And, finally, there was the rape. A young woman in West Hills walked in her door from work and was raped by a man who was waiting in her home. He was wearing a monster mask and held a knife to her throat. No arrest was made in the case and no DNA was collected. But Eve was still intrigued by the parallels between the unsolved rape and her case, especially with the tenuous Coyle connection. Rather than read the report, Eve decided to call the investigating detective, who worked out of the Sex Crimes Division downtown, to find out more.

The detective answered on the first ring. “Sex Crimes. Macahan.”

“This is Detective Eve Ronin, RHD out of the Lost Hills station.”

“The Deathfist,” he said.

She kept talking as if she hadn’t heard him say that. “I’m working a triple homicide and you investigated a rape case that might connect with mine.”

“You’re working a triple homicide,” he said. “Let me ask you a question. Before this, what was the biggest case you investigated?”

“I’m not doing this dance, Detective. A woman and her two children were murdered and dismembered in her home. I think I’ve got the guy who did it sitting in a cell here. You can help me keep him there by talking to me about a case or you can help him walk by wasting my time with bullshit. What’s it going to be?”

He sighed. “What’s the case of mine?”

“It was a rape, eight months ago, in West Hills. The victim’s name was Vickie Denhoff. What can you tell me about it?”

“It was a heartbreaker. Denhoff is in her early thirties, lives alone, and is an accountant for an insurance company in Warner Center. She wasn’t feeling well so her boss let her go home early. She walked in her house, went to her bedroom, and some guy in a mask jumped her from behind, put a knife to her throat, and told her he’d cut her if she screamed or didn’t do exactly what he told her. To prove he was serious, he sliced her just deep enough to draw blood. He forced her onto the bed and raped her.”

“The man was already in the house when she came home?”

“That’s right.”

“Was there any sign of a break-in?”

“Nope.”

“Did she describe the mask he was wearing?”

“Only that it was a monster mask that covered his head completely,” he said. “She closed her eyes through most of it.”

“Were you able to collect any DNA?” She knew from browsing the report that the answer was no, but she wanted to know why.

“Have you ever seen that TV show Monk, about that uptight detective who is a clean freak and wants everything to be even?”