Days later, my partner and I found Jamie Rivera’s body in the basement of his family home. We discovered him by accident almost, under fifty pounds of processed venison. The freezer was one of those old Whirlpool chests that open like a coffin. The compressor had been wheezing as we searched the space, giving off a chemical smell. We’d already opened it, but my instinct told me to go back and recheck. He was all the way at the bottom, under strange red bricks that had once been living creatures. We threw them to the floor—and then we saw the boy. A glaze of frost stiffening his eyelashes. His small blue hands.

Part 4: The Bent Grove

(fifty-four)

Once Shannan Russo’s remains have been identified, media trucks set up camp in Gualala, in front of Rumor’s All About Hair, and on Lansing Street in Mendocino, where our case is finally gathering steam. I don’t watch the looping clips of Karen Russo because I can’t bear to see her face. Instead, I focus on the new momentum and direction Shannan’s discovery has created. Finding her body has helped us begin to compile and refine a profile for her killer, which might also aid in our search for Cameron.The torture and strangulation Shannan endured and the controlled incineration of her car don’t immediately seem to dovetail with the details of Polly’s abduction, but Rod Fraser is being briefed on every significant finding, and on the profile we’re still building, bit by bit.

For the moment, we’re looking for a federal- or state-level parks employee, a firefighter, or a military guy, single probably, and somewhere between the ages of twenty-seven and forty-five, given statistical averages and the physical strength he’s already demonstrated.

The media likes to sensationalize psychopaths and evil geniuses like Charles Manson and David Berkowitz, but in real life, people who commit serial murders are typically of average intelligence, and rarely show an obvious degree of mental illness, at least not on the surface. In this case, there’s even more reason to believe our suspect blends easily into his environment. He probably first encountered Shannan in a public place and hadn’t frightened her or given her cause to be alarmed, not enough to make any kind of scene. The same had probably been true with Cameron, if my instincts are on track. Because of her age, he would have needed to move slowly in getting close to her, and also have had something to offer her, some opportunity or possibility she didn’t see at home. We only have to find out what that is, now, and comb through tens of thousands of records, hoping someone jumps out.