When Gavin stepped forward, Niki watched Sadie’s face in the glass, looking for any sign of recognition and seeing none. Sadie closed her eyes as though trying to conjure up the memory of the man in the salon chair. When she opened them again, she shook her head no and said, “Okay.”

Number six took his turn and obviously struck no chord with Sadie.

“I’m not sure,” she said when he stepped back. “I didn’t look at the man straight on. He was sitting in the chair. I saw him in the mirror and from the side. Can I have them…maybe turn to the side?”

“Absolutely,” Niki said, relieved.

The jailer had each one step forward and turn to the left and then to the right. Again, Sadie paused on number two and number four. When they were finished, her gaze bounced back and forth between those two men.

Niki handed a piece of paper to the jailer. “Ask them each to say these words.”

The jailer read the sentence on the paper, and then cued the intercom. “Number one, please step forward and repeat the following phrase: ‘All you had to do was be nice.’”

Niki watched Gavin’s eyes and saw fear flash in them. He’d replaced his practiced expression of boredom with what looked to be concentration.

The men, one by one, followed the jailer’s instructions, repeating the phrase that the man who had called himself Kevin had said to Sadie. When number two and number four said the words, Niki saw, in Sadie’s reflection in the glass, a hint of disappointment.

“Number five?”

Gavin Spencer stared at the wall ahead of him, intensely focused. Niki could almost read his mind. He’s trying to cure his lisp.

Gavin hesitated just enough to expose his struggle. Then he spoke. “All you had to do…wasch be nische.” His words fell thick and wet to the floor.

Sadie inhaled sharply, her eyes wide with fear. She put her hands on the glass, her face only an inch away as she studied Gavin Spencer. Then she stepped back, almost stumbling, to put distance between herself and the man on the other side of the glass.

“That’s him! That’s the man,” she said in sharp, breathless shots. “I’m sure of it. But…his hair—he had hair.”

“You’re telling me that number five is the man who came to your salon yesterday evening?”

“Yes.” Sadie trembled as she spoke.

“The man who told you his name was Kevin?”

“Yes, that’s him.” Sadie began to hyperventilate, and Niki eased her into a chair in the corner. “Just breathe, Sadie. You’re okay.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t…”

“I’ll get you some water. I’ll be right back.”

Niki stepped out of the viewing room, into the hall where Matty waited. She looked at him, smiled, and said, “He’s our guy.”

Chapter 21

Two days later, on Thursday morning, Lila began her day in Andi Fitch’s office, sitting with her back straight and knees together, a stack of files on her lap. She took notes on a legal pad, trying her best to write as fast as Andi spoke. Lila looked the part of a professional, but inside she felt like a child running to keep up with the long strides of a parent.