As JJ and Reid walked across the parking lot to the SUV, JJ looked over at her long time friend.
"Spence?" she questioned tentatively. "Are you okay? Do you want to talk?"
"I'm okay," the answer was dismissive. "Nothing I can't handle."
As she stood unlocking the door of the SUV, however, JJ stole a surreptitious glance at Reid and couldn't help but noticed that he was resolutely keeping his eyes focused in the ground in front of him.
After a very quiet ride down some dusty dirt roads, the two agents found themselves sitting across from Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon in their tidy living room.
"I know this is hard for you," JJ began the interview. "But we need to talk with you about Dawn."
"We are trying to find any information we can that could help us get the person who did this to your daughter," Reid contributed. "Is there anything you can tell us?"
"We have already told the sheriff's deputy and the state police officer everything we could think of," Mr. Sheldon told them sadly. "There wasn't much."
"Dawn was so excited about finally graduating from high school," Mrs. Sheldon was trying not to cry. "She was planning on going to community college for a year or so until she decided what she wanted to study."
"Any boy trouble?" JJ asked.
"She didn't have a steady boyfriend," Mrs. Sheldon responded. "She dated several guys over the years, but nothing serious."
"Had she been acting different lately?" Reid inquired. "Nervous? Upset? Complaining about someone bothering her?"
"No," Mr. Sheldon sounded exasperated. "As we told the deputy, everything seemed normal."
Reid and JJ exchanged looks.
"Could we see her room?" JJ asked. "We just want to look around a little and get a feel for the type of person she was," she added quickly.
Mr. Sheldon looked at Reid and JJ sadly. "Okay, I guess," he told them. "Come this way." He led the way down a short hallway and slowly pushed open a door.
"As you can see, Dawn shared the room with her sister," he explained to the agents. "I'm having trouble believing she won't be coming back. The right side is – was – hers." He pointed.
As Mr. Sheldon stood in the doorway watching, Reid and JJ carefully went over the room.
"Nothing unusual," JJ reported as she replaced a reference book on the shelving unit which took up most of the back wall.
Reid was standing at a desk, looking at a laptop computer. He opened up his cell phone and pushed a well-used button.
"Garcia?" he spoke into the device. "Can you get into this computer?"
"Give me a minute or two," was the tech's response.
"Check and let me know if you find anything unusual - Okay?" he concluded his request.
"No problem," Garcia sounded unusually subdued. "And, Reid, are you okay?"
"Why wouldn't I be?"