The Seventh Victim Read Online Free PDF Page B

hooked up.”
    “She date anyone?” Beck said.
    “No. She was all about the job and getting to New York,” Janice said. “She even started wearing lots of black because she said everyone in New York wears black.”
    “She’s not had any trouble? And I mean anything?” Beck said.
    “No.” Janice fingered a dangling silver earring.
    Lindsay chewed her bottom lip. “She got along with everyone.”
    Not everyone , Beck thought. “Thanks, ladies. We do appreciate your time.” He took down their contact information and gave them his card, instructing them to contact him if anything new came to mind.
    Lindsay stared at Beck’s card. “Texas Rangers. What happened to Gretchen?”
    “We’re just asking questions right now. Nothing to report.”
    The girls frowned, clearly worried by his presence. But neither pressed the issue and they hurried down the hallway.
    When the manager opened the door, she stood back, all traces of annoyance replaced with curiosity and worry. “So what is going on?”
    Beck smiled. “Did she have a roommate?”
    “Each room is rented individually. The other gal in the apartment gave up her room in February when she dropped out of school. It being mid-semester, she was still on the hook for rent so we’ve not bothered to re-rent it. I heard she was trying a sublease, but it never happened.”
    “So Gretchen lived alone.”
    “For the last ten weeks or so, yes.”
    “I’m going to need all of Gretchen’s contact information. Parents, family, emergency contact.”
    The manager didn’t like having her question dodged, but she nodded. “Sure. Stop by the desk on your way out.”
    “Appreciate it,” Beck said.
    When the manager started to the elevator each Ranger pulled on rubber gloves. Beck snapped on the front entry light.
    The apartment was basic, but as college apartments went it was suitable. The foyer opened into a small kitchen, which led into a small living room furnished with a leather sofa and a chair. A collection of boxes were stacked high in the corner of the living room by an old television.
    “Looks like she was getting ready to pack,” Santos said.
    Beck glanced down at an open calendar on the counter. Notes were scribbled in the thirty-one blocks of May. He flipped to June and saw that the fourth was circled and in bold red ink Gretchen had scribbled Move! She’d been weeks away from starting a new chapter in her life.
    Down a short hallway were two bedrooms on the left and a bathroom on the right. The first bedroom was stripped bare, and furnished only with the stock bed and desk supplied by the apartment building. The next bedroom was a riot of purple bedding, pillows, and sheer curtains. Neatly laundered and folded clothes were piled high in a laundry basket by a desk that was covered with books and papers. Above the desk hung a collage picture frame with an assortment of black-and-white photos. Some shots appeared to have been taken in Austin, others at the beach, and others in New York. Gretchen was smiling in them all.
    Beck rubbed the back of his neck as he stared at the neatly made bed and the high-heeled shoes lined up beneath it. “She was organized.”
    “Hell of a sight better than my college dorm room.”
    Beck had lived at Henry’s when he’d gone to UT. It hadn’t been the fun ride lots of his friends had had, but he’d never been able to justify the extra rent. Plus, being at home, he’d been able to work in the garage during his spare hours. “I’ll have a check run on her financials. According to Missing Persons, she has no police record in Texas.”
    Santos leaned into a picture of Gretchen hugging a woman who could have been her mother. “Kid seemed to be doing everything right. Played by the rules.”
    Beck opened her closet. It was crammed full of clothes that came in every color but white. “She doesn’t seem partial to white.”
    Santos glanced over his shoulder. “The whole room is color.”
    Beck captured a red coat sleeve