Castleton Police Department

  Detective Mackey leans forward on his desk, studying notes dictated from his sound recorder. Dave stands beside the extremely tidy desk, arms crossed over his barrel chest. Out of nowhere, Detective Mackey claps his hands, startling Dave and a few others nearby.

  "So?" Mackey says, proud of himself. "Where do we find ourselves, Dave? What new information have we learned today?"

  Standing up from his chair, James heads over to a bulletin board situated on the back wall. Half of the board is intended for writing. Detective Mackey snatches a blue dry erase marker from the tray and begins drawing a venn diagram. Mackey peers back over his right shoulder, silently beckoning Deputy Newsome over. Newsome reluctantly complies. Mackey energetically scribbles on the whiteboard as he speaks.

  "We've gone back over the witness statements of nearly everyone. The gym's owner...Mr. Talbert. The janitor...Miss. Holt. The seven other patrons of the gym...Who were there around the same time as the missing Ms. Perry. And Rose's fiance...Mr. Blaine," Detective Mackey says, making hurried letters on the board. "We have learned...Firstly, that Rose entered the gym around five-thirty the evening of her disappearance. The other patrons remembered seeing her using the elliptical machine. The four men who left together stated she was still on the machine when they exited the gym. Only one patron, a man, remained."

  Mackey crooks an eyebrow at Dave, waiting for affirmation of his current assessments. Dave frowns and nods agreeably.

  "You're doing good. Keep going," Dave says sarcastically.

  "The men's stories are backed up by one of the gym's two working cameras. The two women claim they left before the men. They say Rose was perfectly safe at that time and in no foreseeable danger. The final patron to leave did so just after six o'clock. Rose was seen walking alone towards the showers around seven," Mackey pauses to collect his thoughts.

  Dave watches the younger man closer. Mackey's eyes have narrowed and he stares at the bulletin board with extreme intensity.

  "What are you thinking, James? Something is going on in that wily head of yours," Dave exclaims. "Spill it! You'll feel better."

  Mackey breathes in deeply and then taps the dry erase marker on his upper lip. He turns to Dave with a crooked smirk.

  "We're not looking for a regular patron of the gym," James says with confidence. "My point being...Someone knew which cameras were inoperable. None of the patrons who were seen on camera had an opportunity to accost Ms. Perry. And neither did Mike Blaine. All of the evidence points to the deceased having been murdered around the same time that Mr. Blaine was running around and making his frantic phone calls. His whereabouts that day have also been collaborated. If that is Rose Perry we have in the morgue, she wasn't murdered by any of our witnesses. Or Michael Blaine."

  "You think someone else was in that gym?" Dave pipes up. "Someone not on the camera?"

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  "Yep. I'm sure of it," Mackey confirms. "And that same person is the one who hid Rose's phone in the trash and stole her car from the parking lot. Rose is seen for a short distance heading for the hallway leading to the lot. After that, nothing. No headlights, no car drives off, she just vanishes into thin air. The abductor knew their way around the gym. And the cameras. Possibly a regular. Possibly not. Could have been a repairman. My guess is...They scoped out the place long before they took our girl."

  "I don't know, James," Dave says. "Just to be sure, we should go through the membership list for the gym. We compile our own list of repeat customers. Go through them one by one."

  "Alright. But first, we wait for confirmation that our girl is Rose Perry. Bertram down at the coroner's office should be getting back to me about the autopsy pretty soon. I told him to check for a tattoo. I don't remember seeing one."

  "Me neither," Dave confirms. "You're so sure this Mike guy is innocent, James. What if he made up that story about the rose tattoo to throw us off of the scent? I mean, he kept insisting that not many people knew about it. A very convenient thing to say if the tattoo doesn't really exist."

  Detective Mackey sighs heavily and places a hand on his left hip. He glowers at Dave, who glowers right back.

  "Why are you so certain that Mike Blaine is guilty, Dave? Why can't you give him the benefit of the doubt?"

  "Because I've seen too many cases of tyrannical boyfriends chopping up their mousey girlfriends, or their pretty wives, expecting men like us to come behind them and clean up the mess. While they walk around claiming things like temporary insanity or crimes of passion," Dave spits back. "I'm tired of that crap, James. I've had lovers who made me want to shoot off my gun before. But never at them! Never could I have laid a hand on a single one of those ladies. I don't give punks like Mike Blaine the benefit of the doubt. I'm not a judge or a juror. I'm here to whittle facts out of people who may not desire to give them. You wanna be the good cop? Fine. I'll be the baddie. Sometimes, being the bad guy gets results."

  Mackey is prepared to respond when his cellphone rings. Grabbing the phone from his front left pocket, James glances at the screen. His brow raises and he presses SEND.

  "Speak of the devil, Bertram," James intones. "What new information do you have for me?"

  On the other line, Bertram stutters slightly, his voice low and uncomfortable.

  "Mack, I've got some...Great news," Bertam flounders. "Not great. I mean, great in terms of helping your investigation. Rose Perry...May be your girl. There's no tattoo. However, in the same location on the Jane Doe's back...Where the fiance stated there would be a tattoo...A patch of skin is missing. Accounting for skin shrinkage and other post mortem changes in composition of the flesh...It could be a rose."

  James groans and shifts his phone to his other ear. He presses a thumb and index finger to his brow.

  "Oh. Damn!"

  "But that's not all," Bertam says, voice rising in pitch. "I found something rather odd inside the young woman's stomach. I'd like you to come down here and see it. Please."

  James mimes 'let's go' to Dave and makes a walking scissor motion with his left hand. Dave shoots Mackey a confused grimace.

  "We'll be right there, Bert. Give us twenty."

  James hangs up the phone and hustles through the operations room. Dave is right on the detective's tail. Once out in the parking lot, Dave heads for his truck. Detective Mackey whistles loudly and does a whirling motion with his finger.

  "Nuh-uh. My car. The gold Crown Vic on the end. We're not going to apprehend Bert. He just has something to show us. My car."

  Dave shrugs and follows James to his car. Both men climb inside and James fastens his seatbelt. He cuts his eyes over to Dave.

  "Buckle up, partner. You're in my domain now."

  Dave is barely in his seatbelt before Detective Mackey peels out of the parking lot.