Free Shadow Play by Iris Johansen Page B

I—” She stopped. “The photos.” She whirled away from Joe. “The photos, Joe. That’s the only documentation I have on the reconstruction. I was going to send them to Nalchek later today, but I—”
    â€œYou were interrupted.” He took her elbow and strode toward his car. “And you weren’t ambushed because the killer had something more important he had to do first.”
    *   *   *
    There was a squad car in their driveway, and the front door was wide open.
    â€œIt’s okay,” Joe said, as Eve tensed beside him. “At least, this part is.”
    â€œThis part? What’s happening?” Eve asked.
    â€œDon’t panic. I phoned ahead when I was on the highway and told one of the officers at the crime scene to check out our house and surrounding area to make sure that—”
    â€œYou could have told me.” She got out of the car and headed quickly for the steps. She had panicked when she’d seen that open door.
    And the panic didn’t abate when she saw the face of the gray-haired officer who met them at the door.
    â€œOfficer James Kiphart, ma’am. You’re Ms. Duncan?”
    â€œThat’s right.” She looked beyond him to her workstation. “Dammit, where’s my computer?”
    â€œIt’s missing?” the officer asked. “I was hoping that we’d scared the thief off before he was able to steal anything. The lock was broken, and the door was wide open, but nothing appeared to be missing.”
    She ran over to the worktable. The place that her computer usually occupied was vacant. The notes and measurements she’d used to reconstruct Jenny were no longer in the binder on the dais.
    â€œWould you like to fill out a report?” Officer Kiphart asked.
    â€œNot now.” Joe was standing beside her. “Maybe later. You checked out the other rooms?”
    â€œClean as a whistle. Like I said, I hoped that I’d scared him off.” He was looking sympathetically at Eve’s stricken expression. “Maybe your home insurance will cover the computer.”
    â€œMaybe,” Joe said. “We’ll look into it. Thank you for coming so promptly, Officer. I’ll help with the paperwork and give you a statement when I get back to the precinct.”
    It was a clear dismissal, and the officer nodded and headed for the door. “I’m sorry that I didn’t get here in time to catch your thief, Detective Quinn. I’m afraid you’ll have to replace that lock.” He nodded at Eve. “Good day, ma’am.”
    â€œGood day.” She was still looking at the place on the worktable where her computer had been and paid no attention to the door closing behind the officer.
    â€œHow bad is it?” Joe asked quietly.
    â€œBad,” Eve said. “He took all my notes on the reconstruction. And he made sure the photos couldn’t be copied by stealing the entire damn computer.” She swallowed. “And I don’t have the actual reconstruction of the skull. He took care of that when he killed that FedEx driver.” Her hand was shaking as she brushed a strand of hair back from her face. “I have nothing left of Jenny. She’s gone.”
    â€œGod, I’m sorry, Eve. Look, you know exactly what she looked like. Can’t you draw a sketch and send it to Nalchek?”
    â€œYes, but that wouldn’t be enough without the reconstruction. Nalchek wouldn’t be able to persuade any of the media to act without proof it was based on the actual skull. It would just be my word, and it’s a damn cynical world.”
    â€œIt was a great reconstruction.” He pulled her into his arms. “I know how hard you worked, how glad you were that you had something concrete to send to Nalchek.”
    And Jenny had been so much more to her than that. The spirit of that little girl had reached out and touched her, stirred her