Deadly Dance by Dee Davis Page B

for over an hour now, and my stomach is still churning. And I’ve seen a hell of a lot in my time with A-Tac. But Hannah’s right—nothing like this. I don’t see how you did it, bro.”
    “I didn’t do it for that long. And most of the time I spent in the unit was on the computer, not in the field.”
    “So I’m guessing there was nothing at the scene to give us a lead on identifying the killer?”
    “Nothing concrete,” Drake said. “No prints. No DNA. Nothing to tie the scene to anyone but Sara. Most ofthe action seems to have taken place in the upstairs bedroom.”
    “So why the change in location?” Hannah asked, chewing the side of her lip as she considered the question. “I mean, the place was deserted. So what reason is there to move her?”
    “I’m betting that it’s got to do with the ritual,” Harrison said.
    “I’m not following.” Hannah shook her head with a frown.
    “Every serial killer develops a ritual. A set plan of action guaranteed to get his rocks off. In this case, it appears that the first act of his fantasy plays out in the bedroom, with the finale in the cellar.”
    “That fits the facts,” Drake said. “The sexual acts and the killing appeared to have occurred in the bedroom. So she was already dead or dying when she was taken downstairs where he finished her off.”
    “And you’ve got nothing there to give us a clue as to who it might have been?” Hannah asked, turning back to Harrison.
    “Not so far. I’ve authenticated all the files. There’s nothing here that jumps off the page or seems out of place. Just the kinds of files you’d expect to find on a college kid’s computer.”
    “What about Facebook or other social networking sites?” Hannah suggested. “Didn’t Tony give us the info we need to get into her accounts?”
    “He did, and I’ve already searched there. Even before we found the computer. And again, there was nothing out of the ordinary. She had a Twitter account, but didn’t really use it. And her Facebook page was limitedto friends, which seems to have included pretty much everyone on campus. But as Facebook pages go, this one is pretty tame. There’s nothing that would seem to have been a hook for a killer.”
    “Hell, for all we know, this was just random,” Drake said. “Right place, wrong time.”
    “It’s possible. But this guy is already pretty far into building the fantasy,” Harrison said. “Which means this most likely isn’t his first time at the party. And we can’t ignore the parallel to the cyber killer. I’m hoping that when Madison and Tracy arrive they’ll have some insight.”
    “So when are they getting here?” Drake asked.
    Drake didn’t mention his sister, and Harrison was grateful for the reprieve. He’d told Avery everything. And Avery in turn had told the team.
    “They’ll be here in the morning. Tracy’s flying in from Texas, and Madison’s coming in from D.C. She’s actually working another case right now, so she won’t have a lot of time, but I faxed her everything we’ve got so she’ll already be up to speed when she gets here. She’s a hell of a profiler. And when you combine that with Tracy’s forensic expertise, hopefully, we’ll know a lot more by tomorrow night.”
    “And in the meantime, we’ve just got to hold the fort,” Drake said.
    “And pray that he doesn’t take someone else,” Hannah added, her attention on the computer screen. “What about erased emails? Is there any way to retrieve them? Maybe there’s a clue in something she got rid of.”
    “Already ahead of you,” Harrison nodded. “I contacted her Internet provider and they downloaded everythingthey had on their server. They refresh fairly frequently, so there’s not too much. And what was there was innocuous.”
    “What about IMing?” she asked, leaning closer as she studied the screen. “I see a link to AIM on her desktop.”
    “There’s nothing there either. Apparently she didn’t use it all that much.