The phone rang, and she glanced at her wristwatch — it was twenty past twelve.

She snatched up the receiver. “Hampton speaking.”

“It’s Chuck, Patsy. Really sorry to call so late. Is it okay? You awake?”

“Sure, no problem, Chucky Cheese. I’m up with the other vampires — yourself included, I guess.”

It was kind of late, but she was glad to hear from Chuck Hufstedler, who was a computer geek at the FBI in Washington. The two of them helped each other out sometimes, and she’d recently talked to him about the unsolved D.C. murders, especially the Jane Does. Chuck had told her that he was also in contact with Alex Cross, but Cross had trouble of his own right now. His fiancée had been kidnapped, and Patsy Hampton wondered if it had anything to do with the killings in Southeast.

“I’m wide awake, Chuck. What’s up? What’s on your big mind?”

He started with a disclaimer that said volumes about his incredibly low self-esteem: “Maybe nothing, but maybe something a little interesting on those killings in Southeast, and particularly the two young girls in Shaw. This really comes out of left field, though.”

The FBI computer expert had her attention. “That’s where this killer lives, Chuck, in deep left field. Tell me what you have. I’m wide awake and listening. Talk to me, Chucky Cheese.”

Chuck hemmed and hawed. He was always like that, which was too bad because he was basically a really nice guy. “You know anything about RPGs, Patsy?” he asked.

“I know it stands for role-playing games, and let’s see, there’s a popular one called Dragons and Dungeons, or Dungeons and Dragons — whatever the order.”

“It’s Dungeons and Dragons, or Advanced Dungeons and Dragons. Confession time, kiddo: I occasionally play an RPG myself, it’s called Millennium’s End. I play a couple of hours a day, usually. More on weekends.”

“New to me. Go on, Chuck.” God, she thought, cyberspace confessions in the middle of the night.

“Very popular game, even with so-called adults. The characters in Millennium’s End work for Black Eagle Security. It’s a private organization of troubleshooters who hire out for investigative services around the world. The characters are all good guys, crusaders for good.”

“Uh-huh, Chuck. Say six Hail Marys, now make an Act of Contrition, then get to the damn point. It is around twelve-thirty, pal.”