Page 43 of Nothing Left

It was a beautiful silk scarf with pastel colors blending together. It had value, though that was no longer the point. More importantly, it was hers. He could smell her perfume on it. It was a personal item.

He put it in his pocket, and then he walked close to her. Already he knew what he would do if she woke; he had the exact plan of action mapped out in his mind. But would she?

He stood over her and breathed the words, "I dare you!"

In his hand, he gripped the knife tightly. She didn’t wake, and he felt disappointment chill him. Maybe one more try? He whispered those words again, this time just a little louder, hoping for a response. Surely that wasn't cheating?

Her eyes flew open.

And then, the knife came down.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX

Juliette had the uneasy feeling that this evidence represented their last chance, and they needed to find it fast. At eight p.m., the charges against Heather would be laid, and the clock was ticking. They had only a few short hours to find out if the killer might have struck again and done so in an area where the Barcelona police might not immediately have heard about it.

Especially since there was a political crisis afoot and there were clashing factions within the police, communication between branches might be slower than usual. There could be delays in sharing the case information.

So, what crimes could they find from outside of town?

As she searched through the records, the main priorities were uppermost in her mind.

"Knife."

"Stabbing."

"Robbery."

She knew enough Spanish to be able to scroll through without the need for a translation app, but Sierra had located an excellent English-Spanish translation program that she and Wyatt were now using.

While she searched the records, Wyatt and Sierra were focusing on different angles of research.

Sierra was looking up information on the chat groups and social media groups in the surrounding towns. Any recent news of a stabbing or a murder was going to cause waves online. That might be a quicker route than trawling through the records - especially if a crime had happened very recently and the records hadn't yet been updated.

Wyatt was working his way through the online news reports and press releases that were available in the public domain.

They were moving from town to town, from small village to small village. Starting within Barcelona - just in case - and then widening the circle as they moved outward.

"Here's something!" Wyatt sounded excited but then shook his head. "Sorry, no. Attempted stabbing at a nightclub. The perpetrator was a drug dealer. Not what we're looking for."

Juliette nodded in agreement, continuing to scan through the records. Her fingers flew over the keyboard.

"I'm getting something," Sierra said. "Juliette, there's a small town about ten miles out of Barcelona called Condilla. Go and look in their records. Because I'm seeing that there's been some big crime there, earlier today. It sounds like a stabbing. People are talking about it."

Juliette exited the system and searched for Condilla. But when she accessed the records, she found nothing on the system.

"I'm looking here, but the last recorded crimes were a few hours ago. They seem to be a bit slow, so I'm going to call them. Maybe they haven't updated them."

Quickly, she looked up the number for the town’s local police department and dialed.

"Condilla police department?" a woman’s voice answered, sounding rushed and stressed.

"Juliette Hart here, FBI. We're working on a case in Barcelona, a stabbing involving an American woman, and I am looking for any recent killings involving the same MO in nearby towns," Juliette said. "We understand there may have been a similar crime in your jurisdiction earlier today?"

"There has been! Hold on," the officer said.

Juliette was transferred to an equally stressed man who introduced himself as the station commander and repeated her request to him.

The commander paused for a moment before responding. "Yes, we had a stabbing called in earlier this afternoon. A woman was found dead in her home. She was a night shift worker who was asleep at the time. The crime was called in by her housemate, who arrived home at about four p.m. We're still investigating, but it seems like a robbery gone wrong. It’s very unusual for our small town."

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