“No. It’s just that I don’t usually… Never mind. By the way, the men’s scarf that the dogs found in the park is probably a dead end. We have to get a court order to check the store sales, and even then we have no evidence to connect it to the victim’s body.”

“Put it on the back burner,” Mahler said. “We’ll revisit it later if we need to.”

“What about the victim’s mother?” Coyle asked.

“I contacted the police back in Montgomery Township, Pennsylvania, and asked them to notify her in person. If I don’t hear back in a couple hours, I’ll give them a call.”

Mahler walked back to the whiteboard. “Elise Durand” had been written in red marker under two photos of the victim. The countdown to another possible homicide now said thirty-seven hours. Beyond that, a second whiteboard was set up with photos of three earlier victims: Michelle Foss and Susan Hart, killed in Spring Lake Park, and Beth Hunter, killed forty miles away in Vallejo. Beneath each face was a close-up of a small knife cut in the flesh at the base of their spines. Mahler felt the others watching him as he studied the photos. “I understand we may have another possible match with this Vallejo victim?”

Eden opened a file. “Yes, sir. All three girls have the same signature cut at the base of the spine, and all were killed when Irwin Partridge lived in the area.”

“You figured this out by yourself?” Mahler asked, without turning to face Eden.

“Yes, sir. But Daniel pulled Beth Hunter’s file off ViCAP, and Sergeant Woodhouse noticed the cut on Michelle Foss.”

Mahler turned to face Eden. “But you put it together. It’s good work, Detective Somers. Now go back on ViCAP and see if any other cases show up with this new signature thing and—”

“I already looked on ViCAP. No other murders show up with the signature cut. It might not mean anything. The signature wasn’t even mentioned in the ME’s report on Michelle Foss and Beth Hunter. I only saw it because Sergeant Woodhouse made a note. Maybe it’s been overlooked in other cases.”

“Call the investigating officer in Vallejo, and tell him—”

“I talked to Officer Dennis Jermany. He said their leads in the case didn’t pan out. Also said Partridge’s name never came up. But Partridge’s file shows that at the time of the Hunter murder, he had a job in Vallejo. Worked for Mare Island Rigging. So Jermany’s calling the company this morning to see if they have a record of Partridge’s schedule on the day of the murder.”

Mahler stopped listening. The information about the signature cuts was like a new door opening. Maybe the way into the Partridge case wasn’t through the local murders but through a matching case in Vallejo.