“He liked watching people drown,” Anne said, correcting him. “His grandfather drowned at Vanport. The story was probably mythic in his family. The poison provided a way for him to watch people drown on dry land. He justified it as some sort of bent revenge for his grandfather’s death. That’s why he left the Vanport keys on the bodies. He wanted to make a statement, to be understood. You said he knew who Susan was. He probably slipped that key in her bag, hoping that she’d see the connection and write about it. In the end, his grandfather’s story was an excuse. He felt powerless. Killing people made him feel less powerless.”

“How does the boy fit in?” Archie asked.

“We may never know,” Anne said. “But my guess is that the kidnapping was spontaneous. That Carey recognized something in the kid that was vulnerable. He wanted control. Keeping Patrick Lifton in a basement room was no different to him than keeping a fish in a bowl. It gave him the power that he craved. But after a while it wasn’t enough.”

“So he sees Susan’s story about the skeleton, and gets a bee in his bonnet to go on a killing spree?”

Anne raised an eyebrow and sighed. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we found out that he’d been drowning animals since childhood,” she said.

They passed the entrance to I-84, north to Vancouver.

Archie couldn’t stop thinking about the boy. “If the kid did manage to get out of the river, where would he go?”

Anne thought. “Someplace he felt safe.”

Aquarium World was in ruins. The house was cordoned off with crime tape. Patrick’s bridge hideout was underwater.

“Oaks Park,” Archie said.

*   *   *

“This is ridiculous,” Anne muttered from behind Archie as they tromped through the flooded parking lot.

Archie waved to August and Philip Hughes, who stood with flashlights at the main gate up ahead.

“Thanks for coming,” Archie said. “How bad is it in there?”

“Two feet, at its deepest,” August Hughes said. “She took it pretty well. Most of the rides are above water.”

“Is there power?” Archie asked.

“Yes, sir,” August Hughes said. “We’ve got generators as a backup to the main power line.” He swung open the gate and walked into the park, his flashlight beam bouncing in front of him.

A few moments later the lights came on. The metal grates and intricate workings of the rides were lit up with fluorescent strips and bright multicolored bulbs. But the park remained still. The rides didn’t move.

August Hughes reappeared from around a corner.

“Okay,” Archie said to Anne. “Let’s look around.”

“We can help,” Philip Hughes said. “Dad knows the park better than anybody. He knows the kid.”