mina got out her phone and tapped the screen. “It’s ringing. Hear anything?”
“Nah, nothing. The phone’s likely with Becca.” He approached a small entryway table where someone might drop their belongings on the way into the house. “No purse on the table, but there’s a set of keys.”
Mina studied the table. “Could be a sign that she left involuntarily.”
“Or we could go with Occam’s razor and look for the simplest answer.”
She transferred her gaze to Nolan. “Which is what, in your opinion?”
“That she’s out of town, and her father was housesitting. Perhaps he surprised an armed burglar who thought the place was empty and was attempting to enter, and the burglar shot him.”
“That’s a plausible theory and one we need to pursue. Maybe the review of the property will answer our questions.” She continued on the same path they’d taken earlier.
He trailed her. “FYI, Sierra mentioned arriving by helicopter to save travel time and to move samples back to their lab faster. She said they would touch down around ten a.m. I told her they could land on the old airstrip on my property. It’s technically designated for helicopter use, or at least it once was, so it should meet Oregon law.”
He waited for her to argue about the airstrip not being current, but she really couldn’t protest. They’d used it for medivacs lately, and if she argued today, they wouldn’t be able to use it to save lives in the future.
“Let me know when they arrive,” she said. “And I can supply an unmarked vehicle or two for use.”
He gave her a tight smile for her easy agreement. “They’ve got that covered. Their assistants will leave early in the morning to drive their vans down here with all of their supplies and equipment.”
“Ah.” She sighed. “Assistant. I could use one of those.”
He hated to see her so stressed, but he suspected that’s how she was going to be until they concluded both of these investigations. “Sierra did say they would need six rooms reserved for the night, though they might not all stay over. All depends on how fast things go.”
“I’ll check with the hotel to see if they can handle it.”
“If not, the rooms we aren’t using at the inn still have beds in them, and we could work something out, though I’d hate to take the time to clean right now.”
She nodded. “It’s off-season, so the hotel should be fine.”
“Let me know if it isn’t.”
“Let’s finish our review of this place, get over to my office for the electronic sketch of Smythe, and call it a night. I can make that call to the hotel first thing in the morning, and we’ll meet at the mayor’s office at eight to interview his assistant.”
Her phone rang. She looked at the screen and frowned but answered. “Sheriff Park.”
She looked at her feet and paced. “So she hung up before you could triangulate the call, and we have no idea who the caller might be.”
What in the world was she talking about? Did it even relate to their investigations? He moved closer in hopes of picking up information, but all he heard was a muffled female voice.
“Right, yeah.” Mina blew out a frustrated breath. “Considering the murder and missing person investigation you were right to call me. Thanks for letting me know.”
She hung up and looked at Nolan. “That was the 911 dispatch supervisor. They had an unidentified female caller at 4:07 who ended the call within ten seconds and before they could get a location.”
Becca?Nolan’s heart skipped a beat. “What did she say?”
“‘He’s gone crazy. Has a gun.’” She shook her head. “That’s all. Nothing we could act on. Still, the dispatcher shouldn’t have kept the call to herself instead of notifying her supervisor. She’s already on probation, and this will be the end for her. I feel bad about it, but we have to make sure patrol is notified in the future of even an abbreviated call like this.”
“So you’re thinking this could’ve been Becca calling in her father’s murder, and she really was present to see it.”
“Could be. If so, she knows who the killer is. Finding her is already our number one priority in case she might still be alive, but this makes it even more important, if that’s possible.”
“What’s your decision on turning Becca’s investigation over to us?”
