“He’s good at what he does. Listen, Martin and I would follow Eddie anywhere. Someone in my family is in trouble or, God forbid, killed, the only person I want to investigate is Eddie.”

“Yeah, I get that.”

Rivas stood and stretched. He looked at Eden. “So, now you’ve heard it, you like that story? Not a lot of laughs, is it?”

“No. No, it’s not. But thank you for telling me.” Eden quietly opened her laptop to stare at the empty screen. As Rivas walked away, she said, “By the way, whatever happened to that cop, the one who helped Eddie’s sister, Diane?”

Rivas stopped at his desk. “Became a detective here, retired now.” He turned to face Eden. “I think you met him—Tommy Woodhouse.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

(i)

(THURSDAY, 5:58 A.M.)

Mahler looked out the window of the VCI room and watched the scene in front of the police station. The sky was dark and wet with fog. A streetlamp made a pool of light beneath the window. A white sedan drove past, then a Safeway truck. On the sidewalk a homeless man walked a bicycle, black trash bags tied to the frame and handlebars with bungee cords.

Rivas joined Mahler beside the window. He held out a newspaper. “You see this?”

The headline read “Investigators Stalled in Park Homicide.” The first three paragraphs quoted Police Chief Truro, who admitted his department had no suspects in the homicide of Elise Durand but was following several leads. The story went on to say the police were concerned about the potential for a second homicide seventy-two hours after the first killing, as happened two years ago. Extra patrols were assigned to the park.

Rivas waited for Mahler to finish reading. “That part about several leads come from you?”

“I send him reports every couple hours,” Mahler shrugged. “We haven’t talked.”

“Word is, he wants to take you off the case.”

“I’ll bet.” Mahler turned and looked at Eden. “The victim’s mother is coming in at nine thirty to ID the body. We’ll talk to her then.”

Eden nodded. “What about Bennett? Is he no longer a suspect?”

“He’s not our guy.”

“Based on what?” Eden asked.

“Intuition. I don’t see the guy having the state of mind to transport the victim’s body to the park. The DA could charge him with obstruction, but as far as this case is concerned, we’re back to square one.”

Rivas sat at his desk in front of an open laptop. “Yeah, the techs didn’t find any blood in Bennett’s car trunk. But the first report came in on Elise Durand’s car. Victim’s prints, plus one other set we’re trying to track down. Clothes, pills. Oh, and a bag of dog biscuits.”

“Did our victim own a dog?” Mahler asked.

“Not that we know of,” Coyle answered without looking up.