“How can you never leave a crime scene if you’re a professional murderer?”

“Because as far as law enforcement is concerned, everyone I’ve ever killed died of natural causes or in an accident. It takes a lot of hard work to commit a crime that nobody knows is a crime. That’s why they pay me the big bucks.”

“What are your other rules?” said Patton.

“Plan the escape before you plan the crime,” said Nemo. “Never know the client’s endgame, and always have a retreat—like this one. This is the first time I’ve ever intentionally broken a rule.”

“But you said Jasper killed himself, so you didn’t leave a crime scene.”

“True. But whoever hired me didn’t trust me to do the second part of the job—to find whatever he’s looking for. So he sent those thugs after me to get the treasure and probably leave my body in a ditch somewhere or turn me over to the sheriff. That makes me angry. It’s not a good idea to be angry in my business because anger makes you do stupid things. But I don’t care. I’m angry so I’m doing a stupid thing. I’m going to find out the client’s endgame.”

“Why?” said Patton.

“Because it’s a definite possibility that part of his endgame is to kill me, and maybe kill you, and I’d rather that didn’t happen.”

“Who is this client?”

“I wish I knew.”

“An anonymous customer?”

“They all are,” said Nemo. “The dark web is a mysterious place. Anyway, when I saw Fritz trying to ruin your day, I figured I had to find whatever he was looking for before he did and get the hell out of Alta Vista. Since Jasper said you had the key, and they didn’t find anything in his house, I guessed that meant another property someplace. But you said he never gave you a key. Just an old book.”

“Wait a minute,” said Patton, suddenly remembering something. “When I flipped through that book, The Key to Rebecca, the back pages were in perfect condition.”

“So?”

“So, I spilled water all over the back of that book and it’s a cheap book club edition. It should have soaked through the cover in no time.”

“What’s your point?”