“He’s an awkward guy,” Matty said, “a loner with a bad speech impediment. Probably uses his camera as a way to interact with people—women in particular.”

Niki added, “He’s independently wealthy, so we think he uses the photography business to scout victims. Once he chooses a girl, he figures out her habits. Then, when the opportunity presents itself, he drugs her, assaults her, and drowns her in the river.”

Matty said, “He covers his tracks like nothing I’ve ever seen. We think he puts them in the river off Nicollet Island—lets them float over the falls. He uses the falls like…Excuse the analogy, but he uses the falls like the agitator of a washing machine—lets it hammer away the evidence.”

Tony tapped the lid of the box. “We weren’t even sure she was murdered,” he said. “She drowned, so we couldn’t rule out an accident or suicide.”

“But we have Gavin Spencer now,” Matty said. “Virginia Mercotti hired him for her brother’s marriage proposal, and Spencer took a picture of Eleanora Abrams at a party two days before she turned up dead.”

“And get this,” Niki said. “Spencer went to homecoming with Eleanora Abrams when they were freshmen in high school. Things got ugly.” Niki slid a police report across the table to Voss. “Abrams ignored Spencer all night. They went home separately, but not before Gavin’s mother threw a cup of hot coffee on the girl.”

Voss leaned back in his seat and read the report, whistling when he came to the part about the hot coffee. “This guy’s a piece of work—so is his mother.”

“Did the name Gavin Spencer come up anywhere in your investigation?”

“No, and we grilled the roommate pretty hard. She just happened to look out the window when Chloe got into the vehicle—that’s the only reason we know it was a black SUV.”

“What about a speech impediment?” Niki asked. “Spencer has a bad lisp.”

Voss churned through the pages of his report. “No mention of it, but Kempker never met the photographer or heard him speak.”

Niki shook her head. “It’s him. I know it is.”

The three detectives sat in silence for a few seconds before Voss spoke. “Did you know that Ted Bundy was the top suspect for multiple murders in Utah and Washington while he was killing women in Colorado? They knew he’d done it. Had a ton of circumstantial evidence, but nothing that got them to court.”

“Like we got here,” Matty said.

“Exactly.”

Niki said, “We can put him with Eleanora and Virginia within days of their abductions, but not on the actual day. We can tie a black SUV to both Chloe and Sadie Vauk, but can’t prove that it’s Spencer’s vehicle. Sadie puts him in her salon chair right before her memory goes blank, but to get a guilty verdict, the jury has to believe a woman with no memory.”

“Lots of smoke,” Voss said, “but no fire.”

“We’re so damned close,” Niki said. “I feel like we’re trying to open one of those Chinese puzzle boxes. If we could look at it the right way, we’d see the answer.”