“But you believe he came back to the scene of the crime the next morning,” Burnside said. “When you were already on scene.”

“That’s right,” Eve said. “He parked his car at the Topanga State Park trailhead down the street, hiked through the park to the hill above Tanya’s house, and retrieved his sleeping bag and some other trash that he’d left behind when he was staking out the place.”

Burnside made some more doodles, giving some of the words a 3-D effect and sketching a movie marque around them. “It was the plastic bag in the garage that led you to Walmart and to a suspect. You saw him on surveillance video leave the Walmart in a Toyota Corolla, which you matched to the license plate of a Corolla at the Topanga Park trailhead, which is how you identified Coyle. You obtained a search warrant on his home and car, which you served this morning. Based on what you saw during that initial search, you arrested him for murder.”

“That’s correct,” Eve said.

Burnside leaned back in her chair. “What did you see that prompted you to arrest him?”

“We found Caitlin’s camera, with photos of her and her brother on the memory card, in his home and an earring that may belong to her mother,” Eve said. “We also found a pair of shoes that match those worn by the killer.”

“But not the actual shoes,” Burnside said.

“No,” Eve said.

“We did find an ape suit,” Duncan said. “He could have been wearing that mask when he raped the lady in West Hills.”

Once again, Eve felt the guilt and shame of what her pride had cost her. If she’d told Duncan about being attacked by a “monster” at the crime scene, the ape suit could have been compelling evidence against Coyle. But she didn’t tell anyone, so now it was worthless. It was a huge mistake, one she’d carry for the rest of her life if Coyle got away with the murders.

“Did the victim really identify the ape mask?” Burnside asked and Eve shook her head. “And we don’t actually have any DNA evidence, do we?”

Burnside drilled her with a gaze and Eve knew the ADA wanted to hear an answer this time.

“No,” Eve said.

“You’re saying that he raped that woman but all we actually have is a miniature teacup,” Burnside said. “I haven’t researched this yet, but I don’t think in the history of criminal law that a miniature teacup has ever led to a rape conviction.”

“He did it,” Eve said, angered by Burnside’s contempt and even more so by her belief that she probably deserved it. “Coyle was rattled when I brought up the rape.”

“I’d be rattled by a false rape accusation, too,” Burnside said.

“It wasn’t,” Eve said. “He’s a rapist and he’s a killer.”