The rain trickling down the window turned the streets outside into one of those impressionist paintings. Kate and Ben were huddled in the corner of the coffee shop, their fingers curled around their mug of coffee.

“Why couldn’t she just simply call us?” Kate asked.

“No idea. She said she needs eye contact.”

Kate grinned. “Perhaps she just wanted to shoot death rays at you.”

“Don’t even–,” Ben said, but was interrupted by the ringing sound from his laptop.

“Hello, Aruna.” Ben greeted the crime scene tech over the webcam.

Aruna Sharma frowned at him from miles away. “Detective Petersen,” she said, then continued in a softer voice. “Detective Robbins. Glad you could make it too.”

Kate was not sure how to handle this friendliness. “Well, of course, Aruna. What do you have for us?”

“We just finished the toxicology report. It’s negative, I’m afraid. No drugs, no alcohol. It looks like the perp took her from her car with force.”

Kate shook her head. “It’s awful…”

Aruna nodded then continued. “As I said earlier, the crime was committed somewhere else, not in the woods. It did not happen in her car either. We went through everything thoroughly. She was likely incapacitated with a blow on the head. Doctor Franklin found a bruise on her left temple. Probably it did not make her unconscious, as we found some defensive wounds on her hands and arms too, but it definitely made harder for her to struggle. We found traces of blood on her car seat. It was from her. I think she tried to get back in the car. She was sexually assaulted, but we found no sperm. The perp used a condom.”

“How thoughtful,” Kate muttered.

“The cause of death is confirmed.” She paused and grabbed the scarf around her neck, tightening it. Her voice was grave when she continued. “Asphyxiation. We found her yoga pants around her neck, so I think we can establish that I was right in thinking that the murderer used that to strangle her. Once he was done with her, he dumped her in the woods. As I told you yesterday, we checked her for prints, but found nothing useful. I also found some blood – very minimal though – in the car that did not belong to our victim. Alice probably managed to scratch her attacker. Checking now for a match. I know what you might be thinking, but it’s not from Anthony Langdale either.”

Kate’s fingers curled into a fist, but she resisted the urge to slam it down on the table.

“Time of death?” Ben asked.

Aruna knitted her eyebrows. “I was just getting to it, Detective Petersen,” she said, while Ben mumbled some sort of apology. “We know that she was still alive just before midnight, because she talked to her friend over the phone. Based on what we have, the state of the body, we put the time of death around one a.m. The lady walking her dog found her around six in the morning. Officer Briggs is currently out in Silverthorne, talking to the attendant of the gas station where the victim made her last phone call.”

Ben seemed to consider the facts. “She made the call from Silverthorne, which is not far from Pine Creek. Daisy gave her directions. Her car was found in the Pine Creek Train Station’s parking lot…”

Kate felt the realization sink in. “She almost made it.”

Aruna cleared her throat on the other side, so they turned their attention back to her. “I’ll leave you to it then. Kate, call me if you need anything.”

With that she broke the connection.

Kate leaned back with a heavy sigh and covered her face with her palms. “Alice wanted to call her friend again. That’s why she stopped there. She didn’t know the phone was broken.”

Ben’s phone vibrated on the table, its ringing filled the air with urgency. “Petersen… I put you on speaker.”

Sadie’s voice on the line was soft, but firm. “We tracked down the gas station where the first call came from. The same shop assistant was working when we went over to talk to them, but he couldn’t help much. Alice did not go in the store. He gave us the CCTV footage though. I watched it, but didn’t see anything suspicious. Alice arrives, spends a few minutes on the phone, then leaves. There was nobody leaving or arriving while she was there. I’ll send you two a copy anyway just now.”

Ben seemed disappointed, but he didn’t let it creep into his voice. “Thank you, Officer Briggs, that would be most kind.”

Sadie Briggs wished them luck before she hung up.

It did not take long for the video to land in Ben’s inbox. They watched it twice in silence. Alice, alive, beautiful, carefree pulling up behind the gas station, chatting on the phone, laughing, eager to meet her friend. Sadie Briggs was right though, they did not see anyone suspicious on the video. Doesn’t mean anything, does it?

“She seemed like a lovely girl,” Kate said.

Ben nodded. “Are you ready?” he asked. “We should head over to Alice’s workplace.”

