Decker thought about her theory. John List was a man who murdered his entire family and disappeared, taking on a new identity and eluding the police for about twenty years. He was finally caught after a nab-your-own-fugitive show aired the case on prime-time TV.

“It’s possible,” Decker said. “But we’ve got some major differences. First off, the bodies of List’s wife, mother, and children were found butchered inside the house, making him a prime suspect. Here we don’t have bodies, only an entire family that vanished.”

“Maybe Daddy lured the crew somewhere into the boonies.”

“Except the cars are still in the garage.”

“So he rented a car.”

“Could be,” Decker said. “You want to check out local rent-a-cars?”

“I’ll put it on my list—no pun intended.” Marge wrote it down. “What other differences do you see between this and the List case?”

Decker said, “John List was swimming in debt. The house he had was big and expensive but empty, because he couldn’t afford to furnish it. He claimed he had no way out. By all accounts so far, Yalom seems well heeled. He wouldn’t have to murder to escape. He could have just taken the money and run.”

“Divorce is expensive,” Marge said. “Yalom’s got a rep as a tightwad. Just like List, I might add. What other differences do you see?”

“This probably isn’t important,” Decker said, “but I’ll throw it out anyway. List had confessed his crimes to a minister, stating he felt that the murders were the only way to ensure his sinful wife and children’s arrival in heaven.”

“Kill the body to save the soul,” Marge said.

“Exactly,” Decker said. “Yalom isn’t or wasn’t a religious man.”

“So what’s the point?”

“I’m not sure there is a point,” Decker said. “Just that Arik seemed to disdain God. Dov was the spiritual one.”

“Maybe he was killing the body to save the soul,” Marge said. “So we’re back on the son or sons. Unfortunately, we still don’t have a shred more of evidence.”

“No, we don’t,” Decker said. “But one thing at a time.”

It caught Rina’s ear so she turned up her car radio. Top of the hour and the news station was presenting its feature stories—among them, something about a missing family. It had to be Peter’s case. How many missing families could there be, even in a city as large as Los Angeles? Details would be given out soon, after the traffic report and a commercial for carefree aluminum siding.

She changed lanes and reduced the speedometer to fifty-five. It was smooth sailing this morning. Usually, the North Valley freeways were lightly traveled because the population in the Outback was less dense than in LA proper. She enjoyed the congestion-free asphalt, knowing cars would begin to back up as soon as she neared LAX.