“She was able to take the picture but she could not ice his aura the way you did?”

Olivia shook her head. “He killed her instead. But she shouted those words with her dying breath. Like a curse or a prophecy. I can’t explain it. All I can tell you is that I sensed the whole ghastly situation.”

Harlan studied the image. “Whoever he is, he’s dressed for a casual day hike in the woods. Boots, hat, trousers, a windbreaker, pack with a water bottle. You can see some trees and a portion of a trail behind him.”

“He ambushed her on that trail and pushed her off a cliff.”

“He grabbed the camera.” Harlan thought about that and then nodded. “Feels right.”

“But how did he know where to find her? And why would she take the camera with her in the first place?”

“He lured her,” Harlan said quietly. “He knew she had the camera. Somehow he convinced her to meet him in an isolated location. Maybe he told her he would pay a fortune for it.”

“No,” Olivia said, very sure of herself. “She inserted the camera into one of her paintings. That means it was important. She would not have sold it.”

“So why take it with her when she went to meet the killer?”

“Obviously she didn’t know he was a killer,” Olivia said. “She must have believed she was meeting someone she could trust.”

Harlan glanced at her. “Was your mother involved in a relationship of any kind?”

“Not at the time of her death. At least, not that I know of. I’m sure she would have told me if she was seeing someone.” Olivia hesitated. “I think she would have mentioned it. Now I don’t know what to think.”

“But you’re certain you’ve never met this man?”

“Absolutely certain.”

Harlan went back to studying the hologram. He did another turn around the image—there was nothing to see on the side away from the camera—but when he walked back to the front he caught the glint of light sparking on an object on the ground. Glass.

He took a closer look and saw a long, narrow glass tube lying next to one boot. The tube had holes of varying size in it.

“Not glass,” he said. “Crystal.”

“What?”

“Looks like the killer dropped a tube on the ground. If it had been glass it would have shattered. I think the tube is made of a clear, hard crystal.”

“I get the impression you think it’s important.”

“Everything about this image is important, but that crystal tube is the most significant object in the picture.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s a recorder.”

CHAPTER 11

Shaken by the implication of what he had said, Olivia moved closer to the hologram. She studied the recorder.

“You think this is the man who was hunting us last night, don’t you?” she said.