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“So ht she didn’t see hi her out of the house Yeah, I don’t think he wanted the little girl to die, hon”

Rich looked up, grinned at me

“I, uh Didn’t mean — shit”

“Forget it, babe,” said Conklin

“Means nothin’” He grinned wider

I said, “Shut up,” and threw a paper clip at his head He snatched it out of the air and went on

“So,” he said, “let’s say Molly saw one of the killers, okay? And let’s say he’s a college-age kid as Molly suggested The Malones, the Meachams, the Chus, and that couple in Palo Alto, the Jablonskys — they all had kids in college But their kids all went to different schools”

“True,” I said “But a kid, any kid, coht open it

“Rich, ing people home that my mom didn’t know So, what if a couple of kids come to the door and say they’re friends with your kid?”

“That would be easy to fake,” Rich said “Local newspapers do stories on kids at school So-and-so’s daughter or son, attending such-and-such school won this-or-that award”

Rich druers on the desk, and I restedon the brink of a breakthrough, it seemed that we’d just opened the field of potential suspects to every h school Latin — and, by the as into robbery, torture, arson, and murder

I thought about the puzzle pieces Providence favoring the killers’ actions, andthe root of all evil There was the sci-fi book Fahrenheit 451, and now a book about a high-placed fire official who’d set fires When John Orr was caught, he’d said, “I was stupid, and I did what stupid people do”

These killers weren’tOrr’s mistakes

They were going out of their way to show just how s Molly Chu their one miscalculation?

Rich’s phone rang and he swiveled his chair toward the wall He lowered his voice and said, “We’re working on it, Kelly, right now It’s all we’re doing I pro, I’ll call you We won’t let you down”