Mr. Goldhirsh did a neat maneuver, cutting off the track and going bush, and came out ahead of them dragging his partner with him.

“That’s cheating!”

“Not written in the rules, boy,” he said to Joe.

Dylan spent most of his time looking at the trees, as if whoever was after him would suddenly appear.

“Kind of spooky, is my guess. Knowing someone’s after you, but not knowing who.”

“I’m used to weird in my job, but it’s not usually pointed at me. If it was just about me, then I’d handle it better, but not knowing when or who he’ll strike at next is unsettling.”

“And then some.”

They ran some more, and reached the turning point in what Dylan thought was a good time, as only a few runners had come back the other way.

“Damn shame you didn’t get that big foot of yours out quicker, Howard. We could have taken down Luke Trainer.”

“Not an easy maneuver while holding coffee, which by the way you’re carrying on the way down.”

Ted whacked his chest.

“I supply the coffee and food for after, least you can do is carry it.”

They found Mickey and Fin waiting for them at the top. His friend was frowning. Joe and Charlie were there too.

“What’s up?” Dylan stopped beside him.

“I saw someone when we started, Dylan, and thought I recognized him from the lodge staff. Now I’m not so sure.”

“And you waited till now to bring this up?”

“I didn’t really give it much thought until we started running.”

Mickey began pacing, which meant Fin had to go too, as he was attached to him.

“It’s his process,” Dylan said. “His memory never discards anything, and he extracts the information out of his head by walking. In the office, he has a route he paces. There’s lots of stuff in that brain, so it takes time.”

“Meanwhile I have to walk with him... carrying coffee,” Fin groused.

“Okay, so I saw his photo in a file.” Mickey came back to stand before Dylan. “I think it was from the Field case, Dylan. In fact, I’m sure of it now.”

“Who?”

“The son,” Mickey said.

“You’re sure?” His words were stupid, because Mickey was never wrong, but he said them anyway.

“I’m sure. We never interviewed his children because Field’s wife had taken them to Canada after they separated, five years before he took the first woman. But their photos were on file.”

“That’s right, she took the kids to live with her sister. That was when Field lost his mind. But surely that photo is old now. The son has to look different.”

“I’m 99 percent positive it’s him. The look around the mouth and eyes was the same.”

“The son,” Dylan said softly. “How is it he’s here and I haven’t recognized him?”