Black Orchid Girls (Detective Amanda Steele)

“I’d say so.”

She wasn’t sure why a light of hope even sparked at this discovery. They still had to find a suspect and a murder weapon to compare.

Rideout told them he hadn’t gleaned much else and it was time to “dig in,” as he’d put it. Amanda and Trent hung around for a while and left at noon. Just before they did, Rideout told them that he’d released Chloe’s body on Wednesday. “As far as I know, the family has planned the funeral service for tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” she told him.

On the way to the car, Trent said, “So, we’re looking for left-handed killer with OCD.”

“He used his left hand to stab, anyway,” she amended, sticking to the technicality. “Just because he stabbed with his left, it doesn’t mean it’s the killer’s dominant hand. He could even be ambidextrous.” Her phone rang, and her heart sank at the caller ID. Trent kept walking to the car while she stopped and answered. “Hello, Deb.”

“I’m just calling to make sure you got my message yesterday. I haven’t heard from you.”

Amanda’s normal excuse would be her job, but that probably wasn’t advisable in a situation where she needed to prove herself readily available to the six-year-old girl she wanted to adopt. “I did. I apologize for not calling back.”

“I appreciate this isn’t an easy spot to be in, but we need to grant him this meeting.”

“When? Ah, where?” Details other than later that day hadn’t been part of Deb’s voicemail.

“Four o’clock. Here at our office in Woodbridge.”

“It might be a little tight with Zoe getting out of school at three thirty, but we’ll be there as close to four as we can.”

“See you then.”

“Yep.” Amanda hung up and found Trent milling about outside the car. He was pretending to be absorbed in something on his phone, but he looked up rather quickly as she started to approach.

“The adoption agency?” he asked.

“Yeah.” She’d have to tell Malone she’d be cutting out early. She’d also have to let Libby know she’d be picking Zoe up from school.

“Hope it all goes the way you want it to.”

She smiled at him. That was the best thing he could have said right then. If he’d gone all positive on her, she’d have lost it on him. She pointed at his phone. “You have something to share?”

“Uh-huh. We have the payment method from the Pick Me Up app. Now we’ll get a subpoena for the cardholder and be one step closer to our killer.”

Inch by inch…“And while we’re waiting on that, we also need to find out the time and location for Chloe Somner’s funeral. Her killer may very well show up.”