Page 51 of Forged in Steele

“Let’s get through the updates,” Adair said. “Then you two can head off to meet with Holloway.” Adair shifted his attention to Detective Hale. “You’re up next.”

Piper dropped into a chair with a contentedoomphand picked up one of Gran’s scones. She bit into it and groaned then covered her mouth as if embarrassed. Bristol really liked Piper. She was direct and sharp, but also kind and supportive.

Hale took the spot in front of the boards in quick, short strides and clicked a remote to project a map of the area on the screen. “We’ve located two eyewitnesses who saw the woman captured in the video, but they couldn’t give us any additional physical details. Their statements place her on foot near these crossroads.”

He tapped the map in two locations showing the suspect moving at the east end of the hospital’s property. “I have officers hunting down security video from businesses in the area. We haven’t located any footage of the woman at this point.”

“What about calls to the tip line?” Adair asked.

Hale ran a hand over his shiny bald head. “We’ve had a total of two hundred-seventeen calls. Of those, we prioritized ten tips and tracked them down. We’ve ruled out all but one of these tips and are still looking for the reported woman. She fits the suspect’s build, and she’s gone AWOL.” He turned to the board, wrote her name down, and pointed a remote at the screen to display a woman’s picture. “This is Claudia Doyle, and we have an APB out on her.”

“What do we know about her?” Jared asked.

Hale set down the remote and widened his stance. “She lost a child in childbirth nearly two months ago. She’s been erratic and unpredictable since then. The tip came in saying another woman feared she was going to take her child at a nearby park. There was a police report taken confirming Doyle’s behavior. Upon investigation, the detective learned Doyle was clinically depressed and seeking treatment.”

“What else do we know about her?” Adair asked.

“She’s widowed,” Hale continued. “From what her neighbors said, her pregnancy was a late-in-life miracle child using the last egg she’d stored to have her deceased husband’s child. So the loss hit hard. No one has any idea where she is. There haven’t been any recent charges to her bank or credit card accounts. She basically vanished.”

No one vanished. Bristol knew they could find her. “Did she previously withdraw large amounts of cash that she could be living on?”

Hale shook his head. “But she did stop depositing her paychecks right after the miscarriage and cashed them at her bank. She hasn’t been to work for fifteen days. Never called in or emailed. Just stopped showing up.”

“Sounds like she might’ve gone off the deep end and could mean she took Luna,” Jared said.

Hale nodded. “We’re still running down viable leads, and I’ve got as much manpower as possible on locating the woman.”

“Keep us in the loop at all times.” Adair gave Hale a dismissive nod and faced Jared. “Update us on forensics.”

Jared stood but didn’t move to the head of the table. “Not much to go on yet. Our trace evidence expert recovered four sources of DNA from Luna’s blanket found in the parking garage. Sierra processed the blood type and it matches Luna and the father, but he hasn’t sustained any injuries. They’ve rushed the DNA process, but as you know, DNA takes at least twenty-four hours to run. We’ll have results late this afternoon.”

“And other forensics?” Adair asked, making Bristol think the guy was an impatient man.

“The father’s backpack is clear for any blood, and Emory is running touch DNA from the bag. Sierra also located an unidentified fingerprint on the bassinet, but it didn’t return any matches in AFIS. They recovered soil in a partial footprint near the blanket and are running it for composition to see if they can place the location where the suspect might’ve recently walked. They warned that’s a long shot and will take time. The size of the print is consistent with the woman’s size on video.”

“And of course we have the suspect’s sketch circulating,” Reed said.

“That’s probably our best lead until the DNA comes in,” Jared said. “The phones have all been processed, and we’ve learned that Mr. Pratt is scheduled to testify against a notorious gang member.”

“That’s not good news.” Adair frowned. “Let’s all hope this gang isn’t part of the kidnapping.”

A murmur of agreement traveled around the table.

“I’ve tasked Agent Lane with coordinating with the Metro Safe Streets Task Force,” Reed said. “Hopefully they can determine if the gang’s involved.”

Adair shot a dark look at Hunter. “Keep me in the loop on this.”

Hunter nodded.

“Where do we stand on this Osborne fellow?” Adair asked.

Reed sat forward. “We’ve vetted all of the women in his life. No living female relatives but we located three women he recently dated. None of them fit the build of the woman on video, but we’re still bringing them in for questioning this morning. And on Osborne, we’re still waiting on his financial records to see if he’s in debt and if he’s recently made any large deposits.”

“I would expect Holloway to pay in cash,” Bristol said. “Even if there isn’t money in Osborne’s account, doesn’t mean he wasn’t paid off.”

Reed nodded. “We’re also questioning friends who might’ve seen him suddenly flashing money around too.”

“Keep me updated on that as well,” Adair said.

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