“But he’s been living here for days. Where’s his empty water bottles, used coffee cups, underwear on the floor?” Cooper said, opening the desk drawer to find more of James’s belongings. A laptop charger—the Trust agents had likely confiscated the laptop itself, already—two more books, three pens in a row. “I mean come on, who the hell puts their pens in a drawer?”

“Someone who likes order, control,” Park offered while Cooper searched the books: one on toxin-producing amphibians and the other on venomous snakes.

“I’m sensing a theme in his reading material,” Cooper said, showing the titles to Park. The inside flap of each book was stamped with the National Zoo logo.

“They must have some kind of reading section. Maybe at the visitor center? Or Sophie said they run a ton of educational programs and camps out of various buildings. Maybe they store these somewhere for reference and James borrowed them for some reason.”

“Because he was intensely researching natural poisons? Or because he needed an excuse to return to that space?”

“Worth checking out tomorrow,” Park said, and Cooper agreed.

They made quick, methodical work of the rest of the room, finding nothing else of interest. The dresser drawers were full of neatly folded clothes, the closet jackets and shoes that had the laces tucked in. Cooper couldn’t help but think of the way James’s sneaker laces had floated in the pool.

He shook the image out of his head and checked the bathroom. It was as painfully neat as the rest of the place, James’s personal toiletries upright in a little leather bag. He didn’t even need to sort through it to see there was nothing to find. Just every possible high-end hygiene product one might desire.

Cooper was about to leave the bathroom when he noticed a small hotel-brand conditioner bottle sitting on the edge of the tub. Why would a man who brought much nicer products, who needed to control everything, use this shit—just the conditioner, no less—and then leave it out by itself?

He picked the bottle up and shook it by his ear. He couldn’t hear anything. Unscrewing the cap, Cooper squeezed the conditioner carefully out into the sink until it was nearly empty. He looked inside and saw a very small silver key. The sort one might use in a gym locker.

“Hello,” Cooper murmured. In his periphery, he sensed Park come into the bathroom and shut the light off. “What are you—”

Cooper felt Park’s hand cover his mouth and he looked up at him in shock but didn’t try to pull away. Park slowly backed Cooper up and into the bathtub. He pulled the curtain carefully halfway closed behind them and only then released his hand from Cooper’s mouth, letting it drop to hover almost defensively at his hip instead. With his other hand, he tapped his own lips with one finger. Quiet.