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“We also have a result on that. The dark hair is from an open case," Andy said. But there's only one problem. Although the case is still open, it's actually not a missing persons case but a suspected murder case."
May caught her breath. Murder?
"Why's that?" she asked, her heart accelerating. She'd been holding out hope that Chloe was still alive. Now it looked as if that hope might be groundless.
"The victim disappeared from the cottage where she lived about three weeks ago. The landlord saw the front door open in the morning, thought it looked strange, and went to check," the pathologist said. "That's the background to the case I'm reading here, anyway."
"And what did he find?" May asked worriedly, climbing back into her car.
"He found a few splashes and stains of blood in the bedroom, the biggest on the pillow. We analyzed that blood, and it belonged to the victim. She sold jewelry part-time, and the theory was that she'd been robbed for the jewelry—it looked as if some pieces were missing—and that it had gone wrong, they'dkilled her, then they'd dumped her. That was definitely what was noted in the report."
"I don't know if that's what is happening here. Or if that report might need updating," May said. She felt terrible at the thought this killer was grabbing and murdering. Since Chloe had been kept for two weeks before she’d been seen fleeing, she'd held a fragile hope that he was maybe going to keep her again when he caught her.
For long enough to give them a chance, at least.
Now this news cast doubt on the theory and gave May a sick, anxious feeling inside. Trying her best to suppress it, she asked in a businesslike way, "Could you please send through the case details and the victim's name."
"Her name's Giselle Sandler. I'll send through the details shortly," Andy said. "I hope you catch this guy. And if there's a chance Giselle might still be alive, I hope you can find her."
He cut the call, leaving May feeling more determined than ever.
"Giselle Sandler was grabbed from her bedroom in the night," she told Owen. "They're sending the case details now. Maybe we can pick up some common threads."
At that moment, the case details arrived in her inbox. She forwarded them to Owen, and sitting right there in the car, they both read through.
"No boyfriend. No previous signs of any trouble. But you know, I'm wondering if it would be worth going and re-interviewing Giselle's parents," May said. "Now that we know more, and we know that it might not have been a jewelry theft after all, we could find out more from them. Perhaps if we ask different questions, we might get some different answers."
In fact, as she started the car and drove to the address of Giselle's parents, May felt extremely hopeful that they might get some new answers.
***
According to the case report, Giselle had lived on a homestead down the road from her parents’ farm, where she'd occupied the cottage. As she pulled up outside the farm, which was about ten miles from where Chloe lived, it occurred to May that this was a common thread and might be important. Both the victims had lived in more rural areas and on small farms.
"Do you think he's choosing them because the farms are easier to break into?" she hazarded to Owen, as she climbed out of the car. "Or because this is the area he prefers? Are we looking at a local criminal here?"
She didn't want to say 'killer.' Not yet. Not when there was even the slightest chance that the women were still alive.
"I hope that the parents can give us a lead. For a start, we can at least ask if the two women knew each other," Owen confirmed.
But as she walked up to the small, cozy farmhouse, May knew that this would need to be handled delicately. These parents had most likely resigned themselves to the fact that their daughter was dead. May didn't want to give them false hope. It would be terrible and cruel to allow them to believe that Giselle was still alive, only to bring reality crashing down with a thud when her body was found. So, this was something she would need to go into very carefully.
She was still deciding on her approach when the front door opened.
A short woman with a round face stared at them, and immediately, May saw apprehension in her dark eyes. The toll of the past few weeks was physically obvious. Although her cheeks were rosy from outdoor working and living, her eyes looked reddened and swollen as if every time she'd let herself think about it, the tears had started to flow.
"Oh, dear!" she said, as soon as she saw them standing there. Horror filled her face. "Is this it? Have you . . . have you found her?"
She couldn't quite get the words out. She stared at them with tears now streaming again.
"Are you Mrs. Sandler, Giselle's mother?" When she nodded, May continued. "We don't have any news, but we've come to look for more information. Can we speak inside?"
She wanted to be sitting down for this. She really needed to try and manage the situation.
"Of course." Almost blindly, the woman turned and headed through into the small, well-furnished farmhouse, treading over wooden floorboards that looked scuffed as if the home had received more than its fair share of guests and visitors over the past couple of weeks. A few flower arrangements lined the hall table. May guessed they were sympathy bouquets, in soft pastel colors, rather than the traditional lilies that would have been sent if the death had been confirmed.
"Why are you here?" Mrs. Sandler still looked utterly shocked.
May did her best to proceed in what she hoped was the best way. "We’re investigating another open case that appears to be linked to your daughter’s. Pieces of their hair were found on a tree in the same area of the woods. The hair was discovered early this morning. We are not sure how long it’s been there, but there was footage of the other victim trying to flee the scene."
