Rachel ended the call and her mind instantly went back to Alex Lynch. She knew it was foolish and perhaps even a bit naïve to think that all killers thought the same, operated the same, and had the same lack of a moral code. But those hardened eyes still seemed to peer at her from across that interrogation room. They read her and, in turn, told her that there were secrets behind those eyesa secret understanding of people that thought the same way he did.

She wondered if they would be so close to the end of this case if she had not thought to go to him. It had seemed like such an extreme measure at the time but now she doubted she would have made some of the connections shed made without the visit. It almost made her feel like she was indebted to him now and that made it so much worse.

She arrived at the station just a few moments later, and Jack was waiting for her with a folder in his hand. Rachel barely brought the car to a stop at all as she pulled up in front of the building and Jack got in.

Put this address into your GPS, would you? Rachel asked, handing him the Post It Mrs. Carpenter had given her.

Jack took the paper and typed the address in right away. While the directions loaded, he flipped the folder open. Rachel saw that there were only three pages and the first one did not contain much information at all.

Claire Allen, age thirty-nine, and a Baltimore resident. Previously employed at a variety of different department stores but most recently employed at J. Jenkins School for the Gifted. No real criminal record to speak of, just a drug bust for pot when she was twenty and three speeding tickets over the last ten years.

Married? Rachel asked.

No. Not from what I can see here.

The robotic female voice from Jacks phone told Rachel to take the next right and then to get off on the connector highway that would lead to the interstate. How much longer before we get there? Rachel asked.

Twenty-two minutes.

They both sat in the excitement of the moment, though Rachel spent most of that time wondering if this was a connection they should have made on their own. As much as she would like to take the credit, shed always know that it had been her conversation with Alex that had brought them here. And she was going to have to live with thatno matter how the case turned out.

Rachel also wondered why the eventual climax of this case seemed to sit heavier on her chest than most others shed closed. She was excited to get there, to confront the killer and get the hell back home. But why?