“Daddy. She's free and easy with the ugly details, but it'll be impossible to verify—both parents and her only sibling, a brother, are dead.”

“Natural causes?”

“We're looking into it.”

“Convenient,” I said. “Everyone's a victim. I guess she could be telling the truth about being abused. First time I met her she told me violating a child's trust was the lowest, she could never work with abuse cases. Then again, she could have been toying with me—she and Coburg got off on playing games.”

“Even if it's true, it doesn't change the fact that she's a psychopathic witch. Couple of goddamn psychopaths—there's your two pathologies scenario.”

“The bond between them couldn't be that deep. It didn't take long for her to sell him out.”

“Honor among scumbags.” His drink came and he cooled his hands on the glass.

I said, “So what about Becky? What does Jean say the link was between her and Coburg?”

“She claims to have no idea what his motive was, there.” He smiled. “And guess what? He didn't have one, other than making Jean happy.”

“Becky was Jean's thing?”

“You bet. And that's what I'm gonna get her on. All her cooperation on the other murders isn't going to help her there, because I've got independent info on a motive: Becky and Dick Jeffers were having an affair. For six months.”

“How'd you find that out?”

“From the newly talkative Ms. Adeline Potthurst. Adeline saw Becky and Dick Jeffers together, sneaking off during a Christmas party at the center. Kissing passionately, his hand up her skirt.”

“Not very discreet.”

“Apparently Becky and Dick weren't—he used to come by to pick up Jean and end up talking to Becky, body language all over the place. The affair was semipublic knowledge at the center—I checked it out with some of the other workers and they confirm it.”

“Meaning Jean knew.”

“Jean knew because Dickie told her. I had a chat with him this morning—guy's a basket case—and he admitted everything. Six months of illicit passion. Said he was planning to leave Jean for Becky, and he let Jean know it.”

“How'd she react?”

“Calmly. They had a nice chat and she told him she loved him, was committed to him, please give it some thought, let's get some counseling, et cetera.”

“Did they?”

“No. A month later, Becky's dead. And there's no reason for anyone to make a connection—a nut hacking her up. The way I see it, it's just like you said: Jean and Coburg searched for a nut who could be manipulated to hack her up and came up with Hewitt—both of them had ties to him.”

“What was Jeffers' tie?”

“She was his therapist before transferring him to Becky—supposedly because of a heavy workload.”

“She told me Becky was the only therapist he had.”