“He was in a suit, one of those SCBA suits, an oxygen tank on his back. His face was behind the plastic, and it was too dark to make him out.” In Izabel’s memory, where the killer’s head should have been, it looked like a black void, like outer space.

“The lights would’ve gone on in the house, when the house was damaged.”

“Yes.” Izabel’s memory changed a little. A stripe of light bent over the plastic. “It only made a glare over the mask.”

“Were his hands out?”

“No.” But then she shook her head. “Maybe they were.”

“Try to remember.”

Izabel tried, and then said, “I can’t remember.”

“How tall was he?”

“Taller than I am. I don’t know.”

“How tall?”

“About six feet I guess.”

“Unremarkable,” Paz said. “Not so tall or short to notice.”

“Yes.”

“Weight?”

“Average.”

“Did the suit pull on him?” Paz asked, gesturing across her stomach with both hands.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“So thin then?”

“Yes,” Izabel said.

“Then what happened?”

“I ran into the house, and the three of them were on the floor. The man was closest to the door but I couldn’t wake him. I went to the woman and she woke and went for my mask. That’s when she scratched me. I went to her daughter.”

“You left the woman when she was alive?”

“I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You could have saved her,” Paz said.

“It didn’t feel like I could.”

“They all would have died,” Andy said.

“You don’t know that,” Paz said.

“None of us can know,” Andy said. “Can she keep going?”

“I don’t need to hear more. You got the daughter, you put down the seal, you turned on the filter, they came and picked you up—we have the recording from emergency services.”

“What about my family?” Izabel said.

“This thing about the car?”

“It wasn’t at the house when I came out.”

“We found the car back at the car park,” Paz said. “It went exactly as you programmed it. Stopped at the house with the attack, went to your house, went back to the car park. We dusted for prints, hairs, anything. The car was clean. We don’t know why it continued to your house, but it doesn’t mean he took the car.”

“Not even my prints were in the car?”

“You an inspector now, Izabel?”

“It’s just, if someone wiped it down—”

“I know what it means,” Paz said, “and I’m looking into it.” She slapped her knees again as she got up. “We’re done.”

“What happens now?” Izabel asked.

“You’re released.”

“But we can’t go home. It’s not safe.”

“I’m not sure anywhere in this town is particularly safe right now,” Paz said.

“Our application was approved,” Izabel shouted. “We can leave.”

“That’s been revoked.”