“I just called my doorman,” Phil said. “Chip definitely hasn’t been back to our apartment.”

“Do you and Chip have friends you could round up to help look for him? We should cover the parks and the riverbanks and any isolated areas in the city where she might have brought him.”

“I’ll go back in that bar and make an announcement. This is our new neighborhood joint. I bet a lot of people will help.”

“That’d be great. Just be careful what you say. If you slander her, and if for some reason she wasn’t responsible for these other incidents, there could be trouble.”

“Okay.”

“We should let Chip’s family know.”

Phil winced. “They’re already worried about him.”

“I’m sure they are,” Regan said quietly. “Where do they live?”

“His parents are in Maine and his sister is in San Diego. She works for a news station. I was interviewed on the phone by one of the reporters there about the blackout.”

“Let’s call his parents first.”

Predictably, Sue and Chris Jones started to panic. Regan assured them that they were doing everything they could to find Chip. “The police are on the alert. Phil is calling his friends. We’re forming a search party.”

“He was always so polite to girls,” Sue said, her voice full of pain. “He’d be such an easy mark for a woman like that. And knock-out drops, my God! When I spoke to him, he sounded like he’d had too much to drink.”

Sue’s husband was on the extension. “We’re getting in the car and are on our way down.”

“Please be careful,” Regan said. “Driving at night like this when you’re worried and upset can be very dangerous. And when you hit the areas affected by the blackout the roads will be so dark.”

“It’d be worse just sitting here,” Chris Jones said firmly. “Now I’m going to call our daughter.”

“Tell her not to release any information,” Regan warned him. “Please. With any luck the two of them are just out on the town together. She might not have any intention to hurt your son.”

“But didn’t you say that all of her victims are blond?” Sue asked, her voice cracking.

“I did. But here in New York City it will be harder for her to carry out a crime like this. She doesn’t have a car, so maybe she won’t even try.”

“I pray to God that that’s the case,” Chris said quietly. “But I don’t believe it.”

I don’t, either, Regan thought. When she hung up, she looked around the group—Phil, Becky, Becky’s friends Alexis and Dodie, Kit, and Billy. “We’ve got to get organized. Phil is going to make an announcement in the bar. We’ll ask any volunteers to break into groups and cover different areas. I’ll be driving around with—”

“Here comes my dad!” Alexis cried as a Rolls-Royce came down the block. “He’ll help. He can drive us around. Becky knows what this lunatic woman looks like!”

Regan turned. The driver of the Rolls pulled up behind her car. She was shocked to see Conrad Spreckles get out from behind the wheel.