“Designer babies,” I said. “Yeah, I can see Katarina going for something like that. Artificial insemination would give her total control over the child rearing, no emotional entanglements. . . . At five months she'd probably be showing. That's why the killer concentrated on her belly—focused his anger there. Wiping out de Bosch's line.”

He frowned.

I said, “Maybe the sperm bank's card was chosen for the message for that same reason. The way it was pinned under the murder weapon was deliberate—setting the scene. It's all a big ritual for him.”

The waitress brought the food. A look at our faces erased the smile on hers.

I said, “He's trying to obliterate everything associated with de Bosch. And once again, he used a weapon he found on hand. Turning the victim against herself—insult and injury. Trying to reverse what he thinks was done to him. But he must have brought another weapon with him, to intimidate her.”

“His fists could have been all he needed for that. Lots of bruises around her eyes.”

“Did he hit her hard enough to knock her out?”

“Hard to tell without an autopsy, but Sally said the coroner didn't think so.”

“If she was conscious, why didn't anyone hear her scream?”

“Sometimes people don't scream,” he said. “Lots of times they freeze and can't get a sound out. Or the head blows could have stunned her. Even if she did scream, it might not have helped. Neighbors on both sides are away, and the ocean blocks out lots of sound to begin with.”

“What about other neighbors? Didn't anyone see someone enter the property?”

“No one's come forward yet. Sally and Steen are gonna do a door-to-door canvass.”

“Sally said the house was a mess. Did she mean poor housekeeping or a toss?”

“A toss. There was overturned furniture, ripped upholstery.”

“Rage,” I said. “Or he could have been looking for old school records. Something that might incriminate him.”

“Getting rid of the evidence? He's been bumping off people for years, why start covering now?”

“Maybe he's getting more nervous.”

“My experience is just the opposite,” he said. “Killers acquire a taste for it, enjoy it more and more and get careless.”

“Hope he did get careless and you find something in there.”

“It'll take a couple of days to do a thorough workover.”

“From the outside, the place looked sealed up. If I hadn't seen the breakfast dishes, I would have assumed Katarina was out of town. The killer must have closed the drapes after he killed her, then tossed in peace.”

“Like you said, it's a ritual, something he sets up carefully.”