“Coming back to the geography being removed from a major center, and a potential crime of opportunity, this could signal that it happened close to where the Hydra is living. It could indicate sloppiness, an act of impulse. Or, given the years of inactivity, it could be a sign of fatigue and, even on a subconscious level, a desire to be caught.”

“He could want to be arrested?” McDade asked.

“Yes, to have his face and name immortalized, and to bask in the infamy of his acts. He may see that as a desired retirement.”

A moment passed.

“Of course, this is all theory and speculation,” Resher said. “But one thing emerges clearly in the case of the missing student in Vermont.”

“What’s that?” McDade asked.

“We have no body, no message that we know of. This suggests that Samantha Moore could still be alive, because the Hydra is not yet finished with her.”

CHAPTER 32

Spiritsburg, Vermont

Wyatt left his room at the Green Rolling Hills Inn and walked the short distance to Edna’s Diner to get breakfast.

Yesterday was a washout.

He’d failed to find where Cass and Gibby were camped. He’d followed the directions Zeffie, the gas station woman, had written out for him. But after several efforts, he couldn’t find the place, got lost, and gave up.

And forget GPS. As far as the technology was concerned, the roads and locations Zeffie had named didn’t exist. Besides, service was unreliable. The deeper Wyatt had traveled into Lucifer’s Notch, the worse it got.

He’d returned to town and spent much of the day holed up in his room, transcribing interviews and studying his files on the case. But he had not given up on his search for Cass and Gibby.

So yesterday, before the end of business hours, Wyatt went to the Spiritsburg village square and the town office, where he requested detailed regional maps. In some cases, he saw property records and lists naming owners of lots in the region. Using Zeffie’s sketched map and directions as a guide, he studied the local and regional maps, and made notes.

Then he went across the street to the public library to study the region’s historical maps, comparing them with Zeffie’s and making more notes.

Finally, he went next door to the Spiritsburg General Store. Surprised that they still sold physical maps, he bought the most up-to-date charts of the region.

Now, alone in his booth at Edna’s Diner, Wyatt folded a map precisely so it showed the region of the Northeast Kingdom known as Lucifer’s Notch. With a pencil, he carefully traced the twisting road that slithered alongside creeks, forests, and bogs, and found tentacles that forked. Then he consulted Zeffie’s sketch and directions, and his pencil point landed on a hook in the road.

That’s it. That’s the turn I missed.