Annie summed up what little else they knew so far and invited Stefan and Jazz to provide an update. Stefan spoke about cars and tires, using the photos on the whiteboard as a guide, and explained how there just wasn’t enough information from the skid marks to run against a database search for make and model. He also explained how the traces of blood and the girl’s muddy footprints led him to his theories about the sequence of events, though there were, unfortunately, no recoverable footprints from the killer, only signs of a scuffle by the roadside. They were working on identifying footwear marks made on the girl’s body, he said, but he stressed that they were partial and would be unlikely to lead to the actual footwear the killer had been wearing, should he still be foolish enough to have it in his possession. There were, however, one or two scuff marks and scratches unique to that footwear. The one thing he was reasonably certain of was that there had been no one with her on her ten- or fifteen-minute walk from where she had been dumped to where she had been killed, so it seemed that whoever had kicked her out of the van while “My Silver Lining” was playing had gone on his way. It also appeared as if there had been only one killer.

“Maybe they were working in concert,” Annie suggested.

“What do you mean?” Banks asked.

“Maybe it was prearranged. Someone knew she was going to be tossed out of the van, and whoever it was in the other van was following for the specific purpose of killing her.”

“I suppose it’s possible,” Banks admitted. “But it’s a bit elaborate, don’t you think? Why go to all that trouble when the people in the van could just as easily have killed her before they dumped her?”

“Maybe they weren’t supposed to know she was going to be killed? It’s not any more unbelievable than some psycho just happening to pass by.”

“True enough,” said Banks.

Then Jazz Singh took over.

“I’ve been working with the DNA for a while now,” she began, “and even though we’ve got no hits on the database, I’m sorry to say, I’ve come to a few conclusions. As you know, we found samples of semen from three males in the girl’s orifices. The men clearly didn’t use condoms, unless all three broke, so we can assume they’re confident or stupid. Or both. Either way, it’s to our advantage.”

“They most likely don’t expect anyone to be searching for them,” said Banks. “Especially if, as Annie suggests, they didn’t kill the girl. Either she was willing, or they raped her and gave her graphic warnings of what would happen to her if she talked.”