Page 27 of Absent Reason

Amber looked across at Simon, silently asking if they should join the police chief or let him distract the reporters long enough for the two of them to slip into the apartment building unnoticed. The latter might allow them to get on with their jobs more efficiently, but it would also leave the police chief to deal with the media fallout alone.

Simon answered by getting out of the car and wading into it all. Amber moved to join him, determined to back up her partner, even in a situation where the only danger was from reporters.

Instantly, questions from the surrounding mass of reporters washed over her.

"Is it true that there's been another murder?" one reporter shouted.

"What can you tell us about the victim?" another chimed in.

The key was not to say anything. They needed to keep moving, and if that took some of the pressure off the police chief, even better. Amber and Simon stayed silent, making their way through the throng of reporters and towards the apartment building. The reporters followed them, the questions getting louder and more insistent with every step they took.

Finally, they made it to the police barrier, where a uniformed officer stepped back to let Amber, Simon, and the police chief through.

"What's the situation?" Amber asked once they were all safely past the barrier. “What have your people been able to tell you so far?”

"Female victim, thirties. Her name is Victoria Crossing. Same MO as the others," Chief Williams said grimly. "We got the call half an hour ago from a roommate who came home from a night shift to find her hanging in her apartment. Given everything that’s going on, we’re treating it as linked until proven otherwise. We've already started canvassing the area for witnesses, but so far, no one saw anything."

"Notthe same MO," Simon pointed out. "The first two murders took place on bridges; this was in an apartment building. That’s a pretty significant difference. Are we sure that this isn't a suicide?"

It was an important question to ask. A death that wasn’t linked to the others might muddy the waters, making it harder to find the truth.

"From what I got on the radio in the car, the coroner's initial impression is that it isn't," Chief Williams said.

Even as he said it, several of the coroner's people came down, carrying a body bag and hurrying towards the van there. Amber was grateful for the speed with which they’d moved. It was horrific enough knowing that someone had been murdered there; it would have been far worse to have to watch Victoria Crossing hanging there in her apartment. Amber had seen the dead before, but that didn’t mean that it got any easier.

Amber and Simon headed inside, walking up to an apartment cordoned off with police tape. There were forensic staff working around the door, obviously looking for any trace of the killer.

The interior of the apartment was also busy, with more forensic investigators going through every inch of the place. Amber and Simon navigated around them, trying not to disturb the scene too much.

The apartment was simple, with a living room and a small kitchen leading off from it. There were only three doors visible from the spot where Amber was standing, presumably leading to a bathroom and a couple of bedrooms.

There was a noose there on the floor, left where it had presumably been cut down to retrieve the body. A forensic investigator was working on it, and somehow, the sight of it there was almost as horrifying as a body hanging above might have been.

The sight of the noose there on the floor was enough to make Amber's stomach churn. She couldn't help but think that this was all her fault. If she and Simon had been quicker to solve the case, if they hadn’t gone off after so many false leads yesterday, they might have found the killer, and Victoria Crossing might still be alive.

"Any leads?" Amber asked one of the forensic investigators, a man in his twenties whose face was mostly hidden behind a face mask so that he wouldn’t disturb any evidence with his breath.

"Not yet," the investigator replied. "But we're still processing the scene. We'll let you know.”

“Thank you,” Amber said. “Chief Williams said that the victim had a roommate?”

"They've put her over in the next apartment if you want to talk to her."

The investigator pointed towards the door.

"We'll talk to her," Simon said. He led the way through the apartment and then over to the neighbor’s place. Amber took a breath to steady herself and then followed him.

Simon knocked on the door, and a short Asian American woman answered. Simon showed his badge.

“You’re here to speak to Maggie?” the woman said.

Simon nodded.

“All of this is terrible. Truly awful.” She stepped back out of the way, letting them inside, into a neatly kept apartment with a retro feel to it, with ornaments everywhere. The roommate was a petite woman with curly brown hair and puffy eyes. She had clearly been crying, and it was evident that she was in shock at what had just happened. She perched on the edge of the apartment’s couch, knees drawn up to her chest, arms hugging around them defensively.

Amber knew that they had to approach this cautiously, or they risked merely traumatizing this woman rather than being able to get any information from her.

"Hi," she said, taking a seat next to her. "I'm Amber. I'm with the FBI. This is Simon. What's your name?"

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