“But you really should take better care of yourself, young lady.” Thackrey wagged a scolding finger in the air. “You drive that little Mazda way too fast.”

Across the parking lot, they could see Stacie come out the front of the Quik Mart, looking at the other cars. “Where are you?”

Thackrey watched Stacie through the windshield. Women amused him, until they bored him to death. And there always seemed to be something that needed cleaning up. “And how really safe are River View Apartments? Every time I was there, I worried about the deadbolt. Come on—all it takes is a couple of tweekers following you home one night. With a tension wrench, they’d be inside. I could be in there right now, for all you know.”

“Listen, you sick jerk…” Her voice rose. “I’m calling the police right now and have them trace this call.”

Russell’s hand went up again. “Police. Ten points.”

“Do you still look under the bed before you go to sleep?” Thackrey put his mouth close to the phone. “You really should from now on. We’ll be there next time.”

“Fuck you,” Stacie said.

Russell slapped the seat-back. “F-word. Five points.”

“The problem is, you need to be less stupid if you don’t want to get hurt. That’s going to be a problem for you, isn’t it, Stacie?”

“Fuck you.” She hung up and shoved the phone in her pocket.

“Five more,” Russell said.

Stacie pointed her remote lock at the Mazda, and the horn blared again. She jumped in and gunned the car out of the lot.

“Fifteen, love, front seat,” Thackrey said. “Second set.”

Victor watched Stacie’s car roar down the street. “Now can we stop screwing around and get out of here?”

Thackrey held up the phone for Russell and exchanged it for the plastic bag. “We’ll talk about what comes next. First let’s order that trunk liner.”

Chapter Four

(i)

(TUESDAY, 11:07 A.M.)

Mahler walked into the VCI room and took his usual spot on the wall where he leaned against the filing cabinets. The other detectives turned their chairs to face a whiteboard.

Taped to a corner of the board were two color photos of the latest homicide victim, one showing the length of her body on the bench, the other a close-up of her face. Under the photos in red marker was: Jane Doe, Spring Lake, Violetti Gate, 10/19. Beneath that, someone had written: Connection to 2017 Homicides? Next Victim = Time of Death Plus 72 Hours.