Unknown Means by Elizabeth Becka

this guy in. At least if we find him, we’ve got him. DNA tells all.”

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    Tony swayed a bit, balancing on the balls of his feet. “Do you want to call your boyfriend and tell him, or should I?”
    “No, you call him.” She had to smile as he bustled off. Sharing a forensic find with law enforcement was one of the satisfactions of the job. Otherwise, all the facts and figures they established were written into a report, put in a file, and stored in a cabinet. A great deal of their work never helped, never made a difference, because it didn’t find its corresponding unknown on the other side of the investigative equation. It just passed through and kept on going, into a vacuum.
    As this DNA evidence might, if they never found the guy.
    EVELYN MOVED through the self-opening doors at Metro General Hospital, promising herself she would stay only ten minutes. It would not help Marissa for Evelyn to sit and stare at her, and Evelyn had a daughter at home waiting for their traditional Tuesday taco night.
    She entered the elevator, lost in thought, not noticing the other occupants until one with a small notebook and very high heels stepped closer.
    “Hi!” the woman said brightly. “Clio Helms, Plain Dealer.
    Aren’t you Evelyn James?”
    “Um, yes.”
    Clio Helms had toasted-almond skin, dimples, and way more energy than Evelyn felt like coping with at the moment. “Are you here to visit Marissa?”
    “Yes.” And it’s Ms. Gonzalez to you, honey.
    “Was she attacked by the same man who killed Grace Markham?”
    Evelyn forced her features to relax and spoke calmly. “All questions should be directed to the medical examiner, Elliott Stone. The office will be open in the morning.”
    “But you’re investigating the case. How about an update?”
    “The case is being investigated by Homicide Detectives Riley

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    and Milaski. I’m sure the Cleveland PD spokesperson can assist you.”
    “Marissa Gonzalez’s future mother-in-law isn’t too crazy about the upcoming nuptials, is she?”
    Evelyn looked at the woman now, with narrowed eyes. “I’m not sure what you’re implying, but it sounds pretty absurd so far.”
    The reporter gave a ladylike snort. “Hey, my sister was knifed by one of her bridesmaids—nothing gets emotions going like a wedding.”
    Evelyn shook her head. “Sorry, but I can’t see it. Is this four?
    Could you push four, please?”
    “Don’t police have a duty to let the tenants of the Riviere know that they are under attack?”
    I think having cops there all day probably tipped them off, Evelyn thought. The doors parted, at last, letting in a puff of antiseptic air. “Excuse me.”
    The reporter stood between Evelyn and the hallway. “Do you have a suspect? Why does he attack rich women?”
    “Excuse me.”
    “Come on, Evelyn, help out a fellow working woman here. It’s tough being in print media. I’m up against the talking heads on Channel Fifteen.”
    Any shred of patience Evelyn had left evanesced like fog in sun-light. “You ain’t my sister, honey, and I’m not the spokesperson for the Medical Examiner’s Office. I’m a working mom who hasn’t slept or seen her kid in two days, so how about helping me out?”
    “Does the suspect work at the Riviere?”
    Words, obviously, were useless. Evelyn pushed forward to sweep past Clio and her notebook into the fourth-floor hallway. She did not look back until she had reached Marissa’s room. A phalanx of nurses had stopped Clio Helms at the border of Intensive Care.
    Inside the room, Mama Gonzalez kept an exhausted watch over her child. The setting sun crept around the edges of the draperies, casting a rose tone onto Marissa’s pallor; her chest moved up and

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    down and the EKG monitor reported a steady heartbeat, but the patient’s skin seemed to have sunk onto her bones until her cheekbones stood out, stark and cold.
    Evelyn turned to the older