Gladys’s expression softens a millimeter when she realizes I’m not attacking her.

To be perfectly honest, I spoke without thinking. I’m missing something. We’re watching a magic trick, but only seeing part of it. There’s something more. The Warlock wanted us here to see this. He probably stood right where I’m standing, just a few hours ago. Everything is planned. From the code on the FBI computer, the two killings two years apart, to this moment. We’re his intended audience. The show is only getting started.

I turn around as two county techs are preparing to pull Chloe’s body out of the ground.

Something is wrong.

I scream, “Stop!”

8

ALL EYES ARE on me. A deputy reflexively puts his hand on the butt of his gun. I sound like I’m insane. My voice is shrill and panicked.

I ignore the looks and run back to Chloe’s body.

“Just step back,” I tell the techs in a calmer voice.

They set down their plastic shovels and move away from the body, not sure if I’m making a threat. One of them looks for a supervisor to tell them how to handle the crazy woman yelling at them.

“What the hell, Blackwood?” Agent Shannon’s face is red with fury as he runs over to us.

“The body.” I point to her as I try to find the words to explain. “There are only two possibilities. It’s either Chloe McDonald or another girl. Either way, we know this girl only died a few hours ago. But we’re supposed to think that this is the same girl who died two years ago, yet miraculously came back to life and crawled out of her grave. Which we know is bullshit. We know it’s not Chloe.”

Shannon shakes his head. “How?”

I point to her bloody fingers. “Because her fingerprints would show us that. That’s why he made it look like she shredded them climbing out of the ground. So there wouldn’t be any. It’s misdirection. It’s the weakest part of the illusion, so he eliminated it.”

Something is still nagging at me. It’s the easiest way to explain why they shouldn’t touch the body. I still haven’t wrapped my mind around what’s really going on here. It’s bigger. So much bigger . . .

“The blood matched.” The ponytail tech’s voice is almost condescending.

I spin around. “So what? How much blood did you find in Chloe when you pulled her out of the bay? What do you want to bet we’ll find an IV somewhere on her body if we look closely enough. Maybe even inside a body cavity. Whoever killed Chloe took blood from her so he could put it in this girl’s veins.”

It’s just a theory, maybe one of many, but I have to stall them.

Gladys is shaking her head. “But we’d figure this out during an autopsy.”

I bite my lip as I stare down at Chloe’s, or whoever’s, face. It’s still screaming silently. “I know. He knows that. That’s why he doesn’t want it to happen. If it does, it destroys the illusion.” I step back and point to the body. “If it were me, I’d do something to the body. Rig it so that when you moved it, after you got the effect, it would somehow destroy the evidence. If it’s not her body, he doesn’t want us to find that out.”