“Anything come up?” She rolled her shoulders, trying to loosen the rigid muscles.

“I spoke to a woman who says her son rode home on the school bus yesterday with Caitlin and Troy,” Ross said. “When they got to their stop on Entrada, the kid saw them walking home like they always do. That would’ve been about two fifteen.”

“Thanks, that’s very helpful.” Eve was tempted to ask him for a shoulder rub or maybe something more. She’d noticed his strong hands and warm smile. Those could melt the rebar but that wasn’t a real option.

The deputy walked out and Eve added the information about the kids to the timeline. She picked up the stack of reports and took them to her cubicle so she could go through them. That’s when Captain Moffett came in.

“I saw you on the news,” he said. “I’m not happy about it.”

“I couldn’t avoid Darrow and I thought a ‘no comment’ answer to her question would confirm what she said about a bloodbath and they’d run with that.”

“You made the right call.”

“So what’s the problem?”

“Look at yourself, Ronin. Your jacket and pants are filthy, there’s a stain on your blouse, and that baseball cap makes you look like a teenager. It reflects badly on the department.”

She was tempted to ask if her mother had called him, too, but instead she said: “I’m sorry, sir.”

“Go home, take a shower, get some sleep, and come back tomorrow in a clean set of clothes. Maybe keep a spare set in your locker.”

“Yes, sir.”

The captain headed for the door, then paused before walking out. “I’ve ordered a search party with dogs to start going through the woods around the house tomorrow morning.”

“What changed your mind?”

“You just told the world that the family was slaughtered and we have nothing to go on.”

“That’s not what I said.”

“That’s what everybody heard and what we all know is true. The sooner we find the corpses, the faster we’ll find the killer.”

He continued out the door. She stood there for a moment, thinking about what the captain said, and about why she was wearing the baseball cap. She’d forgotten it was still there and realized now that taking it off was going to be a painful problem. It was stuck to her hair with blood.

She took out her phone and texted her sister, Lisa, who was an ER nurse at West Hills Hospital, which was about six miles north of Calabasas.

Could you drop by my place when your shift is over? Bring your first aid kit.

She left the building by the rear exit, where her ten-speed bike was parked, along with all the squad cars, the mobile command center, the helicopter, and everybody’s personal vehicles.

Eve put on her helmet carefully over her baseball cap, got on her bike, and rode off, heading east on Agoura Road. She crossed Lost Hills Road and continued on toward Las Virgenes Road, better known by the locals as Malibu Canyon. Along the way, she passed by a shopping center, the Good Nite Inn, and several office buildings, none taller than three stories so nothing would obscure the views of the open hills to the north and east.