Already Seen (Laura Frost FBI)

The file loaded up, and Laura blinked. It was a list of names. It looked exactly like she would expect a class roster to look.

Across the top there were lists of dates, consecutively numbered. Where each column and row intersected, some were filled with green squares and others left blank. An attendance record?

“Which days of the week did Suzanna teach?” Laura asked, scanning the headers and working out the most recent dates.

“Wednesday nights and Saturdays,” Vicky said promptly.

Laura nodded. “Okay. We’ve got the class list. Have you got a printer here we can use?”

“Yes, of course,” Vicky said. She turned to start the printout going, and Laura looked at Nate and the Captain. She didn’t want to wait until they were all the way back at the station.

“Captain Mills, you have the list from Lucile?”

“Yes, I can access it remotely,” he said, tapping the pocket where Laura guessed he was storing his cell phone.

“Let’s get back to the station,” she suggested, prompting the Captain to nod and make his way outside.

“Here,” Vicky said, pointing to the printer that was whirring to life in the back of the room. “There’s two pages.”

“Thank you very much,” Laura said, moving to grab them as the printer spat them out. “We’ll be in touch with updates soon. For now, I’m afraid we have to get going.”

“Of course, of course,” Vicky nodded. “Don’t worry about me. Please – bring my sister’s killer to justice.”

Laura nodded gravely back, before turning to rush out of the building with Nate close on her heels. They both piled into the back of the car again, waiting for Captain Mills to bring up the list of Lucile Maddison’s students.

“Got it,” he announced, turning it to show them the screen.

“This isn’t in any kind of order,” Laura said, scanning the rows of the printout. “Can you sort yours alphabetically?”

“Yes,” Mills said, tapping on the screen a few times. “Do you want me to send this to you?”

“We’ll need it later, yes, but for now I need you to check each name as I call it out,” Laura said. “Do you have a Richard Loday?”

“… No,” Captain Mills said, his brow furrowed as he used his index finger to scroll up and down the screen.

“Jenny Pho?” Laura asked, as Nate gathered the second page of the printout ready to join in.

“Nothing on that one,” the Captain said. Laura had the uncomfortable feeling this was going to take a while.

***

“Caleb Rowntree,” Laura read again, going back to the entry she had been marking with a finger. The only name which was the same on both.

“We need to find out who he is, and where he is right now.”

“Can we give you a ride to a car rental?” Mills asked, checking his watch. “I’ve got another case to check in on, and I need Sergeant Thornton with me.”

“Excellent idea,” Laura said, as Thornton silently glanced in her mirrors and switched lanes to take them in a different direction. It would be good to get the chance to drive around on their own, without an escort. Being with the Captain all the time would get old, fast, and would mean potential clashes in their investigation style further down the line.

Right now, Laura just wanted to focus on the case. And that meant tracking down and talking to Caleb Rowntree – and hoping that he was the killer, so she could end all of this and get back home to ensure things were going smoothly with Amy.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Laura got behind the wheel of the car, assuming the driving detail at least for the first leg of their trip. Nate did not argue with her, but as he settled into the passenger seat, she could sense that he was unsettled. She could almost count in her head the seconds it would take for him to take a breath and ask her what was on her mind.

Three, two…

“Laura,” he said, shifting in his seat uncomfortably. “About the laptop.”