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Mina nodded a greeting at Grace, the uniformed desk clerk in her office, but didn’t take the time to introduce Nolan. She hurried straight to the small bullpen where Sergeant Abell and Detective Lyons occupied large cubicles. El investigated all crimes, and Abe was responsible for staffing and patrol schedules. Plus, he was first on scene when an unusual problem arose. Unless he was off duty—like last night—when she took charge.

He sat at his desk, his focus on his computer screen. He’d run against her in the sheriff’s election, and she’d thought it would be tough to manage him, but he’d been a team player most of the time, albeit one with an attitude. She kept her eyes open for any unrest he might start in the ranks.

El was at her desk, too, but she’d arranged her computer on the outer L of her setup so she wouldn’t have her back to people. She looked up and offered a tight smile. “Boss.”

Abe spun.

“How’s it going?” she asked stopping in the walkway between the two cubicles, Nolan posting up beside her.

“We’ve made progress,” Abe said before El could speak.

“We’ve made progress too, but then hit a brick wall,” Mina said and looked at El. “You should join in with us in case any of this information relates to Becca’s investigation.”

“Sure.” El stood and rested against the end of her cubicle, her posture relaxed but her gaze sharp.

Mina shared their morning conversations with Palmer, Daisy, Wade, and Paisley. “One thing we can determine with the escape room set up is that we’re dealing with premeditated murder and not a murder of passion. It’s likely one of our suspects has it out not only for the mayor but the LLL team too as the killer has tried to pin the murder on them.”

“Or they could simply have killed the mayor just to get one of the LLL team put away for murder,” Abe said.

“You could be right, but as of now, we don’t have any reason anyone might have it out for them.”

Abe stared at Nolan. “Since you opened your business, have you failed to bring someone home alive?”

Nolan shook his head. “I know odds say it’s going to happen, but we’ve been spared that outcome so far.”

“Could mean it’s not related to any past cases, but we should still look into them,” Abe said.

“I think it’s a waste of time, but you’re right. We have to look at every possibility.” Nolan gave Abe a tight smile. “I can have my team take care of that.”

“As long as it’s not Jude doing the looking,” Mina said.

“Point taken,” Nolan agreed.

She shifted her attention back to Abe. “We have nine suspects, and I’ll need your help to narrow that list down.”

“Nine?” El asked. “Mind listing them out for me?”

“In no particular order,” Mina said, “we have the Smythe fella who we keep striking out on his true identity and where to find him. Number two is Jude.”

“Not really a viable suspect,” Nolan said.

Mina agreed. “But he’s the only team member who has a personal connection to the mayor and needs to remain on our list until we can somehow confirm his alibi. Same thing with Harmony’s alibi. She stays on the list until we’re sure she’s not involved. My gut says Patriotic Puzzle could be our guy. He’s the first person who’s been overtly negative about the mayor other than the guy the mayor argued with at lunch.”

“Trouble is, we don’t know either of their identities,” Nolan said.

Mina resisted offering a frustrated comeback that wouldn’t help at all. “Next up is the mayor of Seaside Harbor, then the brother-in-law, Wade. We have Becca, and lastly, the woman he had lunch with whose perfume may be lingering in his house.”

“Long list.” Abe creased his forehead. “Especially for a force our size to pin down.”

“We’ll just have to do the best we can with the resources we have.” Mina gestured at Nolan. “At least we have Nolan and his team to help us.”

Abe started to roll his eyes, but Mina stared him down.

He stopped. “Before we go any further, I should tell you that Deputy Gibbs said he saw Mayor Sutton about a month ago at around three a.m. with a woman in his car. He turned onto the street for his private residence, so Gibbs thought the woman was Becca and didn’t think anything more of it.”

Mina raised an eyebrow. “Why didn’t he mention that last night when I saw him at her house?”

“He’d forgotten about it, but then I specifically asked every deputy if they’d seen the mayor acting out of character.”

“Good thinking,” Mina said.

Abe thrust his chest out. “Yeah, well, it’s a good idea because when I asked Gibbs, he remembered seeing the mayor.”

“Might not have been Becca, though,” Nolan said. “If not, that could reinforce our affair theory, though bringing a married girlfriend to his favorite restaurant where he’s well-known and visible wouldn’t be a wise move.”

Mina nodded. “What about his phone records? They could help give us her identity. Any progress on getting them from the phone company?”

“I served the warrant.” Abe’s chest deflated. “But we haven’t heard back from the provider. I’ll put pressure on them today.”

“And what about his financial records?”

“Same thing. I’ll keep after the bank.”

“Hayden’s looking into them both,” she said. “Has he been in touch with you?”

Abe nodded. “He’s struck out so far on the phone records, so I told him about the warrants. He said he had the finances well in hand. I figured I’d concentrate on the phones.”

“Yes, he called to tell us that he’s been able to get into the mayor’s finances.” She explained what Hayden had learned.

“Maybe Dylan can help figure out what he’s been selling,” Nolan said.

“Dylan?” Abe stared at him as if he were an alien.

“The Veritas Center’s IT person.” Nolan explained about Dylan agreeing to help search for information that afternoon.

Abe’s expression turned testy. “Anything he gets won’t be legal. Same thing with your Hayden guy.”

“That’s not necessarily true,” Nolan said. “But even if it is, the information they provide will move us along faster. Then you can produce the documents we need for any future trial.”

Abe crossed his arms. “That’s not how it’s done, and you know it. A good defense lawyer will call into question how you could act on information before we even had it in hand.”

“I’ll instruct Dylan on the subject,” Mina said. “Which I don’t think he’ll need as he does forensic information searches for investigations all the time.”

Abe rocked his chair forward and planted his feet on the floor. “If it comes back to bite us, it’s all on you.”

