up from his bed. Glancing at the clock, he moaned. Five a.m., who could be calling me this early. “This is Rob.”
“Rob, Hanson, this is Detective Schultz. Officer Jones gave me your number. I’m so—“
“I expected you to call me last night. I thought you’d forgotten about me. Do you have any leads about the case?”
“I’m afraid we found an unidentified body.” He paused. “She matches your description. I need you to come and meet me at the morgue.”
Rob’s heart sank like a deflated balloon. It can’t be Dana. “I’ll be there. Please give me the address.”
***
“Please to meet you,” Rob greeted Detective Schultz, a middle-aged man with a receding hairline and pronounced beer belly, who seemed more relaxed compared to the more serious Officer Jones.
“Thank you for coming in right away,” Detective Schultz shook Rob’s hand before signaling the examiner to lower the sheets.
The mixture of rubbing alcohol and blood made Rob dizzy. He flexed his hands back and forth wanting to escape the enclosed morgue.
Rob’s throat constricted as the body was displayed.
“Slashed throat and multiple beatings,” The examiner relayed to both of them.
“Oh, my God.” Covering his face, Rob vomited everything he ate earlier that evening on the floor.
Detective Schultz patted him on the back and gave him a towel. “Is this the woman you are talking about?”
Catching his breath and unable to look at the body again, Rob shook his head. “That’s not Dana. Thank God.” He stuttered.
The detective glanced at the examiner and gestured to leave them alone. The examiner nodded. “You’ll need to come with me to the station.”
“Oh, God. Who would possibly do this?”
***
At the station, Rob sat across from the detective’s office while he recorded their conversation. “State your name and your relationship to Dana Simmons.”
“I already told you in the car. I gave all the info to Officer Jones.”
“We need this for standard procedures.”
Rob followed his orders.
“And prior to Dana's disappearance, you never saw her?”
“I only saw her before she left for Alaska."
“And what where you doing at Ginny's cafe for the past two days?”
"You've been following me?" Rob leaned back.
The detective gestured for Rob to continue.
“Well, like I told Officer Jones, somebody left a fruitcake for Dana." He crossed his legs. “Wait a minute, are you trying to interrogate me? Shouldn’t you be investigating where Dana is?”
“Don’t you worry, I have my team taking care of all that.” He folded his arms, and the smile on his face disappeared. “What time were you at Ginny’s?”
Rob glanced at the ceiling. “After three o’clock.”
The detective shrugged. “Just standard questions. The woman who served you, Stacy Kestav, did you see her after that?”
His rendezvous with Stacy remained fresh on his mind—her luscious lips, vibrant personality… Something inside him wanted to see her again. "Why are you asking me about Stacy? I thought we were here to discuss about Dana. Is there anything wrong with Stacy?"
Detective Schultz's eyes were guarded.
“Detective, I wish you would cut to the chase.” Lips puckered, he added, “Like I said, I went to Ginny’s because the day my friend, Dana disappeared, she received a fruitcake from an anonymous person who bought it from Ginny’s. Take a look at this card." He handed it to the detective. "I was there to find clues.”
Detective Shultz read the card then leaned closer. “Stacy was reported missing by her parents a few hours ago. It hasn't been forty-eight hours yet. We suspect her disappearance has something to do with Dana.”
"What?"
Detective Schultz straightened his shoulders and looked at him straight in the eye. "It seems that these two women have one thing in common." He pointed at Rob. "You."
Clenching his fists, Rob blurted out. “This isn’t how it seems. When I was at the café, Stacy and I engaged in a