Flashback (Kendra Michaels #11)

Kendra had opened the door of her condo to see that the place was a wreck. A repeat of Paula Chase’s home, with almost every square inch of floor space covered with papers, silverware, and knickknacks from her emptied drawers, shelves, and refrigerator.

As she glanced over the mess, she saw that every item of value was present and accounted for.

TV? Check.

Laptop? Check.

Ridiculously expensive stereo system? Check.

She whirled around. One thing was missing.

The Morgan sisters’ case files. Shit! There was no trace of them. The three file boxes and dolly were gone. It was clearly what her intruder was after.

Her hunch at the murder scene had been correct. Somebody really wanted to get their hands on those files.

But why?

An hour later, Detective Perry and a pair of uniformed officers were at Kendra’s condo, trying their best to step around the mess in her foyer and living room.

Perry surveyed the scene. “After what happened to Detective Chase, I’d say you’re lucky you weren’t home.”

“Maybe,” Kendra said. “But now we’ve lost those files.”

“We’ll dust for prints, but our suspect probably wore gloves. That was the story at Chase’s house.” Perry looked at the three heavy-duty dead bolt locks on her door. “You’re well fortified here. Good locks and a steel-reinforced frame. Difficult locks to pick, but that looks like exactly what happened.”

“I think so, too. I was assured these were almost impossible to defeat.”

“They usually are, at least to almost any sneak thief I’ve ever met. We work with a former burglar who speaks to neighborhood watch groups about the best ways to protect their homes. He recommends a couple of these same locks. You’re pretty much doing everything right. If anything, this may be a bit of overkill. Three dead bolts?”

“I’ve had problems in the past. A couple of my investigations followed me home.”

Perry made a face. “No wonder you’re so reluctant to take on these cases. Anyway, Detective Chase also had good locks and even an alarm. Whoever this is, they know what they’re doing. A far cry from your typical residential burglar.”

Kendra looked down at the floor. “This is strange.”

“Your condo getting tossed? I guess ‘strange’ is one way of looking at it.”

She walked from her living room to the front door. “No, I mean… That dolly with the files was heavy. The wheels would have made impressions on all the papers and photos on the floor between the living room and foyer. But I don’t see a single mark.”

He stared at the floor. “Neither do I. You think they moved the cart out and trashed your place afterward?”

“Why would they do that? It doesn’t make sense.” Kendra opened her door and walked down the hallway. Perry joined her. She pointed to the floor, where the fine carpet nap showed the path taken by the dolly’s twin wheels. “It was rolled to the elevator.”

“Yes. Then out the building’s front door?”

She bit her lip. “There’s a security camera in the main lobby. Why go that way when there are two other exits where it’s easier to slip out unnoticed?”

“You said the dolly was heavy.”

“Still not that difficult to roll down a step at a time. Our burglar seems too thorough to risk going out the front door.”

“You never know. We’ll look at the security cam footage. I’ll talk to the building manager.”

Something else occurred to Kendra. “Follow me.”

“Are we going to the manager’s office?”

“No.”