Alex considered this as they descended the first flight of stairs. “Meaning, if someone were targeting Danielle, the methodology of the first two crimes and the targets of the second two crimes would make sense.”

“Which also points the finger at Gym Coach Greg, who has motive.”

“Unrequited love.”

“Exactly. Worships Danielle for years, can’t even get dinner with her, though she accepts Lightfoot’s invite. He has opportunity—knows the Harringtons, knows the Laraquette-Solis family. He was on duty the night Lucy disappeared, and working tonight when someone spiked Lightfoot’s drink.”

“He claims to have an alibi for the Harringtons’ murders.”

“An alibi not easy to verify, given that the mother has been stabbed and the child’s psycho.”

“Attack gone awry?” Alex mused.

“What d’you mean?”

“The son stabbed the mother. Sounds a bit like our first two crime scenes.”

D.D. shook her head. “Too small. This family is just a mother and child. No father figure, and in the first two attacks, the father figure mattered. That’s who had to be posed just so. The crimes had to reflect on the fathers.”

“Dads are evil.”

“At least the ones who kill their families.”

Alex seemed to accept this. “Problem is, Lightfoot knew the families, too. So now we have two suspects to consider. Both of whom have lied to us.”

“Lightfoot told us he didn’t know Tika Solis, when he did.”

“And Greg said he’d never met Tika’s family, when he had.”

“Actually,” D.D. pointed out, “Greg never said he hadn’t met the family. He just said they didn’t visit the ward.”

Alex gave her a look. “You’re letting him off on a technicality? Remind me to wear more tight-fitting T-shirts and speak in a baritone.”

D.D. rolled her eyes. “Don’t get me wrong—Gym Coach still makes the most sense. After all, Lightfoot wasn’t working the night Lucy was hanged. Plus, there’s the matter of him being poisoned.”

Alex nodded. “Kind of wonder,” he said as they rounded the fifth-floor landing. “First we had no links between the families, now we have all kinds: the unit, an MC/respite worker, and the local spiritual healer. Begs the question, who else don’t we know about? Mentally ill kids appears to be a small and incestuous world. So maybe there are other experts—a psychiatrist, a therapist, a respite worker, a nurse?”

“Meaning we should check in with Phil and Neil: Phil, who’s running the background reports, and Neil, who’s making the list of all the employees who regularly visit the unit. Put those two items together …”

“See who else shakes out.”

D.D. liked it. They had four more flights to go, so she worked her cell phone.