“If he kidnapped a girl that everyone knew he was with, he doesn’t strike me as the type of person to plan ahead.”

I folded my arms and went over to a photograph of the family. To the right, apart from the rest of the family, stood Anderson Ficco. I recognized him from the photo in the police file. He had a bad teenage mustache and a grimace. One eye was uneven with the other and drooped down. A tattoo on his lower arm poked out from his T-shirt, though I couldn’t make it out.

“What’s the tattoo?”

“Oh, it’s charming. It’s a stripper on a pole with a snake going between her legs and up into her . . . well, places it shouldn’t go.”

“A snake?” I said, looking at her.

She nodded. “I told you, he’s just a little charmer.”

I turned back to the photo and stared at him. The rest of the family, his parents and three siblings, were all smiling and dressed in their Sunday best. Anderson wore torn jeans and a Cannibal Corpse T-shirt.

I shook my head. “No. He’s not bringing Patty back here. Not with his parents. He’s got somewhere.”

“Like where?”

“Kid like this has access to a lot of money. He’s got an apartment or a house somewhere.”

“We ran his name and did a background check. He’s got his car and a credit card, that’s it.”

“Subpoena the credit card company. Get me all his statements going back two years, and I need them today.”

“You got it.”

Will turned a corner just then, wearing a bulletproof vest that said RFPD on it. I chuckled. “Planning on going down in a hail of bullets, Wyatt Earp?”

“Hey, when in Rome. We don’t get to raid a home often down here. All the cops were excited.”

“It’s not a raid. It’s a search, and next time, wear a suit. It’ll make you look more respectable and less intimidating.”

“Tatum Graham.”

I turned around. Russell Pritcher stood there in a black pinstripe suit. He had long silver hair pulled back in a trademark (or at least he thought so) ponytail, and a face that looked like a skull with skin pulled tightly over it. His hands always had these protruding blue veins that I couldn’t stand. He put out his hand, and I shook, feeling as if I were holding slimy bird bones.

“Wasn’t expecting you out of your coffin this early, Russell.”

“Well, I thought I’d come see the sights before the prelim.” He looked me up and down. “You shopping at Super Target for suits now? I know government doesn’t pay quite as well, but I’m happy to recommend some affordable tailors for a man of your modest means, if you like.”

“I don’t know. Your mom picked it out, and I think she did a pretty good job.”