Chapter 78
SEVENTY-EIGHT
Dalton
While Cord searched the Glasser house from top to bottom and the medics treated Rhonda, Ellie slipped inside Lou Lou’s room.
Baby dolls and stuffed animals covered the pink comforter on the single bed.
Children’s books filled a bookcase against the wall and an open book about a snowy day lay on the bed.
Another shelf held other children’s toys including blocks, puzzles, crayons and paper.
A bright pink and purple unicorn painting hung on the wall.
Although Dana Jo had suffered a trauma, the child’s room told the story of a well-loved little girl.
Only now the toddler was in danger and her mother might be dead.
Sick at the thought, Ellie swallowed hard. She had to focus. Every minute counted.
Wrangling control of her emotions, Ellie hurried to the bathroom.
Cord poked his head inside the doorway. “House is clear. The little girl is definitely not here. I’ll look around outside now.”
“Thanks, Cord.”
He rushed down the steps, and Ellie pulled evidence bags from inside her jacket and collected Dana Jo’s and Lou Lou’s toothbrushes. She found a small pink hairbrush with an L engraved on it and placed it in another bag.
Two of the ERT members came up the stairs, and Ellie filled them in, then instructed them to focus on the stairs, hallway where Rhonda had fallen and Lou Lou’s room, although it was possible the killer might have touched the stairs or wall or left some forensics downstairs when he broke in.
After addressing them, she phoned her captain and asked him to arrange a press conference as soon as possible. “We need this story on the news ASAP and to circulate photos of Dana Jo and Lou Lou.”
“Copy. I’ll get the sheriff to send deputies to Midnight Ridge in case the killer takes Dana Jo there?”
“Good. I’ll call Derrick and after Cord finishes here, send Cord with a search team. I have a couple of Lou Lou’s toys for his SAR dog to use.”
“Good work, Detective.”
“We have to save these two,” she said. Terror clogged her throat. She couldn’t lose another young mother, much less another child.