Naomi Fisher sat across the steel-gray table, her posture rigid, unyielding as if mirroring her resolve. She looked healthier now. Well-rested, well-fed, rehydrated. And more than a little nervous. The interrogation room was stark, fluorescent lights casting a harsh glow on the proceedings.
Tori observed Naomi's every move, her gaze unwavering. The suspect's eyes darted around the room, her fingers tapping nervously against the cold metal of the table. A seasoned interrogator, Tori knew all too well the signs of someone trying to gather their thoughts, masking their intentions behind a facade of innocence.
"Ms. Fisher," Tori began, her voice firm but not unkind, "you know why you’re here.”
“I don’t, really.” She glanced at Javi. “He said it had something to do with our earthquake response teams?”
“And the murders surrounding them.”
"Murders?" she frowned. "What are you talking about?
Javi cleared his throat, stepping forward. "We have reason to believe that the recent incidents involving the earthquake response teams are more than just unfortunate accidents. There's a pattern emerging, Ms. Fisher."
Naomi's eyes widened slightly, a flicker of horror crossing her features before she masked it with a look of confusion. "I-I don't understand. I'm just here to help. I want to find those missing hikers, not... not be involved in any murders."
Tori leaned in closer, her gaze piercing. "But there's one particular detail that caught our attention, Ms. Fisher. Each time someone died in an earthquake, your team was on site."
Naomi's mask of innocence faltered for a moment before she recomposed herself. "I'm a volunteer search and rescue member. Of course, I would be near the area when someone is in danger."
"We get that," Javi nodded, his tone gentle but insistent. "However, we found it odd that you were on scene for all three victims as quickly as you were.”
“My team and I go a lot of places. Jason, Cammie, myself—we’ve been doing this together for years. And now you come with accusations?”
“So you deny the coincidence?”
Naomi's composure started to slip further, her eyes darting between Tori and Javi. "I swear, I had nothing to do with this! I was just trying to help these poor people."
Tori exchanged a knowing glance with Javi before sliding a folder across the table to Naomi. It displayed a picture of their first victim.
"Ms. Fisher," Tori began, her voice steady, "we need to understand your whereabouts during the time of Sarah's murder."
Naomi’s lips parted, but her voice was a fortress. "I had nothing to do with any of this," she declared, every word etched in conviction. "At the time of Sarah's death, I was live, coordinating relief efforts on-air. Scores can attest to that. I already told him.” She pointed at Javi.
Tori exchanged a glance with her partner. He gave a subtle nod towards the door.
Tori sighed, and followed him out into the hall.
“Like I said,” Javi murmured once the door closed. “She’s not budging. She did give us footage.”
“She seems sincere,” Tori replied. “Or at least she knows her alibi will check out.”
“We can listen to it again, if you want,” Javi replied. “Watch the reel?”
She nodded. The two of them walked away from the room, down the hall. Back in their borrowed office, Javi produced the footage they had obtained of Naomi's broadcast. They played it, watching as Naomi's on-screen counterpart directed emergency services with professional calm.
"Let's go through it again," Javi said, pausing the footage at key moments. "We're looking for overlaps—anything off about the timeline."
They scrutinized each frame, comparing timestamps to the coroner's report detailing the exact time of death. Tori's mind worked like a storm, relentless and focused. She sought the anomaly, the gust against the grain.
"Here," Tori pointed, "the broadcast jumps. A cut. Could be routine editing, or it could be something else."
"An alibi is only as solid as the evidence supporting it," Javi murmured, his eyes not leaving the screen. "We need to verify the continuity of this footage."
"Exactly," Tori concurred. They needed hard facts, not just the persuasive wave of Naomi's words. If there was a gap, even a minute one, it could suggest that Naomi had stepped away long enough to...
"Could she have recorded parts of the broadcast earlier?" Javi speculated, voicing the question lingering in Tori's mind.
"Let's find out." Tori's determination was undeterred by the polished sheen of Naomi's alibi. There was always a pattern, an inconsistency. For Sammy's sake and the victims', she would find it.
The ticking clock on the wall seemed to echo the urgency of their task. With each second slipping by, another piece of the puzzle beckoned. They had to dig deeper, past the layers of Naomi Fisher's carefully constructed narrative until they hit the bedrock of truth.
Tori's fingers flew over the keyboard, cross-referencing timestamps and satellite feeds, while Javi hunched over a stack of printouts. Despite their meticulous efforts to trace every second of Naomi Fisher's on-air alibi, they found themselves ensnared in a web of flawless continuity. There was no disputing the clarity of the footage or the live interactions with the audience that anchored Naomi firmly in her studio at the time of Sarah's murder.
"Nothing," Tori finally admitted, frustration etching lines across her brow as she pushed away from the computer. "She's tight on air the whole time."
Javi sighed, massaging the back of his neck where tension had taken root. "I can't find a single discrepancy either. It's like chasing shadows."
"Then we're missing something," Tori insisted, her gaze sharpening as it met Javi's. "There has to be a blind spot we're not seeing."
"Or," Javi said slowly, "we're looking at the wrong target." He looked at her, his eyes reflecting the weight of their shared responsibility. "We need to consider that Naomi might just be another piece in this puzzle, not the one putting it together."
Tori nodded, the cogs in her mind already turning. They were trained to follow the evidence, not their gut instincts, and yet she could feel an unease settling over her.
"Let's regroup, take it from the top," she suggested, her voice steady despite the uncertainty. "The accidents, the victims... there's got to be a connection we're overlooking."
"Agreed," Javi replied, standing up and beginning to gather the scattered papers. "We'll canvas the accident sites again, interview the first responders. Someone must've seen something off."
"Right," Tori affirmed, her mind racing through the possibilities. "And let's not forget the survivors. Maybe they noticed something the victims didn't."
As they filed the evidence back into its respective folders, their shared silence was filled with unspoken understanding.
The night had draped itself over the city, a shroud that seemed to promise concealment for its darkest secrets. Tori's fingers drummed an uneven rhythm on the steering wheel of their unmarked sedan as they cruised through the hushed streets. Beside her, Javi's eyes were half-lidded, not in sleep but in deep thought, his mind undoubtedly churning with the same questions that plagued her.
"Another dead end," she murmured, breaking the stillness of the car. Javi shifted, turning to face her with a look that was both weary and resolute.
"Maybe," he conceded, "but we're not out of moves yet."
Tori nodded, her gaze fixed on the road ahead. She could feel the pressure of time against them, palpable as the chill seeping through the glass. The killer was out there, emboldened by their every failure to connect the dots, likely plotting the next strike. The thought spurred a fresh wave of determination, coursing through her like electricity.
"We need to push harder," she said firmly. "Revisit the crime scenes, talk to more witnesses. Someone, somewhere, has to know something that can blow this case wide open."
"Agreed," Javi replied, the corners of his lips twitching upward in a small, grim smile. "We've come too far to let this slip through our fingers."
They pulled up outside the motel, the building a silent guardian in the darkness. As they stepped out of the car, Tori paused, taking a deep breath of the cool air.
"Let's call it a night," Javi suggested, noting the fatigue etched into her features. "We'll start fresh in the morning."
Tori nodded again, more slowly this time. "First light," she agreed. "We'll hit the ground running."
Javi clapped her on the shoulder, a gesture of solidarity that needed no words. Together, they entered the motel, their minds already racing toward the dawn of a new day and the renewed hunt for a killer.
Tori could only hope he wasn’t out there… lurking in the dark and preparing to strike again.