“No sign of a break-in,” Emily says. “In either case.”

“No sign of anything at all,” Natasha says.

“Why us?” Kit says.

They hear another siren.

It’s the same cop. This time he’s pulled over a nicer car, but an equally surprised man behind the wheel.

“They’re gonna pull over every fuckin’ man who passes through town,” Natasha says. “Wasting their time.”

“Why do you keep bringing this up?” Emily asks. “Why are you so sure it’s a woman?”

Natasha shrugs.

“I just think she’s smart. Smarter than the cops.”

They watch the officer ask the man to step out of his car. Watch him follow the man to his trunk. Watch as the man opens it and, less than a minute later, closes it again.

“What are the cops even looking for?” Brandon asks. “It’s not like a body is missing.”

“They’re looking for a weapon,” Dana says. “Something to help explain what was done. They’re looking for a vise. A mallet. A fucking huge hammer.”

“Do they have any leads on a weapon?” Richard asks.

“No,” Dana says. “They don’t have any leads at all, dude.”

“But they want one bad,” Natasha says. “Because if they can’t determine what weapon was used, then they’re gonna have to deal with what’s left.”

“What’s that? What’s left?” Richard asks.

Natasha watches the synchronicity of the driver getting back into his car just as the cop gets back into his. Their doors close in unison. Natasha says: “Bare hands.”

Kit shakes her head no as the back door to the school opens and Detective McGowan steps outside.

Spotted by the police, then. Called in.

“Girls,” she says. “Come on. We are well past serious at this point.” She looks exhausted. Worried. Scared. “You know the rules, and you have to stick to them. No gathering out of sight. Our sight. Come on. Back home. Each of you. All of you. Or I’ll lock you up in the jail to make sure.”

“Tammy and Melanie were both killed at home,” Dana says.

The gun is tucked into the back of her waistband.

But McGowan has done police work a long time.

She steps to her and holds out her hand. Dana tries to look tough. A standoff? No. She gives in, hands it over.

“Jesus Christ,” McGowan says. “You get this at Dawn Pawn?”

She doesn’t answer.

“Doesn’t matter for now,” she says. She keeps the gun. “How’d you all get out?”

“They’re not really watching us,” Natasha says. “They’re watching the street.”

“And we all have back doors,” Dana says.

For a second, it looks like McGowan might snap.

“Well, that’s about to fucking change.”

The ballers only stare back.

McGowan, semi-composed, says, “I’ll give anybody who needs it a ride home. And I’ll drive four miles an hour beside those who choose to walk. We need you to be this way for two more days.”

“Two days?” Kit asks.

“We’ll catch him by then,” McGowan says.

“It’s not a him,” Natasha says.