CHAPTER 13

Matt was asleep on the couch in the office when CJ got there the next morning. His tie was off, his shirt was untucked and his hair was slightly rumpled. She carefully slipped off his boots and covered him with an afghan that she kept in her office, then turned off the ringers on the phones on either end of the couch, as well as the phone on the bar. When Chris arrived, CJ told her that Matt had been on a stakeout all night and to take messages for him so he could get some rest. She then closed the doors to the main part of the office and went into her office.

An hour later, Hoyt called to see if there had been any progress. "Matt's asleep, so it would seem that nothing happened last night. I talked to him about 11:00 and Osterhouse was snoring."

"We really need a break on this case soon. The captain is breathing down my neck." Hoyt knew that Houston was doing everything possible to solve the murders. "I'll keep after the lab on the hair and blood samples."

"Okay, I'll tell Matt to call you when he wakes up." She hung up the phone and went back to wondering about the wigs and women's clothing that Roy had found in Osterhouse's home.

Five hours later, Matt came into CJ's office carrying a cup of coffee. "Good morning. Somebody seems to have taken my boots off of me. You haven't seen a boot thief around here, have you?"

"Yep, I sure have." CJ got up and walked over to her husband and ran her fingers through his still-rumpled hair, then kissed him.

"I do believe last night was the loneliest night of my life." Matt put his arms around her and hugged her close.

"I know what you mean. I ended up sleeping in your recliner." CJ laid her head on his chest.

"We've got to get this case cleared soon. It's interfering with our work on the closet." He smiled and kissed her.

"Yeah, that's what Hoyt said, too. Not the part about the closet, though." She smiled up at him. "He wants you to call him."

"Oh, boy, this should be fun." He turned and went back into the main office to make the call.

After hearing Hoyt complain about the captain's lack of understanding and reassuring him that they were doing everything possible to solve the case, Matt went downstairs to shower, shave, and change clothes. When he came back upstairs, CJ was on the phone.

"Hang on, Hoyt, he just walked in. I'll put you on speaker." She punched a button on the phone. "Okay, go ahead."

"Houston, I just got the report from the lab on the wig fibers and the blood. The fibers from one of the samples that Roy took match what you found at the third crime scene. There was no DNA match on the blood sample but we don't have Osterhouse's DNA on file. They said that it is definitely from a male." Hoyt sounded a little more hopeful.

"So we need to see if we can get a DNA sample from Osterhouse. But that still doesn't prove that he committed the murders." Matt was stumped. "We're going to need more than that. A match would just prove that he was in the theater at some point in time, it doesn't prove that he's our killer."

"I know, but it seems like a step in the right direction. It's the biggest break we've had. Now if I could just figure out the black rose connection…" Hoyt reached for the antacids.

"We'll keep working on it. There's not much more that we can do other than keep up the surveillance on him." Houston felt sure that Osterhouse was their man. "I'll call you if anything happens, Hoyt." He hung up the phone and looked at CJ. "It's just got to be him, CJ. I'd bet the ranch on it. But we've got to have proof."

"There haven't been any other murders like these three committed during the week. Today is Wednesday. We have two more days until the weekend." CJ thought some more. "I'll call Hoyt back and see if the lab was able to tell him who the wig manufacturer was. Maybe I can track down the buyer?"

"Sounds like a great idea. Listen, I'm starved. How about I go find us some lunch while you work on the wig deal?" He leaned over and gave her a kiss.

"Good idea. I'll get right on it." She watched him walk out of the office and onto the elevator as she dialed Hoyt's number.