Cody leaned back in his chair and ran a hand over his chin, rasping against his stubble. “What if Jerry Dunham brought it with him from Seattle?”

I eyed him. “You think?”

He shrugged. “He had to hire some sort of moving truck or trailer to transport those bikes. Why not an aquarium? If that’s what he was in charge of in the circus, he might be doing the maintenance himself.” He gave Wilkes an inquiring look. “Think we can get a search warrant for his house, Detective?”

“Based on this? No.”

“Based on suspicion of trafficking in stolen motorcycles and parts,” Cody said. “Hell, I saw the evidence with my own eyes. It’s in the report.”

The detective stood. “I’ll see what I can do. But as far as we can tell, Dunham holds legal title to those bikes. If I were you, I’d go with reasonable suspicion and worry about the paperwork later.” He glanced around at all of us. “Good luck to you. You’ll need it.”

With that, he made his exit.

Chief Bryant sighed. “A mermaid, eh?”

“It’s a guess,” I murmured. “But I think it’s a pretty good one, sir. And if it’s true . . .” I swallowed. “I’m guessing she’s in a pretty bad way. And that’s not a priority the county sheriff’s office is interested in pursuing.”

He met my gaze. “No, it’s not. But I am.”

“So do we bring this Mollenkamp in for questioning, or do we cut to the chase and go back to Dunham’s?” Cody asked me, his upper lip curling to reveal a hint of gleaming white incisor.

I shook my head, successfully fighting the urge to say, Down, boy! “No, I mean, yeah, of course, let’s check it out, but if she exists, I don’t think she’s there, Cody. I could be wrong, but I don’t think Jerry Dunham gives a shit about anything but collecting his fancy motorcycles. I don’t think he ever has. He doesn’t care. He’s not interested in suffering except as a means to an end.”

“So who is?” the chief asked me. “Who cares, Daisy?”

It wasn’t a rhetorical question.

I took a deep breath. “About suffering? Ghouls, sir.” I glanced sidelong at Cody. “See, I think we’re still looking for Ray D. Stefan said two ghouls in love would create a closed feedback loop. They’d need a hostage to sustain them, and if you ask me, Jerry Dunham doesn’t seem like the type to let a couple of love-struck ghouls crash on his living room floor. I think we should question Matthew Mollenkamp.”

Both of us looked at Chief Bryant.

He pursed his lips in thought. “Did you come up with any leads on Ray D’s lady love?” he asked Cody.