Hollis said slowly, “We’re looking at the Five because of the victims chosen. Looking for a reason that ties in with their identity as members of the five families. Which is mostly why we’ve been spinning our wheels.”

“So maybe,” DeMarco suggested, “we should look at it another way. Maybe his motive, his endgame, is a lot more specific.”

“Specific to his victims?”

“Maybe . . . specific to only one victim.”

“One victim intentional, everything else he does window dressing?”

“We’ve seen it before.”

Hollis nodded. “Sleight of hand. I want to kill C, but I kill A and B first to divert suspicion.”

“Or the water is muddied because everything we know so far has led us to be focused on the Five. But all three victims could be connected by some reason other than their being members of the families. Three victims doesn’t give us enough to be certain of conclusions, not statistically. Especially in an area where there are so many overlaps in victimology. These people could be targeted, for all we can know, because they went to the same doctor or graduated from the same high school.”

“Great,” Hollis muttered.

“You know it’s as likely as anything else. Probably more likely.”

“I know. I don’t have to like it.”

Bishop said, “But we have to consider possibilities.”

“Yeah. But I still say the timing of this unsub is . . . off. Even if he wants to play games, or test us, or whatever,” Hollis said slowly. “Mostly serials are obsessed with satisfying their own twisted needs, killing one victim and then moving on to the next. They don’t have the desire or the time to lead us around by the nose.”

“So why is he bothering with games?” Quentin mused. “Why follow a brutal murder by burying Simon alive and allowing us the chance to save him? I think Reese is right. The only other answer I can think of is that he wants to distract us.”

“So what is it he doesn’t want us to see?” DeMarco finished.

“Megan,” Hollis said immediately, frowning. “His first victim. For months his only victim. But . . . if she was his real target, why would Cole Ainsworth’s murder have been so vicious? You don’t torture somebody just to kill them. You don’t torture somebody unless you’re sick enough to enjoy it.”

“True enough,” Bishop agreed.

Diana said, “Killing Megan could have triggered a lot of twisted urges. Couldn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Quentin said slowly. “Especially if he killed her in a rage and that rage wasn’t satisfied by killing her. Add that to the months after her death when he was lying low and couldn’t do anything about his feelings and urges and . . . Yeah. Her death could have triggered him in more ways than one.”

“So,” Hollis said, “we have to find out everything we can about Megan. About her life. And about her death.”

—

THEY RETURNED TO Hales B and B long enough for showers and breakfast, then split up. Finn and Nellie, after some argument, went to Nellie’s bank, where she had work waiting and where Finn could coordinate with his deputies and the team. And where neither would be alone.