“That’s right,” Mina glared right back at him, though she shouldn’t let him get to her. “I’m the sheriff. If I get ousted for using unusual methods to find a killer, then you can step into the role you’ve wanted since you lost the election.”

Abe whipped back in his chair as if he’d been slapped.

“I’m sorry. That was uncalled for.” Mina said right away. “I let the stress of two major investigations get to me, and I took it out on you. I hope you’ll accept my apology and not let this interfere with your work on the investigation.”

He gave a sharp nod. “What specifically do you want me to do?”

“Paisley will come in to complete the sketches for the man who the mayor had lunch with yesterday and also the woman,” Mina said. “When they’re finished, be sure you send a copy to me. Then I want you to put out an alert for both of them and get it circulating around Lost Lake. Maybe someone has seen them or knows them. Wouldn’t hurt to have it distributed to law enforcement in nearby counties as well. Let me know the minute anyone identifies them.”

“I’ll distribute them everywhere.” Abe sat stone-faced.

She couldn’t tell if he was holding her outburst against her or not. Not something she could waste any bandwidth on now. “I’ll be sure to check my emails when they come in, and let you know if there’s a problem.”

“And when I’m done with that?”

“I’ll give you a list of people who saw Daisy in the office during the time of the mayor’s murder. I need you to follow up with them to confirm her alibi.”

“I can do that in my sleep.” Abe frowned. “Is there something more challenging you want me to do?”

“Interview the mayor of Seaside Harbor. See if he and Mayor Sutton simply had a friendly rivalry or if there was more to it. Be sure to get his alibi for the time of death.” She took a deep breath. He wouldn’t like this one. “You’re more familiar with deputies who worked here in the past. Since it seems like we’re looking for someone with weapons experience, we might be looking at someone in our own office. Especially someone who was let go and has an interest in guns. Maybe a grudge against the mayor.”

Abe shot forward in his seat. “You can’t seriously think it’s one of us.”

“I don’t, but we have to keep an open mind. You’ll need to forget you’re looking at people you know, or might’ve known, and be thorough.”

He shook his head. “It’s a waste of time if you ask me. We have more viable suspects we should be looking into.”

She opened her mouth to respond but thought better of it to keep from getting into an argument. “I imagine you don’t yet have any updates on the trophies, caterer, or phone Smythe listed on the contract, but thought I’d ask.”

“Phone is a burner,” he said, his tone sharp. “I’m trying for the records, but have to wait. I’ll let you know when I know more on any of these things.”

“Thank you,” she said and meant it. “Lastly, can you check into Harmony Vance. See if there’s a hidden connection between her and the mayor, giving her a motive to want to kill him.”

“Finally, something interesting.” Abe jotted some notes on the legal pad on his desk.

Her phone rang, and seeing the Veritas Center’s name flash on her screen, she quickly answered the call. “I’m with my team and am putting you on speaker.”

“Glad I caught you,” Sierra said. “I decided to quickly type the blood from the large pool in the entryway instead of waiting for the DNA results. I figured if we have a blood type you might be able to match it to Becca’s or to her father’s blood type.”

“Great idea,” Mina said, excitement building over potentially having an answer to where the murder scene was located. “So do you have a type?”

“Yes. Blood sample is type O. I tested several locations to be sure we weren’t looking at a mixed blood pool, and we’re not.”

“So if I can get the mayor’s and Becca’s blood types, we could determine if this was the murder scene.”

“Exactly,” Sierra said. “Blood typing is routinely done at an autopsy. Maybe your medical examiner can provide you with the victim’s type.”

“He didn’t mention it at the autopsy, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t do it,” Mina said.

“You’ll want to check back with him then,” Sierra said. “Also, Grady will be doing his ballistics tests in about an hour if you have any questions for him.”

“Thank you,” Mina said. “We’ll be there for sure.”

She ended the call and dialed Dr. Osborne as others watched. She didn’t care that they were waiting on her. This was too important to put off. She wanted to know for sure if they’d found the mayor’s murder scene.

“Voicemail,” she told the others and left a message for Dr. Osborne to call her back about the blood typing. She looked at Abe. “Find the name of the mayor’s doctor and request a warrant for his medical records.”

“It’s possible he has the record at his house or at his work,” Abe suggested.

“We have to go back to see Daisy this afternoon anyway,” Nolan said. “If Dr. Osborne hasn’t completed the blood typing, maybe she knows the mayor’s type or where we can get it.”

“We should request Becca’s medical records too,” El said.

“Not as easily done,” Mina said. “We haven’t proved she’s missing or come to any harm, and I can’t see a judge approving a warrant request. Our best bet is to search her home for that.”

“I can take care of it this afternoon,” El said. “Also, I’m meeting with the LLL team for a dinner meeting for an update on Becca’s investigation. Nothing fancy for dinner. Just salad and pizza. Can you join us?”

“We’ll make time for it,” Mina said, looking at Nolan to see if he would argue with that.

He nodded. “Any response to the alert on Becca or her car?”

“Not really,” Abe said. “We’ve had a couple of similar cars reported, but the plates don’t match. Once we open it up to the public, I have no doubt we’ll get our share of usual prank calls. I’ll keep you informed of any genuine leads.”

“Then we’re done here,” Mina said. “We’ll be heading back to Becca’s house to meet Grady. Call me the moment you get the mayor’s blood type.” Mina ran her gaze from one person to the next. “And be thinking. The biggest thing we need to answer is which one of these people has the most to gain by killing the mayor.”

“We figure that out,” Nolan held her gaze, “and we figure out our killer’s identity.”

She couldn’t agree more. But it was too early in the investigation to determine who had the best motive to commit murder.