Chapter 43

And taken his phone. And worn his trainers, and probably dug the hoodie out of the hamper, too. And then there’s the back door to consider.

To be honest, it’s the door that scares Alan the most. Even the mess of cables in the living room could be explained away—Brooks isn’t the neatest of kids. But he wouldn’t have broken the door to get into the house and then what, leave? Alan doesn’t think so.

So he does what Jim suggests, going through his motions from the night before and this morning, too. Jim doesn’t want Alan to root through the clothes or bedsheets again, though. The scene has been disturbed enough.

The scene.Just calling it that makes Alan anxious.

When Jim is satisfied, they leave the other officers to the task of cataloging the mess in Brooks’ room. Alan shows Jim the bathroom, where the glass on the counter is now bagged as evidence, and is about to lead the way back downstairs when Jim stops him.

“Where’s that door go?”