Page 83 of Curvy Quirky Omega

“If we operate under the assumption that the killer didn’t take it, then where could it be?” I glared at the floor, wishing I could understand people as well as Frankie. “Gideon wouldn’t hide it somewhere he couldn’t easily get to, which is why I’m almost one hundred percent positive it’s somewhere in his office. Where he died.”

But obviously only if the killer didn’t take it.

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly, deciding to ignore that part for now, because it was too stressful and distracting.

We had the information from the firewall. We could do this the long way if we had to.

But if we found Gideon’s hiding place, we could potentially find more clues that would point us in the right direction even if the phone wasn’t there.

Frankie handed the phone back to me and I tapped the screen “Per the autopsy reports and the blood splatter analysis, it’s extremely likely that Gideon knew the person who killed him, which is why it’s so weird he’s lying face down like this.”

He could have turned away for whatever reason…because the conversation was supposed to be done or maybe to get something, I suppose it would make sense.

Or if the killer was already in the room with Gideon.

That was entirely possible.

Unfortunately, there weren’t many potential suspects who met all the requirements for the killer, which was why this was so frustrating.

Gideon had to have been familiar enough with them that they knew how to get into his office undetected and if they hadn’t surprised him, they had to be someone he didn’t consider a threat.

“The autopsy report states he fell to his knees first,” I explained. “From there he had to be pushed down because the first stab wound was through his wrist, as if they wanted him pinned to the floor, but there were no signs they tried to silence him other than the throat wound – no other evidence the killer tried to keep him from screaming like marks from a gag or tape.”

I flipped through the photos until I got to the ones from the autopsy and pointed out how pristine his skin looked around his mouth. “It’s plausible that it was raining too hard that night for either of you to hear him screaming, but there’s also the possibility he kept quiet of his own volition.”

“Why would he do that?” Liam asked. His tone was professional and polite, but he was definitely tense.

“The only reason I could think of is that he didn’t want anyone to find out who he was with,” Frankie told him. She shrugged one shoulder and eyed the door into Gideon’s office. “We have no idea where his wedding ring is so I assume this was very personal and could cause issues if it got out.”

“The pool of blood wasn’t disturbed though.” I went back to the crime scene photos and studied the pictures of blood, not seeing anything that would imply it was taken off after he died. “See, right here. If they pulled the ring off after stabbing him, it would have caused a bigger bubble around his hand when they dropped it back to the floor.”

“Which begs the question: why did he take it off beforehand?” Liam narrowed his eyes and I could feel his emotions start to shift back to anger. “I know he and Melinda were having problems, but neither she nor Dane know where it is.”

“The wedding ring could be completely unrelated to his death,” Frankie reminded him. “All we know is that it’s missing.”

“And so is the phone,” I muttered, clicking on the report from the coroner.

Nowhere was it mentioned that Gideon’s clothes appeared disheveled on arrival. We couldn’t be sure the killer hadn’t gone through his pockets for the phone after killing him, but it was unlikely from what I could tell.

And I didn’t think Gideon would leave it in his blazer pocket when he wasn’t wearing it.

“As of right now, the secret phone, the wedding ring, the money laundering, and the data being sent offsite from the Valor servers are seemingly unrelated, but I doubt it,” Frankie said. She uncrossed her arms and pushed off the wall. “So what do all of these pieces have in common with each other?”

No one had an answer for her.

“And that’s why I need Liam to show me exactly what Gideon does every time he enters his office, down to the tiniest details. Show me if there are any variations to this process and if so, why. Then Lucy will do her thing and I’ll ask her a series of questions that should help us find the hiding place, if nothing else. It’s been long enough, right?”

I nodded and Cas raised an eyebrow at that.

Suddenly, I felt very self-conscious.

We did this shit all the time if there were pieces that didn’t fit together and no obvious connections, but I’d never had anyone watch us whose opinions I actually cared about.

“Long enough for what?” Liam asked. He took the black latex gloves Frankie offered him and eyed me, waiting for some sort of explanation.

But how the fuck did I explain this?

CHAPTER 32

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