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It was dated nearly a year ago Cah the rest of the pile More auditions, some won, soone wrong Records of a life, too short a life

The as open, broken glass on the floor She looked for footprints outside the , but the Serial had been careful to walk on grass He hadn’t used the back door Had he changed the pattern, or as with Molly Harbinger, had there been so, and so he’d chosen the ?

She traced his path to Deborah’s bedrooht-filled roo over a double bed, looking down at Deborah Connelly’s body, their faces set It felt to Caer When they saw her, they looked at each other and stepped aside Ca woray and slack, her eyes closed She earing a liown, a sheet pulled to her waist, both soaked with blood There was blood spray on the wall beside the bed, on the ceiling Her neck was cut so deeply her head hung to the side, her long black hair stiff with blood So much blood Her mouth was open, not in terror, but in surprise She hadn’t had ti to do before he’d slit her throat That at least was a blessing

Caret, saw her hands were tre She forced herself to focus on as in front of her She said quietly, "He broke thein the other roo soft-soled sneakers that made no noise, probably the same ones he’s worn five times before He came into this bedroom, stood over the bed, looked down at her What was the ? Anticipation, elation? Did he know her?"

She felt the cops staring at her, but she kept her focus on Deborah Connelly’s face She ht, closer, and leaned down "This was exactly where he stood" She felt a punch of cold, then a light scent of jasmine We would have liked each other, Deborah Or were you Deb? I’m so sorry I promise you, we’ll catch the monster who did this to you

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Ca in the doorway "Agent,in the kitchen Detective Loogested the officer tell her Whatever it was, he’d been sh to keep it to himself

Cam walked back down the skinny hallith its pale blue–painted walls to the kitchen, past techsboxes The medical examiner walked past her, toward the bedroo her a nod He would add no dignity to her death, her body now a job to him, a mystery to solve She paused outside the kitchen door, closed her eyes a ain, she smelled jasmine It cal Pepita Gonzalez She hadn’t known he spoke Spanish She hoped he’d got so useful from her

She walked into a s alone, still as a stone at a small table, his face in his hands Loomis had said he was hysterical, but he was utterly silent No, not quite He hispering so to find you, you son of a bitch," the sa She kneas his way of keeping hold of hihtly laid her hand on his shoulder "Mr Richards"

He slowly raised his face and Cam saas a tanned and buffeddishwater-blond hair to his shoulders whipped back in a braid, lovely thick hair He earing a white T-shirt and cutoff jeans, sandals on his big tanned feet She saw a s in his left earlobe He looked up at her out of dazed eyes She saw a pair of glasses on the table near his hand "Who are you?" His voice was hoarse, blurred with tears

"I’ent Wittier, FBI You’re Mark Richards?"

"Yes People call me Doc" He sounded exhausted

He looked like a surfer dude to her "Doc?"

"Yes, I’ery fellow at Children’s Hospital in Santa Monica, only a half mile away, as if that ood as killed her"

"Why do you say that, Doc?"

He looked up at her with blind eyes "She shouldn’t even have been here Deb and I were ether You saw all the boxes and crap in the hallway and living room? It was all her stuff We were all set to move her into our new place yesterday, but--" He sed "I was treating a four-year-old with an ependymoma--a kind of brain tu well, so we ery to yesterday

"I let Deb down, I wasn’t here If I hadn’t put offher out of here, she’d still be alive The house would have been e next to her in our new apartment across the street from the hospital That bastard wouldn’t have found her here, alone

"I know I shouldn’t have touched her, but I couldn’t help it I closed her eyes She had the prettiest blue eyes She was staring up at er I wondered if she was thinking about me when she died, how I should have been here with her" He hunched his shoulders, put his face in his hands again, and sobbed

Ca as he lived She laid her hand on his shoulder, lightly shook him "Listen to me You know as a doctor you can only do the best you can This was not in your control You are not responsible" She said nothing et hiether Slowly, he quieted Calazed and hiscaainst her and held hiainst soft hair that s she’d promised Deborah "I swear to you we’ll catch this ht?" She paused ato his breath stutter and catch "How did the child’s surgery go? On the brain tumor?"