Right on the edge of 7:00 p.m., they made a right-hand turn onto the property. There were rows and rows of big storage sheds, the kind that had garage door openings. Rena pointed toward the left. “Try that row,” she said, pointing at the second to last.

It was the third from the end. There was already a white pickup truck parked by it. A man, maybe fifty, wearing jeans and a short-sleeved shirt, got out. He waved at them.

A.L. beached it and he and Rena got out fast. Both carried flashlights. Now that they were here, A.L. couldn’t get the goddamn shed open fast enough. “Detectives McKittridge and Morgan,” he said. “Can you open that?”

“I can.” The man looked down at his feet. “If you’re looking here for the reason I think you’re looking here, I hope like hell that you’re wrong.”

A.L. didn’t answer.

The man handed A.L. a garage door opener. Then he went back to his truck. Likely afraid of what he might see.

A.L. pushed the button. The door inched up.

A.L. looked at Rena. He was pretty sure she wasn’t breathing.

Then the door was halfway up. Dark inside. They flipped on their flashlights.

Five more inches.

“Jesus,” Rena whispered.

Indeed.

“What the fuck is this?” A.L. asked.

Rena had no words.

A.L. took two steps into the garage. Had to stop there. Because there was a zebra in his way. A stuffed one, that is.

And the zebra had friends. Lions and tigers and bears. Oh my. And on the shelves that lined two walls, there were possums and squirrels and, yep, that was a hawk. She looked at A.L.

“Close your mouth,” she said softly. She found a light switch and flipped it.

He turned to look at her. “Take a good look around.”

“That’s all you’re going to say?” she asked incredulously. “Take a good look around,” she repeated.

“I don’t know what else to say,” he said.

“You think Troy did these himself?” Rena asked. She was moving carefully among the animals, making sure that there was no five-year-old child hidden somewhere. “That he’s a taxidermist?”

“I don’t know. Some of these seem pretty old,” he said. “Like this one,” he said, pointing at a stuffed monkey that looked as if it had seen better days. Better dead days, that is.

“Right,” she said. “You think he forgot about this place or is this a secret he’s trying to hide?”

“Leah never said anything about it, either.”

“Maybe she’s embarrassed. Or maybe she doesn’t know.” Rena paused. “I’m not going to be the one to tell her,” she added.

“Pete Seoul deliberately led us here,” A.L. said.