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girl. That’s all I can say with any certainty. We scanned her fingerprints and entered them into the system. We’re looking for a match. If she doesn’t have a record, though, we’re going to have to find another way to identify her.”
    “And there are no missing girls who match her description in this part of the state?”
    “None.”
    “Well … that sucks,” Jack grumbled. “It’s going to be pretty darned hard to track down a motive and an assailant if we don’t know who the victim is.”
    “I agree,” Brian said. “How long have you been working on those symbols?”
    “About two hours.”
    Brian made a face. “Don’t you sleep?” He glanced at the clock on the wall. “That means you got in here at five.”
    Jack shrugged. “So?”
    “That’s five in the morning,” Brian said. “You shouldn’t be up at that hour, let alone at work.”
    “I thought you were a farmer. Aren’t farmers supposed to be up at the crack of dawn? Aren’t they supposed to like it?”
    Brian rolled his eyes. “I’m not that much of a cliché.”
    Now it was Jack’s turn to make a face. “You’ve got a very interesting personality.”
    “Right back at you.”
    Jack turned his attention back to his screen. “I’m not sure where else to go to look for answers on these symbols,” he said, trying to return the focus of the conversation to the case. “I just can’t find them anywhere online. I’ve gone to a bunch of different sites – anything even remotely related to pagan symbols – and I have nothing.”
    “I have a suggestion for that if you’re interested in listening,” Brian said.
    Jack waited.
    “You should show them to a witch.”
    Brian fought to keep his mouth from twitching when he saw Jack shift uncomfortably in his seat. He couldn’t decide if it was excitement or dread fueling the man. Both were interesting options, though.
    “You think I should show these to Ivy Morgan?” Jack asked. “How is she possibly going to be able to help?”
    “I’m not sure that she can,” Brian admitted. “She’s still the best option we have. Instead of sitting here and spinning your wheels you should at least open yourself up to the possibility that Ivy might be able to help.”
    Jack frowned, rubbing the back of his neck as he considered how to proceed. “I actually took the photos out to her place last night,” he said. “I already considered she might be able to identify the symbols.”
    “Oh,” Brian said, disappointed. “She didn’t recognize any of them?”
    “I didn’t get the chance to ask her,” Jack said, wrinkling his nose. “She was … otherwise engaged.”
    “I’m going to need more information to know what you mean by that.”
    “She was with her boyfriend,” Jack said. “I didn’t feel like interrupting them. They seemed to be having a good time.”
    Brian furrowed his brow, confused. “What boyfriend? Last time I checked Ivy didn’t have a boyfriend.” He was pretty sure she hadn’t had a boyfriend in years.
    “I don’t know who it was,” Jack said. “He was a tall guy, a little over six feet if I had to guess. He had dark hair and he was well built. They spent some time in the yard talking and then they took off in the woods together. I’m guessing they were going for a walk.”
    “You spied on them?” Brian was starting to enjoy himself.
    “I went out to take a look at the crime scene again, and I was hoping Ms. Morgan would be able to identify the symbols,” Jack said. “Once I saw the … good time … she was having with her boyfriend, I didn’t want to interrupt them. Although, now that I think about it, we should probably find out who her boyfriend is and question him.”
    Brian smirked. “I’ll get right on that.”
    “You don’t seem to think he’s a suspect,” Jack said. “Do you know who he is?”
    “It sounds like Max,” Brian said, unruffled.
    “Who is Max? How long have they been dating?”
    Brian stilled, Jack’s question taking