“Maybe he’d finished covering up his tracks as best he could in Tanya’s house, hauled away the trash, and dumped the bodies and was going back to mop up the garage,” Duncan said. “The floor in there is painted concrete, not blood-soaked carpet. If he was careful, he might have been able to do it without stepping in anything that he’d track back into his own car. Even if he did step in something, maybe he dropped his shoes into a trash bag and changed into another pair before getting back in his car.”

Eve liked that theory because it ruled out a second person but it raised almost as many questions as it answered. “But why would he use two different cars to begin with?”

Duncan shrugged. “Why does he dress up as an ape?”

“Where did he go to clean himself up after he left Tanya’s house and before he went to Walmart for more supplies to clean up the garage?”

“The same place where he got the other car, the out-of-town neighbor or friend,” Duncan said. “He could have broken into their place or maybe he has a key and is collecting their mail or walking their dog while they are away. I can have Biddle and Garvey canvas the mobile home park, see if anybody knows something.”

“That’s a good idea,” Eve said, feeling a lot better about the case than she did when she left Nan at Coyle’s place, and it was thanks to Duncan. He saw a pothole where she saw a bottomless abyss. Then again, he didn’t have as much riding on the case as she did. He had nothing to fear. It gave him the peace of mind to see the case from another perspective. She would remember that lesson.

“What’s your next move?” he asked.

“I’ll have a talk with Coyle and see what I can bluff out of him now,” she said. “Unless you have a better idea.”

“I wish I did,” he said.

Eve went to her desk, printed out some photos, filled a file folder with a bunch of papers as a prop, picked up a yellow legal pad and pen, then went down the hall to the interrogation room.

Coyle was already inside and had been for twenty minutes. He slouched in his purposely wobbly chair. He was wearing blue jailhouse scrubs and his hands weren’t cuffed.

Eve dumped the thick folder and notepad on the table and dropped into the stable chair across from him with a weary sigh.

“I’m absolutely exhausted. I would have come to talk to you sooner but we have been so busy.” Eve patted the thick folder and shook her head. “I’ve never seen a case come together this quickly. Every time I was about to see you, more evidence and answers would come in. It finally slowed down a bit.”