“That’s great news. What else did he send?”

“A note. He sent a note. He wants money.”

“Good. Now you need to listen to me, Amy. Listen closely. I don’t want you to handle what he sent anymore. Just leave it where it is. Don’t even pick it up to put it in a safe place. Agent Fitzsimmons and I are going to come over right now. We’ll be there in less than half an hour.”

Amy was ecstatic. “I’m going to get my baby back!”

“We’ll get him back,” Kelly said. She set down the phone and stared at Charlie. He picked up the apple and wiped it off and took a bite. He liked to share food with her. He told her it brought him as close to her mouth as he was likely to get.

“Techer?” he said.

“The kidnapper contacted her. A letter filled with goodies.”

Charlie reached for the phone. “I’ll get Dr. Sharp. We’ll try for prints, material.”

“He sent hair, and a tape of the baby’s voice.”

Charlie nodded. “I’ll have Sharp find his samples, try for a match.”

“Have him bring his microscope to the house. I want to know when we’re there.”

Charlie dialed. “Sharp will know.”

She stood. “You’re the one who said how smart this bastard was. There won’t be any prints or skin.”

“Does he want money?”

“She says he does.”

Charlie took another bite of the apple. “When he tries to collect it we’ll see how smart he is.”

DR. SHARP reached the Techer house the same time as they did. Kelly sat with Amy while the criminologist completed a preliminary examination of the hair fibers, the note, and the tape. David Techer was nowhere around. Amy had not called him, not yet—that said something about the nature of their relationship. But Amy said her father was on his way over. Kelly had met him two months ago. A nice man, loved his daughter, hated his son-in-law.

Amy looked like she had been on the Acid Man fitness program as well. They had lost the same amount of weight, but on five-foot Amy it was even more devastating. Her left eye twitched; she had developed a tremor in her hands. Kelly regretted the promise she had made to her on the phone. This kidnapper followed no pattern. The unexpected was always dangerous.

Sharp had good news, though. The hairs matched the boy, and the baby sounds on the tape were the same as those on videos Amy had made of Jimmy. As the four sat at the kitchen table, Sharp played the tape the kidnapper had sent: a baby’s cooing and giggling, mixed in with a radio broadcast of a Lakers game.

“They played San Antonio two nights ago at the Staples Center,” Charlie said. “That’s the same game. He wanted to date it for us.”