When Makita licked his hand, he started toward his truck, but before he could reach it, the door opened again and a teenage girl, their youngest daughter—a caboose born a decade after the last child—poked her head out. “Sergeant Murphy?”

He pivoted to face her. “Yes?”

“I don’t know if this means anything, but I saw a man I’ve never seen before in town earlier. He was driving a blue carpet-cleaning van. It had yellow writing on the side.”

“A carpet-cleaning van? Could you make out the company name?”

“No. That part had been painted over. It just said carpet cleaning. But he didn’t look like any kind of carpet cleaner to me.”

“What did he look like?”

“He was sort of scary. He had this terrible scar on one eye.”

“Where did you see him?”

“At the Quick Stop. I was at work, talking on the phone to my boyfriend, when he pulled up. After he left I mentioned that some guy had come in with a nasty scar who made me sort of nervous, and my boyfriend joked that he’d probably just been released from Hanover House.”

“What time was it?”

“Now that I’m a senior, I get out at noon, so I’ve been starting earlier. I hadn’t been at work long, so … around one?”

The timing was certainly suspect. Evelyn had gone missing shortly after. “What was he wearing?”

“Camouflage pants and a Black Sabbath T-shirt.”

“Do you remember anything else about him? The color of his eyes, maybe?”

“Just that scar that barely missed his eye and the fact that he was all roided out, like The Rock.”

“Would you say he was as tall as The Rock?”

“I don’t know how tall The Rock is, but he wasn’t short.”

“How old?”

“Maybe … thirty?”

“Did he speak to Garrett? Have an accent?”

“Didn’t say much. Just asked for a pack of Camels. From what I could tell, he didn’t have an accent.”

“Did he mention me or Evelyn? Ask where I lived? Where Hanover House was?”

“No.”

Which, if this stranger was the culprit, meant he probably already knew. The question was … how? And how did he know Evelyn would be home at such an unusual time of day? That was the part that puzzled Amarok the most. He’d checked her schedule, spoken to the other doctors and staff at HH. Other than meeting him at the Moosehead, no one knew of any appointments she’d made. And she certainly wouldn’t have hired someone to clean their carpets. They had only hardwood floors. “How’d you see what he was driving?”

“I was by the door when he got there.”

“Did you happen to get his license plate number?”

“No. I was too preoccupied with the sight of him, and I didn’t follow him out when he left. I was just glad to see him go.”

“Thanks, Kaylene.”

She gave him a shy but sympathetic smile. “I’m sorry for what you’re going through. I know it wasn’t your fault—what happened to Sandy. You were against the prison coming here. I did a report on it in eighth grade and interviewed you. I’m not sure if you remember.”