“Risk of infection aside, she should make a full recovery. We’ll keep her in ICU for the next twenty-four hours as a precaution. You can see her as soon as she comes out of recovery.” The doctor left the room.

Conor backed up to a chair and let his legs collapse. For the next hour, he was busy being grateful and counting his blessings. Jayne brought him fresh coffee and a candy bar from the vending machine. When the nurse escorted him to Louisa’s bedside, he almost felt human.

She was pale and attached to a dozen wires and tubes, but her heartbeat was steady on the monitor next to the bed. Nice and strong and steady. He took her hand and held it for the allowed five minutes. It wasn’t enough. It would never be enough.

Two days later, Louisa sipped water from a straw while Detectives Jackson and Ianelli asked her gentle questions. Conor took the cup from her hand and set it on the wheeled tray.

“Zoe really killed three women just to eliminate Isa as her academic competition?” Louisa shifted her position and winced.

Conor put a hand behind her back to support her weight while he adjusted her pillow.

“Not exactly.” Jackson sighed. Since the case had come to a conclusion, disbelief and disgust were etched deeper in the lines on his already-craggy face. “She was used to getting everything she wanted. Her parents gave up their lives to educate her. She was always the number-one student in her class. She’d never been turned down for anything. Until she didn’t get the Pendleworth grant. But it was clear when we interviewed her that she got off on the whole thing. So what started out as a plan to get the Pendleworth grant escalated as she developed a taste for murder.”

“I can’t believe it.” Louisa let Conor fuss. Frankly, the pain in her chest made her more than OK with him taking care of her. “She was so smart, so talented.”

“Don’t forget crazy.” Jackson stuffed a piece of gum into his mouth. “She put her smarts to use, that’s for sure. She planned this entire operation down to the smallest detail.”

“The cops at the museum found some other personal stuff of hers hidden in the museum storage rooms. Looked like she’d been sleeping there since she went ‘missing.’ We also found three small trinkets, one from each of the dead girls, in another box. There are fingerprints all over them. Plus notes, schedules, and observations about both of you and the three murder victims. She had a laptop and an air card. Apparently, she holed up in the museum attic like the Hunchback of Notre Dame,” Ianelli explained. “So by the time we got your second text from the house in Camden, we already suspected it was Zoe.”