Scene of the Crime: Bridgewater, Texas. Carla Cassidy

she’d never gotten a chance to start the preparations for a meal. The only thing on the table was a vase of long-stem red roses, roses that Matt stared at for a long moment as a muscle in his jaw worked overtime.

      “Let’s go see our victim and the scene of the crime,” he finally said.

      She nodded and steeled herself for death. The scent of it hung in the air as they went down the hallway. It was a smell more familiar to Jenna than the scent of her own mother.

      Matt paused in front of the master bedroom. “You okay?” he asked.

      “Right as rain,” she replied and then they both stepped into the room.

      Jenna couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped her as she saw the victim. Carolyn Cox in life had been an attractive brunette with blue eyes. She was clad in a pair of summer pajamas, the center of the blouse saturated with blood. On top of the blood sat a single red rose.

      Jenna shot a quick glance at Matt. “Is this how you found Miranda?” she asked. “With the rose on her chest?”

      He gave a curt nod as he stepped closer to the bed. “She doesn’t appear to have any defensive wounds.”

      “So, was she killed while sleeping or did she get up and answer the door?”

      “We’ll know more after Justin gets here,” he replied.

      “Justin?”

      “Our local undertaker and working coroner,” he said. He backed away from the bed and surveyed the room. Jenna walked over to the window and noted that it was locked.

      Jenna found herself looking everywhere but at the victim, afraid that Miranda’s face would be superimposed over Carolyn’s in her mind. “I’m going to check all the other windows in the house.”

      He nodded and she left the room. As she checked the other windows her mind whirled. The killer had staged the body with a rose. The rose meant something, but what?

      Behavioral analysis, that’s what she did best. Somehow she had to take the behavior and study it and come up with a profile that would help identify the killer. It was a high-stakes mind game with the built-in time line of catching him before he killed again.