“I know. Make sure she has backup. Does she know about Andy?”

“Yeah.”

“And?

“She doesn’t want to be here, that’s for sure.”

“Do not leave the station until we bring in a detail to take you to the hotel, and that isn’t going to happen anytime soon.”

“I’ll stay here all night if I have to.”

Matt ended the call. He wanted to call Kara himself, but he trusted Maddox to relay the information. Still... He should have called after he learned about Andy. There’s just so much he had to do right now that he couldn’t take five minutes to make sure his team was emotionally okay.

“Matt, you gotta see this.”

Michael had been going through the desk. He’d found a couple knives—identical, and likely the same type that had been used to kill the first eight victims. And a box of bullets.

“.45s,” Michael said. “And this box is empty.”

“No gun?”

“Not that I could find. But this box is also empty.” He held up a box that had once held a high-end hunting knife.

“That could have been the knife he killed Andy with.”

“And it’s not here. It’s a good tool, better than the four-inch double-sided blades he used on the other vics. It’s better balanced.”

Which meant he could throw it and hit his target—if he had even a little practice.

Matt stepped out into the living room and called Packard.

“Press is everywhere. Andy’s name was leaked, and it wasn’t my office.”

“Not mine, either,” Matt said, “but there were a lot of cops and civilians at the scene, not to mention paramedics, fire, and a press crew. You’d think they’d stay in when it’s twenty-five fucking degrees.”

“I gotta give them something, Agent Costa.”

“Agreed. I need a forensics team at Hamilton’s house, competent and tight-lipped. There’s a lot of evidence here, and some of it is sensitive. Jordan is processing the house in Liberty Lake.”

“I don’t want to pull him off.”

“Agreed.”

“I’ll put the fear of God into the rest of his crew. They’ll do a good job.”

“Appreciate it. I’ll be there to help with the press. This is one time I think we can use them to our advantage.”

“Can I announce we’ll have a statement in thirty minutes?”

“Yes. I’ll be there.”

Matt said, “I need you here, Michael—I’ll talk to the SWAT team and have them split. We don’t need all six of them for backup, but I don’t want anyone exposed. If Hamilton returns, no one is going to be caught in his crossfire.”

“Understood.”

“Search the car, every drawer, see if there’s any hint of what other names he might be using, the other corporations Ryder says he may have, evidence of another car. He’s not on foot, not in this weather.”

Matt stepped out into the freezing cold. He had an overcoat, but it didn’t do much good against the biting wind. He found the SWAT team leader, told him what he needed, and was confident it would get done. Then he had his SPD driver take him back to the station. On the way he called Catherine.