Free Snapped by Laura Griffin Page A

the motive front.
    But then again, Dr. Froehler’s discovery this afternoon had given them plenty to build on. They were running tests on some tissue samples to confirm it, but it looked as though their shooter had been dealing with not only a recently finalized divorce, but terminal cancer. Either one would have constituted a triggering event that could drive someone to murder. The two taken together were pretty overwhelming.
    Still, there were matters left to investigate, the most important being Himmel’s connection to the university and whether he was acting alone at the time of the shooting. Even with the gunman dead and identified, even with Himmel’s immediate family safe and accounted for, Jonah wouldn’t rest easy until those questions were answered.
    He stepped out of the way so several CSIs could wrap Himmel’s green canvas duffel bag with butcher paper to be transported to the lab.
    “Army or police?” Jonah asked.
    Ric glanced up from a pile of bank statements that was sitting on the dresser. “What’s that?”
    “Who interviewed the ex?”
    “Both. Couple of MPs picked her up, but I think they’re pretty eager to turn this over to the locals. He waslet go from the army about two years ago, and sounds like they’ve washed their hands of him.”
    Jonah didn’t blame them. He hadn’t seen the news since Noonan’s press conference, but he could only imagine the field day the media was having with Himmel’s military connection.
    Jonah had spent five years in the army before becoming a cop, and he disliked anything that reflected badly on the uniform. At the same time, what he
really
disliked were people who thought they were above the law. The law was the law, and no one was exempt.
    “Here, look at this.” Ric held up one of the statements. “Looks like he printed these last week.”
    “What’s his money situation?”
    “Pretty bad. Nothing but withdrawals for the past three months.”
    Ric continued to shuffle papers as Jonah crossed the cramped little room and poked his head into the bathroom for an update. Minh was crouched beside the john, lifting prints from the handle.
    “You can bet your ass I’m putting in for overtime on this.” The CSI was ticked, and Jonah could see why. They’d probably turn up fifty different sets of prints in this crummy little motel suite, and it would take an ungodly number of man-hours to run them all.
    “Got to cover all the bases,” Jonah said.
    “You mean cover Noonan’s ass. I got that.”
    “Hey, Jonah,” Ric called from the other room. “Get some gloves and come see this.”
    Jonah swiped some gloves from Minh’s evidence kit and went to the bed, where one of the CSIs was on his knees photographing something.
    Jonah crouched beside them. “What you got?”
    “Looks like a teddy bear.” Ric pulled it from under the bed. On closer inspection, they saw that it wasn’t a teddy bear but a blanket with a bear head on top. The thing had dingy gray fur and one of its eyes was missing.
    “What would a suicidal thirty-seven-year-old be doing with a kid’s teddy bear?” Ric asked. “Manager said he was alone in here.”
    “Maybe it’s not his. Could be someone else left it.”
    “Could be. Fleabag place like this, they probably don’t clean the rooms too well.”
    Ric passed him the blanket, and Jonah frowned down at it. The thing was worn, even threadbare in places. It had obviously been well-loved—probably some kid’s security blanket—but it looked creepy for some reason. Jonah ran his hands over the natty fabric.
    “Hey, it’s not a bear, it’s a rabbit.” Jonah glanced at Ric. “Looks like someone cut off its ears.”
    Sophie’s date pulled into the parking lot and found an empty space right next to her Tahoe.
    “Sorry to cut our evening short,” she told him.
    “It’s no problem.” Mark slid out of his shiny black Acura and came around to open her door, demonstrating more of the perfect manners that had impressed her all