*

The girl on the other side of the table pushed her glasses on top of her head and passed a hand over her brow.

“Isn’t it hot here?” she asked with a little wheeze.

“It must be a shock, Melissa,” Kate said. “Your boss, Miss Jones, told us that you were very close with Alice.”

Melissa hung her head and stifled a sob. Her fingers were constantly moving, ripping up a napkin in front of her. She took a shuddering breath and lifted her tear filled eyes to them.

“I… I don’t know what to say,” she said, and her face crumpled.

Kate wanted to shoot her questions right away, but instead inhaled deeply, and gave the girl a reassuring smile. “Take your time.”

The napkin in front of Melissa was no more than dust. Kate did not want to look at the girl’s pained face, her tears, her trembling hands wiping snot from her nose. She fixed her gaze at the slideshow, playing on the TV in the corner. Pictures of the employees followed one another. Smiling faces, serious faces, photos from what appeared to be team building trips. She wasn’t really looking at them either, just passing the time really. The next picture was a group photo, she thought it was nice – they were at a Caribbean bar. The realization came just when the slide changed. Kate jumped out of the chair and rushed to the corner.

“How do I go back?” she asked, urgency in her voice, as she was looking around for the laptop, attached to the TV where the slideshow must have come from.

Melissa stopped sobbing and turned her head slowly, like she just woke from a heavy dream. “What?”

Kate pointed at the TV. “The slide show! I need to see that picture from before,” she replied, turning her attention back to the device. She saw Ben from the corner of her eye, walking towards her. She turned again, and there it was. On a shelf, just behind the TV stand, stood the laptop. She pressed the back arrow a couple of times and once again was staring at the group of people – two men and two women – holding out colourful cocktails with a happy grin. One of the man had his arms wrapped tightly around the woman next to him.”

“What did you find?” Ben was right behind her, and so was Melissa.

“Look,” Kate said, barely covering her excitement as she pointed at the text under the picture. “Catherine, Will, Tom and Alice – The Pink Flamingo.”

Ben nodded, then turned to Melissa who was now looking at them both like they were crazy. “They are your colleagues?” he asked in a casual tone.

Melissa nodded. “Yes.” Then she looked at Kate. “Is something wrong?”

Kate tapped blond man on the screen. Tom. “Who’s this?”

Melissa leaned closer. “Oh, that’s just Tom. Tom Wakefield, from the finance team. Why?”

“You spent a lot of time with Alice, right?” Kate asked. When the girl nodded again, she continued. “Are you aware of any boyfriend?”

A small giggle escaped Melissa’s mouth, then as soon as it came it was replaced with sadness. “I’m sorry… It’s just… She was so pretty! Very popular, if you know what I mean. I always wondered why she didn’t have a boyfriend. Sure as hell she could have gotten anyone.”

“Looking at this picture it seems like she was close with Tom as well. Were they friends?”

The look on Melissa’s face was hard to read. Pity? Disgust? Amusement? “Alice was nice to everyone. But actual friends? I mean, sure, Tom would have loved that.” She lowered her voice before she continued. “It was a bit pathetic, if you ask me. He started working here about six months ago. Pretty much since his first day he was always hanging around Alice, trying to be funny, you know, make her laugh and stuff. I thought it was ridiculous. But Alice kind of liked him.” She waved a hand. “But that’s Alice, she really tried to like everyone she’d met… They went out for lunch or coffee together sometimes. Then the last time we went out to drink, Tom got really drunk… he tried to kiss her. It was awful. When Alice refused him, he ran off. Dave, our marketing guy, found him crying outside, in the nearest bus stop.”

“When was this exactly?” Kate asked.

“Last Thursday,” Melissa replied. “Why?”

“We need to speak to him.” Kate said. “You mind showing us to his office?”

For a moment Melissa looked at them with confusion. “I would, really… but… he’s not in today. I mean he called in sick on Friday, not surprisingly after what he’s done in the pub, and hasn’t dared show his face ever since.”

Kate felt a wave of nausea come over her and grabbed the back of a chair to steady herself.

“Well, thank you for your time, Melissa. We might have a few more questions later, but you’ve been really helpful.”

Kate was already out the door when she realized she hasn’t even said goodbye before she stormed out the kitchen.