Her pause is only a blink’s duration. “Read.”

Cooper navigates the roads toward the Capitol Building, and Bell’s eyes move over the scrawl of Emma’s handwriting. She’s taken the entire interview down like dictation, and Bell finds the part he’s reading disturbing. Mostly because he thinks Gutmunsson isn’t lying to her.

“He’s really fixated on his sister, isn’t he? I mean, he attaches a lot of emotion to the references about her.”

Emma looks up. “What makes you say that?”

“He’s got…” Bell tries to figure out the right way to express it. “His answers are all long—he’s got, like, long passages where he’s just going on. But when he talks about Kristin, he gets clipped. His answers are just a few words.”

“He talked about her psychological profile.”

“Yeah, her psychological profile—not about her. That stuff is real short. He didn’t want to talk about her.”

“He’s deflecting for her,” Emma says, suddenly comprehending. “He’s protecting her.”

“He cares about her.” Bell feels it in his gut. “Guys shut down sensitive talk. He was blowing you off. She’s important to him, and he didn’t want you to poke into that.”

“I need to make a call,” Cooper says.

They’re caught in gridlock past the Peace Monument. Cooper takes a Motorola pack out from under the passenger seat and dials a number he knows by heart.

“Gerry, can you folks hold the line there? I’m coming in to you with a couple passengers who might have some info on Pennsylvania.… No, I’m stuck in traffic. We’ll get through, but I need… No, no documents. Hair and Fiber. Maybe Trace as well… Sure, but I’ll talk about it with you in person. Warn the escort desk, would you? Yeah, they’re gonna bust my ass about security tags, but these two have initial clearance. Thanks. Okay, see you in fifteen.”

“We’re not gonna make it in fifteen,” Bell says.

Cooper ghosts a grin. “Watch and learn.”

He stashes the phone pack and flicks the emergency lights on, going hot. Traffic edges up onto the sidewalk, parting to make space for the Diplomat. When folks won’t move, Cooper gooses them with a blast from the siren. They’re on E Street almost before Bell realizes what’s happened.

Emma speaks to Cooper again. “Gutmunsson talked about the importance of the blood for the killer, like it’s the source of everything. He suggested that the reason he keeps them for a while is to give the majority of the ether time to clear out of their bloodstream so there’s no ‘impurities’ when he kills them.”

Cooper works the gearshift. “We can look at the photo documentation, call through to the county. The remaining bodies are still in Harrisburg. They’re not going to like the idea they’ve missed something.”

“I’m just suggesting they reexamine based on new information.”

“Sure.”

“I don’t know what the killer’s doing with the blood,” Emma says, raking her fingernails across her scalp. “Gutmunsson said he might lose control when he’s mid-ritual. There’s the possibility he’s ingesting some of it.”