Alex caught Pamela’s arm, pulled her back against him. She whispered to him, “Why is she saying these things, Alex?”

Mia said, “Because they’re true, Pam. You got something out of him about Serena, didn’t you? But not the truth, not what really happened that night.”

“No, that isn’t what happened!”

Hoolihan took back control, said in his calm way, “Mr. Harrington, this morning, as Ms. Briscoe said, we recovered the remains of Serena Winters in a grave in Valley Forge National Park.”

Sherlock said, “We’d never have found her if Kent Harper hadn’t told us exactly where you’d buried her.”

Alex stood straight, shaking his head back and forth.

Tommy stared at the monster who had killed the girl he’d thought he’d marry. The rage he felt for what he’d done, for the grief he’d brought to everyone else, was a violent brew, but he held himself in check. He said in his deep, calm FBI voice, “The Jaguar you drove seven years ago? We matched it to a photo taken by a student outside the fraternity house the night of the fire, the night Serena disappeared, with your old license plate. It appears you know quite a bit about Godwyn University.”

Alex said nothing, looked mildly bored, but Mia knew he wasn’t, he couldn’t be.

Tommy continued, “The autopsy showed Serena was struck hard at the base of her skull, hard enough to kill her. The odds are good we’ll find traces of your DNA on her clothes and on the tarp you wrapped her in.”

Mia sent a questioning look to Detective Hoolihan, who nodded. She said, “You and Kent drove from Boston to Godwyn to find a girl to roofie and rape. But you ended up killing her because she saw what you were doing—namely, sprinkling a roofie into her drink.” She felt rage building, burning her throat. “You murdered my best friend, and neither of you even knew her name. Did you know Kent knew her only as Aolith, the gaming character?

“You hit her, Alex, killed her, set the fire so you could get her out without being noticed. You and Kent wrapped her in a tarp and threw her into a hole.” Mia felt herself beginning to spin out of control, but she managed to dial it back, there was too much at stake. “You killed her and forgot her, didn’t you, Alex, once she was in the ground, once you dumped dirt on top of her? She no longer existed. If you felt anything, it was impatience because she’d ruined your evening. Was Serena the only girl you killed?”