He saw sadness creep into her face. She got up, taking her coffee in one hand and her cell phone and portable charger in the other. The door to the adjoining room was open, and she wandered inside. Frost followed her. He realized that this was the room where she treated her patients. It had the feel of a shrine, like the temple of memory. He knew some people would probably feel comfortable here, but he didn’t like it at all. She used this room to get inside people’s heads, and he didn’t trust anyone who did that.

She was watching him closely. “You don’t like me, do you, Inspector?”

“I don’t know you.”

“Well then, you don’t like what I do for a living.”

He shrugged. “You’re right about that.”

“I’m not an ice queen,” Stein told him. “I know I may seem that way. I grew up with an emotionless father. He was a demanding academic. I learned to keep my own feelings locked away, but I hate to see other people in pain. I’ve devoted my life to helping patients do what I never seem to do myself. Let their emotions out. Deal with their fears. Get past the hurt.”

“I’m not judging you,” Frost said.

“No? Then you’d be the first. There’s been a long line of people telling me what to do my whole life.”

Frost took a step closer. He wanted to make her uncomfortable with his physical proximity, but she let him get within inches of her without any reaction. She wasn’t easily intimidated.

“I don’t have time for true confessions, Dr. Stein. All I want to know is who hates you enough to ruin your life. And who would be smart enough and ruthless enough to kill innocent women as part of his plan. I don’t care how many enemies you have. That has to be a short list. So why don’t you stop hiding behind your ethics and tell me what you know?”

Her eyes were cool. They were always cool. “I’ve already told you what I can. I wish there was something more I could say.”

“So you can live with yourself if this happens again?”

“I’m not the one who’s doing this. I’m a victim, along with these women.”

Frost wanted to curse, but he swallowed it down. “Good-bye, Dr. Stein.”

He walked away, but he stopped when she called after him. “Wait.”

“What is it?”

Her face weighed what she could say and what she couldn’t say. Then she murmured, “Lost time.”

Frost’s eyes narrowed. “What?”

“Did any of the women experience lost time? Periods of time they didn’t remember?”