“Except they have been. Maybe the reporter is sleeping with the coroner. Who knows?”

“How do you know all of this?” Amarok asked.

“I did a Google search,” he replied with a cocky shrug. “Beacon Point Mental Hospital. Look it up. I’m guessing it’s the only time something like this has happened since the hospital opened its doors. It’d be quite a coincidence if a convicted felon escaped from Beacon Point the same day a janitor from the same place was murdered, don’t you think?”

Amarok didn’t want to give him too much credit, not when he was acting so smug. “I think it’s worth looking into.”

“If you need any more help, you know where to find me!” Jasper called after him.

Ignoring that last salvo, Amarok had the guard let him out and nearly bumped into Dr. Ricardo, who was charging down the hall.

“I heard you’d arrived,” he said as the CO who’d been waiting to escort Jasper back to his cell ducked into the room behind them.

Amarok nodded by way of greeting. “Yes, but I’m already leaving.”

When Amarok circumvented Ricardo, the neurologist turned and started jogging to keep up. “Was it worth the trip, at least?”

“If what Jasper is telling me is true, yes. Thanks for the call.”

“You bet, but”—he stepped in front of Amarok—“before you leave…”

Amarok couldn’t wait to find out more about the janitor who’d been murdered in Minnesota. Maybe he’d left something behind that would indicate where Bishop was going, what he had planned. “What is it?”

“I think you should see something.”

Amarok didn’t want to be interrupted. Not now. “What? Does it have anything to do with Evelyn’s disappearance?”

“It might. Since you’re here, why don’t you take a look?”

15

Hilltop, AK—Saturday, 6:00 p.m. AKDT

“It’s very faint,” Dr. Ricardo said. “Can you see it?”

Amarok could see it, but he couldn’t believe anyone had noticed it. “Who found this?”

“Penny. After you told her that Dr. Talbot had to have been meeting someone for the day she went missing to play out as it did, she’s been going through everything. The mail Evelyn has received. Her files, in case she jotted something on the jacket of one. The bits of paper that we sometimes leave in the labs. The message pads we keep in the interview rooms. Whatever she can think of.”

“She thought to check the conference room?” he asked incredulously. At first glance, the room appeared as clean as it was empty, the pad next to the phone blank. He’d looked the day Evelyn had gone missing, and nothing had changed since.

“Not at first. Penny came in here to make sure it was set up for Monday’s staff meeting and remembered that Evelyn had been working in this room lately. This big table gives us space to spread out our files, which is why we all like it. Anyway, Penny noticed the pad, checked it and saw the imprint of the writing, at which point she hurried to get me. She thinks it might be something Evelyn jotted down.”