“Let me call her mother first.”

“But at supper you said that you were going to call her tonight, but instead you’re doing this.” Alison opened her arms dramatically to McDade’s work.

“I’m sorry, honey. This is really important. I’ll call Morgan’s mom, I promise. Is all your homework done? It’s almost time for bed.”

“Grrr.” Alison stomped off to her room.

Not my best performance as a mom, McDade had thought earlier this morning while stepping from her train at the Franklin Street Station. Stabbed with guilt, she scrolled through her contacts and pressed the number for Jen Geller, Morgan’s mom, to talk about the sleepover. Her call went to voice mail, and she left a message.

Now, heading down the hall at work, carrying her laptop, files, and notes, she found she had arrived half an hour early for the meeting. Taking a seat at the empty conference table, and setting aside her self-reproach over Alison, McDade began to prepare.

An updated case-status summary had been distributed in advance of today’s call. The list of participants was extensive. It included the multijurisdictional task force investigating the Hydra—many were new to the group, including several new key players from Vermont.

Without VSP’s work on their missing person case, we wouldn’t have this break.

McDade studied her files, making new notes without stopping, even as people joined her. She continued working until someone said her name.

She looked up. Saw the room had filled with agents, her squad supervisor, and the assistant special agent in charge. The ASAC started the meeting with introductions.

Investigators from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Pennsylvania were on the line, along with a range of others from various agencies.

The ASAC gave a brief overview before passing the reins to McDade.

She got right to it.

“This unsolved case reaches back well over fifteen years, maybe more, and it reaches across five states. I was assigned to it several years ago,” McDade began. “It concerns the murders of thirteen women, children and men, whose remains were discovered in the suburbs of Newark, Boston, Philadelphia, and on Long Island, New York.

“Given the passage of time until the discovery of the remains, the cases yielded little physical evidence. In most—but not all—instances, the victims had been dismembered. But there is one key piece of evidence connecting each one. At each scene, or near it, the killer had left a short message, beginning with the words: You can’t.”