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adding my own prints to whatever prints might be there.
    â€œProfessor?” I repeated. “You in here?”
    Still no answer. I opened the door and warily peeked around the corner. The mess in this room was a mirror of the first; the sheets and blankets were torn from the bed, the mattress flung against one wall, the dresser drawers half-out and their contents strewn across the floor. Someone really had done a number on this place, but where the hell was Mark?
    My gaze went to the small en-suite bathroom and I swallowed heavily. But just because it was closed didn’t mean he was dead inside—and even if he
was
, it wasn’t like I hadn’t seen a corpse before.
    I forced my feet forward, stepping carefully across the mess, and repeated the tissue processwith the en-suite door. The destruction was repeated even here, but Mark wasn’t inside.
    Relief slithered through me. I swung around, my gaze sweeping the room. Whoever was responsible for this had obviously been looking for something, but what? It wasn’t like Mark had a whole lot. He lived and breathed his work, and his apartment held little more than basic facilities and his mountains of leather-bound books. He had money—and plenty of it—but you wouldn’t think it looking at either this place or the man himself.
    I moved back out into the living area and across to the kitchen. Same result—utter mess and no Mark.
    Where the hell was he?
    â€œEmberly?” His voice rose out of the silence behind me. I swung to see him enter the apartment and stop, his brown eyes going wide. “What the hell has been going on?”
    His gaze came to mine, his expression almost accusing. I grimaced. “I was about to ask you the same thing, Professor. Ms. Chase sent me over here to find you, as you have a meeting with investors in”—I paused and glanced at my watch—“just over twenty minutes.”
    â€œI know. The damn batteries in my watch stopped and I didn’t realize the time. I just came back to get my presentation notes.” Meaning he’d been breakfasting at the local café again. He raked a hand through his wiry gray hair and added,“Guess there’s no use looking now. I’ll have to wing it.”
    He looked so out of sorts I felt sorry for him. “Do you want me to stay and attempt to clean up? And call the police?”
    â€œThat would be extraordinary if you could.” He gave the mess a somewhat despairing look. “I wouldn’t know where to start.”
    I smiled. I was used to mess, having shared my many lives with Rory. But for someone as meticulous as Mark, this had to be a harrowing sight. “It’s no problem. Just make sure you clear it with Ms. Chase.”
    He nodded. “Thank you, Emberly. This is very much appreciated.”
    I shrugged. He gave the mess around me another sweeping, somewhat despairing look, then muttered something under his breath and walked out.
    I closed the door, then called the cops and basically did nothing until they arrived. Abby rang to confirm that she’d clocked me in and all I had to do was come back to clock out whatever time I finished. The cops took some pics and my statement, then dusted a couple of items and basically left me to it. They weren’t expecting any evidence to lead them to the culprit and neither was I.
    By the time five p.m. rolled around, the place was more or less respectable, and the only item I could see missing was his desktop computer. Interestingly, they hadn’t found his laptop—it was still safe in its hidden compartment in the desk. Ihad no idea whether all his paperwork was present, but I left it stacked in piles for him to go through at his leisure. After washing my hands, I picked up my jacket and returned to work.
    I found Mark back in the lab. He looked up somewhat distractedly as I entered the secure, sterile environment and blinked a little before recognition