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

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.

“They have a guy named Gavin Spencer in custody. His first appearance is set for eleven. Put a rush on this.” Andi handed the file to Lila. “There’s not much to work with. I’m meeting with the detectives in an hour, and I want you there.”

Gavin Spencer’s file was the last case that they discussed that morning, but with the clock ticking toward his first appearance in court, it would be the one that Lila would start on. She went to her office and gave the file a quick read-through and saw that Andi was right—there wasn’t much there. A woman named Sadie Vauk had been pulled from the Mississippi River unable to stand or talk. Although she had no memory of the attack itself, she identified Spencer as the man she had been with prior to blacking out.