He parked his car so it was not visible from any of the scattered residences, then opened his glove compartment. Inside was a key ring. He’d been to this house before; Ogdenburg had never known. Why would he check for his spare key? He hadn’t needed it in the last two weeks.

Besides, even if he did, he would never have thought someone had broken into his house and taken it, because the killer hadn’t left a trace.

He was good at that. At being invisible. At being smart.

Quietly, he exited his car and walked down the wooded trail that led to the principal’s house. Cold. Clear. Focused. His breath wasn’t even visible because it was so dark, but he’d been through these woods enough times that he didn’t get lost.

Six minutes later, he let himself inside the house with the key.

Silence.

This penultimate kill was going to be easy.

25

Spokane
6:15 a.m.

Matt’s phone rang and he groaned. He hadn’t drunk that much last night, but he also hadn’t gotten much sleep.

Not that he was complaining about what had kept him up.

He grabbed his phone, in an effort not to wake Kara. He glanced over to the other side of the bed.

She wasn’t there.

He flipped on his light. “Costa,” he said gruffly.

Kara was gone. He didn’t hear her in the bathroom, and he didn’t see her clothes anywhere.

“It’s Catherine.”

He shook his head, cleared it. “Sorry. I forgot to set my alarm.” It was six-fifteen. How had he slept in?

“I have something. I emailed you, but I wanted to call, too. The deep backgrounds—there’s a connection between the college professor in Missoula and the city of Spokane. Before he started teaching in Missoula at the University of Montana, he was the principal of Spokane High School.”

Matt slipped out of bed while still holding the phone. He was naked and the room was cold. He turned up the heater and slipped on sweatpants. “John Marston, right?”

“Yes. Victim number five. I then looked at the other victims. No one else graduated or taught at or worked at Spokane High School, but I feel this is important. I think the killer knew Marston personally—just like he knew Anne Banks. And if he’s as young as I think he is, the killer could have attended high school back when Marston was principal there.”

“I’m on it.”

“I copied Ryder Kim on my findings. But listen—I have a theory. It’s not clearly formed, I’m working out some kinks, but I think I’m close. Anne Banks had been an ER nurse in Spokane, but left nursing when she moved to Portland to get married. Yet, the killer still saw her as a trauma nurse—which is why he also targeted Sophia Kwan and Victoria Manners, both who were trauma nurses at the time of their deaths. An insatiable rage? We just don’t know why yet. And the killer still viewed Marston as a high school principal—even though he moved to continue his education and had become a college professor by the time he was killed. That’s why he also killed Rebecca Thomas in Portland—she was a vice principal, a person in authority. And that’s why the victim you will most likely find today will be a high school principal.”