After having exhausted Matthew Mollenkamp’s store of information, we cut him loose. He declined the offer of a ride home, preferring to call a friend.

In the conference room, Cody slid into a seat beside me. “So what do we know?”

“Well, he confirmed a lot of what we suspected,” I said. “Two ghouls, one Ray D and one unnamed female matching the description of Mary Sudbury. And they were working with Jerry Dunham.” I glanced at the chief. “Do you think there’s any chance Thad was killed for asking about Ray D?”

“No.” Chief Bryant’s rebuttal was immediate and certain. “It doesn’t add up. No reason to let the others live if it were. I’m sure we’re looking at an accidental death and a cover-up. And I’m afraid Daisy was right.”

“They’ve got a mermaid?” Cody asked in a tense tone.

“Yeah.” I felt sick all over again, a leaden weight in my belly. I shouldn’t have eaten that hot dog. “They’ve got a mermaid. That’s how you become a Master of the Universe and a true son of Triton.”

Green flared behind his eyes, and his voice dropped to a fierce growl. “Where?”

“Take it easy, Cody,” the chief said to him. “Keep a cool head. Don’t let it get personal.”

He struggled to contain himself. “With all due respect, sir, I’m not sure that’s possible. I’m not sure you can understand.”

I wondered whether Chief Bryant knew Cody had lost a girl he might have loved, a girl whose killer would never be brought to justice because she was a wolf when he shot her.

“We’re not out of the woods yet, son.” By the compassion in the chief’s voice, maybe he did. “We don’t have a where. The boys were blindfolded and driven to the destination. Daisy?”

I consulted my notes. “Mollenkamp said it was maybe a ten-, fifteen-minute drive from the parking lot of the East Pemkowet beach. The vehicle made a lot of turns, so they could have been driving in circles. He remembers hearing the wind rustling in the trees when they got out of the truck, so we’re looking for a wooded area.”

“That doesn’t exactly narrow it down,” Cody muttered. “What about the site?”

“Ground floor of a residence,” I said. “He said it looked like a high-end rec room, the kind you’d design if money was no object. Pool table, built-in bar, home theater . . . and an industrial-size fish tank that wasn’t part of the original design.”

Cody looked as sick as I felt. “Jesus!”

“I’m thinking they must be squatting somewhere,” Chief Bryant said. “My best guess would be a house for sale that’s been off the market since the spring. Or maybe an unoccupied summer home.”

“Any way to get a list of those?” Cody asked.