Page 74 of The Last Close Call

“I don’t know.” She bit her lip. “Maybe a raccoon in the trash can or something? It was in the backyard. At least, I thought it was. Anyway, I put on my bathrobe and dried my hair with the hairdryer. That took about five minutes. I flipped my head down to dry the bottom, you know, like you do”—she looked at Heidi—“and then when I flipped back up, I saw him in the mirror.” She put her hand to her chest as her eyes filled with tears. “He was right there behind me with the ski mask,” she said softly.

Jack nodded. “What did you do, at that point?”

“I screamed. And he came up and hooked his arm around my neck and put his hand over my mouth and started dragging me backward, into the bedroom. I tried to fight him off and kick, but he was really strong and a lot bigger than me, and then he dragged me to the ground, and all the air went out of my lungs.”

“You mean, from the force of him putting you on the ground,” Bryan asked, “or from fear or—”

“The force of it,” she said. “He, like, slammed me to the floor on my back, and it knocked the wind out of me.” She paused. “And then I was fighting, trying to push him off me, and then he put a knife against my neck and told me not to scream. He said, ‘Don’t scream, Maura, or I’ll have to cut you.’ ”

Bryan glanced at Jack.

“He said your name,” Jack stated.

She closed her eyes and nodded.

Quiet settled over the room. All three detectives stared at her, waiting, and she kept her eyes shut tight.

She took a deep breath and opened her eyes. “And then he put the knife in his teeth, and he started choking me. And I was thinking, I’m going to die, oh my God, I’m going to die. And then suddenly he was gone.”

“Gone?” Bryan asked.

“All of a sudden, he just jumped up and ran out, and I was on the floor gasping and coughing. Then I heard noises in the kitchen and realized that Jason was home.”

“Did your husband confront him?” Bryan asked.

“He didn’t even see him. He must have got out the back or something, because Jason walked into the bedroom and found me there on the floor.”

Someone coughed, and everyone turned around.

A crime scene tech in a white Tyvek suit stood in the doorway. “Pardon me.” He looked apologetic. “Detective Rollins, we’re about to head outside now.”

Heidi gave a brisk nod. “Fine.”

Jack caught Bryan’s eye and gestured toward his notepad. Bryan nodded.

“Excuse me one moment.” Jack stood up. “I’ll be back.”

***

The reason Maura Mooney’s neighborhood looked familiar was because it was.

Jack stepped through the gate at the end of the cul-de-sac and followed a narrow trail down an incline into the woods. Like Amber Novak’s neighborhood and Shana Klein’s and all the others, this one backed up to a wooded area, and the victim’s house was directly adjacent to a ravine.

“There’s a second access point right next door to the house,” the CSI told him.

“Any shoeprints?”

“Yeah, plenty. It leads to a hike-and-bike trail, so it’s pretty heavily trafficked.”

No usable impressions, then.

The CSI swatted at branches as they made their way through the brush.

“Here,” he said, pointing his flashlight to the ground as they emerged onto a gravel trail. “This parallels the west side of the neighborhood and connects with a park near the entrance.”

“Sunny Hill Park?” Jack had seen it on the way in.

“Yeah.”

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