THEY HAD CALLED ON LAYTON'S RESIDENCE, but no one answered the door, and the purple Taurus registered to him wasn't in the driveway. Madison had blocked her number and tried his cell a few times, but it kept ringing to voice mail. Back at the station, they were exploring other avenues of finding him.
Terry fidgeted with a pen, snapping it against the top of the desk. "I think the guy's made a run for it."
"We know he doesn't handle rejection well." Madison kept the next thought to herself. Maybe Jeff knew Laura had moved on and got jealous and killed her over it.
"I tried contacting Southwest Welding Products' head office, but they closed a couple of hours ago. They're ahead of us by one."
Madison consulted the clock. It was six.
She shared her findings. "And all his background shows is a DUI charge back in '96. Nothing violent, no assaults—" Her cell rang. She answered. "Knight...okay...I'll be right there." She hung up. "I'm going to see Cyn for a sec."
"I'll come with you."
"No, I need you to stay here and keep digging. Find more about this guy, and see if you can find out anything online about this conference he's supposed to be attending. Call the local hotels, look for him."
*****
FOR ITS SIZE, Stiles was fortunate to warrant an onsite forensic lab. What had started as a test project by the government to cut expenses proved a success. Now they were blessed with full-time specialists in the areas of ballistics, DNA and fingerprint analysis, serology, and trace. Additionally, they were provided with the cutting-edge technology that enabled them to do the job.
Cynthia was standing by the fingerprint smoker when Madison opened the door. Her dark hair was tucked behind one ear, and her glasses perched on the tip of her nose. Maybe it was her cavalier approach to life that made her attractive to men?
Madison approached her. Or maybe it was the way her perfume smelled, sweet balanced with musky?
"I see you were able to ditch Terry."
"Did you have any doubt?"
She smiled. "Not really."
"You've got something for me?"
"I don't and that's the strange part. Not one print."
When Terry stepped outside from the crime scene to discipline the media, Madison convinced her friend the framed photo needed to be scrutinized. She knew if she stressed it in front of Terry, he would have given her a hard time about it. According to him, her thinking was too dependent on her feelings sometimes. The photo had seemed out of place, and now that they knew it wasn't Laura's confirmed boyfriend, it stood out more so. "Not one? How is that possible?"
"Smoked it and not even a partial."
"Whoever placed it there would have touched it." Madison scanned Cynthia's eyes.
"I don't know what else to say."
"No prints? So, excluding Laura's?"
"Nope. None, period."
Madison was silent for a while. "Someone would have to be extremely careful not to leave prints. Who does that..." Her words trailed off and took another direction, spilling out before she thought them through. "Maybe it was planted there?"
"Why?"
She didn't have the answer to that. "Am I the only one who finds one photo of the happy couple odd?"
"Maddy, we're friends, right?"
"Yes." What was she getting at? Was a speech coming about how she was losing her mind?
"I'm going to be honest with you. You've got to focus on the real evidence first. The house was pretty tidy. Maybe she used a cloth when she put the frame down?"
"Great, if I wanted a lecture on my gut feelings, I would have approached Terry about this." She matched eyes with Cynthia. "So you don't find it odd there are no fingerprints?"
"You think he's involved, the man from the photo?"
Madison hesitated to state it in those exact words, but when confronted with the direct question, she found it hard to keep quiet. "Don't you find it funny this man—" She pointed to the photo. "—who appears to love Laura, hasn't come forward yet?"
"She was just found today."
"It was on the news, and you'd think they'd be in regular contact."
"Okay, if we assume the guy in the photo knows something, where does that get us?"
She knew her friend was trying to appease her until she saw the flash in her eyes, a flicker that ignited the same line of thought in her. They had already checked the frame, but what about...
"The photo itself?" Both women said simultaneously.
*****
MADISON SAW TERRY WAS ON the website for Southwest Welding Products. She sat across from him.
"That took you long enough," he said, his eyes never leaving the screen.
"Did you find anything while I was gone?"
"There are two convention centers in the area. Both administration offices are closed, and their website doesn't advertise any events for Southwest." He looked over at her. "Did Cynthia tell you something about the case?"
"They're working on the evidence. She's got the entire team on it. What about the local hotels?"
"There are five of the main chains, your Holiday Inns, Ramadas, and so on, but there are probably about twenty mom-and-pops. We could be trying to chase down someone who's not in the city."
"But can we afford to trust the office manager's word that there's a conference?"
"I'm not sure why you wouldn't."
"She didn't give me a reason to."
Terry picked up the telephone receiver. "Great. Now I'm going to be stuck here all night."
"It goes with the territory when you're on a case."
"It's just not a good time." His eyes were already on the monitor.
"You going to talk to me about it?"
"Nope." Terry dialed a number.
Why did he expect her to open up to him and mull over her emotions about unsolved cases when he blocked her out? Part of her wondered if Annabelle was cheating on him. It would explain his foul mood, but not his constant urge to be with his wife. Terry seemed to be avoiding eye contact. She'd have to let it go for now.
She pulled up Layton's file to see if there were relatives in the area of the supposed business meeting. Maybe he was staying with them.
"Let's make a bet." Terry still held the phone to his ear.
"Excuse me?" So much for him not talking to her.
"A bet. I say we—" He paused and spoke into the phone. "I'll hold." Back to Madison, "I say we don't find Layton."
They did this with most cases. Maybe it was childish, maybe it wasn't appropriate. She wasn't sure how she felt about it, but she kept doing it. "Sure, I'll take your money."
Terry talked into the phone and hung up a few seconds later. "I'll start on the small hotels. You do the chains." He handed her a printout. "I just called Novistar Hotel."
She looked at the list. Maybe they should wait until they could reach the head office and confirm there was a conference. The only downside was, if Layton were running he could get farther away. But what choice did they have? "Maybe we should wait until morning." She noticed the glimmer of an early night in her partner's eyes. "Don't get excited, I'm not saying we can call it a day." She pulled out the case file. "Officer Walsh noted we might want to talk to a Mr. Hill. There are other avenues to investigate."
"You think the guy from the photo is involved." His statement seemed random, but she recalled how he tried to study her when she came back from seeing Cynthia.
She wasn't in the mood to deny his allegation, so she said nothing. She wasn't fixated on Photo Guy, but he presented questions that required answers.
Terry continued. "Why do you do this every single time? The obvious evidence is in front of you, but you dig for something. It could have been taken at any time. Years ago, even. It's probably nothing."
"Or it may be something. Why is it only me who thinks so?"
"So if you think it's him, why are we here trying to confirm Layton's agenda?"
"I'm not denying the possibility of his involvement."
"Why, because he's the obvious suspect?" He shook his head. "You think the answer's in a photo."
"Answer this then. If they were truly close, like the picture indicates, where is he and why doesn't anyone recognize him?"
"Laura kept him a secret? Doesn't mean he killed her. What this case needs is Layton. We find him, and I guarantee you we'll get some answers."
She nodded. It wasn't the time to confess about her conversation with Cynthia and the fact she was looking closer at the photo. Part of her was angry Terry thought he could tell her what to do.