Ned looked on with a worried expression on his face. “Do you think Rachel wrote it?” he asked. “Let me see that,” Lieutenant Heller said, holding out his hand. Mike glanced at the piece of paper as Nancy gave it to the lieutenant. “That’s Rachel’s handwriting, all right,” he said, his voice shaking. Nancy looked around the ransacked apartment. “What are you going to do now?” she asked the detective. “Ask for more manpower,” the policeman answered. He went back to the telephone and called the station in the same careful way he had before. Nancy turned to Rachel’s ex-boyfriend. “Are you okay, Mike?” The boy nodded glumly, but his grip on the jacket was still so tight that his knuckles glowed white. “I—I think I just need some fresh air,” he said haltingly. He stumbled toward the open door, and Nancy watched as he went down the hall. “This is hitting him hard,” Ned commented to Nancy. Nancy nodded thoughtfully. “He must still love her,” she replied.
