"If he dropped out of Chico after one academic year, that leaves a gap from the end of spring term in eighty-five until January eighty-six. Where was he during that period?"

"I'll make some calls to Chico."

"What did Menard do when he landed back in Vermont?"

"Grew vegetables, I guess. Lived off his inheritance. Paid no Social Security, filed no tax returns."

"Did you talk to the locals?"

"I managed to scare up a couple of neighbors who remembered him. Most people in the area are newcomers since Menard left, but a few old-timers remembered Genevieve Rose and her son. Apparently Mama was one tough lady. Kept the kid on a very short rein."

"Corneau never remarried?"

"Nope. Single parent. Folks remember Menard as a quiet kid who stayed in a lot. Didn't partic.i.p.ate in sports or the usual extracurricular school stuff. One or two said they recalled seeing him during the year following his return from Chico. Guy must have had some sort of epiphany in grad school. Made an impression back home with the dreadlocks and beard."

"It's Vermont."

"Meaning?"

"They're conservative. What else did these neighbors say?"

"Not much. Apparently Menard kept to himself, only ventured out to buy groceries or fill up on gas."

"Talk to Chico. Dig up everything you can on this guy. And get a list of every female aged fifteen to twenty-five who went missing in the area while Menard was out there."

"You really liking Menard for these pizza skeletons?"

"It's the cla.s.sic profile. Dominating mother. Failed ambition. A loner. An isolated location."

"I don't know."

"Connect the dots, Charbonneau. Three girls were buried in the bas.e.m.e.nt of a property Menard rented for nine years. Carbon 14 dating suggests that the timing of their deaths coincides with the period of Menard's tenancy. Louise Parent was sufficiently suspicious of Menard to phone me twice."

I was summarizing as much for Ryan's sake as for Charbonneau's.

"According to her sister, what Parent wanted to tell me was that on one occasion she had observed Menard carrying an unconscious teenaged girl into his shop. On another occasion she had observed Menard dragging a fleeing girl back into his shop. Both incidents took place late at night."

"And Parent is now dead," Charbonneau said.

I looked at Ryan. He was following every word.

"And Parent is now dead," I said.

"Bring out the party hats. We may all be working the same patch."

"Looks that way."

"Ryan there?"

"Yes."

"Put him on."

I handed Ryan the phone, then watched as he listened to Charbonneau. Though my nerves were high-stepping, I kept my face neutral. No hint of the jolt Charbonneau had just given me. No hint of the pain Charbonneau had triggered on Monday. No hint of the torture last night's phone call had been.

I'd vowed to distance myself from Ryan, but all the threads were starting to connect. With the Parent and pizza bas.e.m.e.nt investigations merging, professional separation would not yet be possible.

C'est la vie. I would be a pro. I would do my job. Then I would wish Ryan well and move on. I would be a pro. I would do my job. Then I would wish Ryan well and move on.

"Yeah, she is." Ryan chuckled the chuckle men use when sharing a joke about women.

Paranoia roared. She is what what? Which Which she? she?

Forget it, Brennan. Focus on the case. Keep your energy pointed there.

I pictured the bones in their anonymous cellar graves, Menard buying and selling above in his shop. Electronics stolen for a drug hit. Family heirlooms tendered with regret.

I pictured Menard in Vermont, hoeing peas and potatoes. Menard in California, studying Struever, Binford, Buikstra, f.a.gan.

An ill-defined thought tried to get my attention.

Chico.

"-got it right here." Ryan rotated the napkin to read Menard's address.

Chico is in north-central California. I know that. So why the heads-up from my hindbrain?

That wasn't it. There was something more. What?

"Will do," Ryan said.

Charbonneau said something.

"Yeah. Squeeze the squirrel a little. See how he reacts."

Ryan clicked off and handed me my phone.

"You up for a little chat with this guy?"

"Menard?"

Ryan nodded.

"Definitely."

The hindbrain thought seemed to relax slightly.

As Ryan and I left the restaurant we had no idea we were being watched.

26.

THE MAP OF M MONTREAL MAKES ME THINK OF A FOOT, WITH Dorval Airport and the west island suburbs forming the ankle, the toes pointing east, and the heel dropping down into the Fleuve St-Laurent. Verdun forms the fatty pad of the heel, with Pointe-St-Charles as a tiny toeward bunion. Dorval Airport and the west island suburbs forming the ankle, the toes pointing east, and the heel dropping down into the Fleuve St-Laurent. Verdun forms the fatty pad of the heel, with Pointe-St-Charles as a tiny toeward bunion.

The Point is topped off by the Lachine Ca.n.a.l, and bottoms out in the CP rail yards. Vieux-Montreal and its port lie to the east. Originally inhabited by immigrants working construction on Montreal's bridges, the Point has street names that reflect a strong Irish presence. Rue St-Patrick. Sullivan. Dublin. Mullins.

But that's history. Today the Point is largely French.

Less than twenty minutes after leaving Lafleur, Ryan turned onto rue Wellington, the neighborhood's main east-west artery. We pa.s.sed sporting goods stores, tattoo parlors, the MH Grover clothing shop, a Wellington inst.i.tution for decades. Here and there, a perky cafe interrupted the drab little strip.

Ryan paused where rue Dublin tied into Wellington on the left. On the right, a row of Victorians looked incongruously playful, styling out in pastels, ornate woodwork, brick arches, and leaded gla.s.s. I could read the name Dr. George Hall Dr. George Hall scripted in milky gla.s.s above one front door. scripted in milky gla.s.s above one front door.

Ryan noticed my gaze.

"Doctor's Row," he said. "Built in the nineteenth century by a group of fat-cat physicians looking for prestigious addresses. The hood's changed a bit since then."

"Are they still private homes?"

"They're divided into condos, I think."

"Where's rue de Sebastopol?"

Ryan tipped his head left. "It's a rabbit warren in there, lot of dead ends and one-ways. I think de Sebastopol skims the edge of the rail yard."

As Ryan turned onto Dublin, I noticed a historic marker out my window.

"What's Parc Marguerite-Bourgeoys?"

"Mon Dieu, Madame la docteure, you're referring to one of Quebec's best-loved ladies. Sister Maggie set up schools for little girls back in the seventeenth century. Pretty rad idea for Quebec at the time. She also founded the Soeurs de la Congregation de Notre-Dame. A few years ago the church upped her pay grade to saint." you're referring to one of Quebec's best-loved ladies. Sister Maggie set up schools for little girls back in the seventeenth century. Pretty rad idea for Quebec at the time. She also founded the Soeurs de la Congregation de Notre-Dame. A few years ago the church upped her pay grade to saint."

"Why the sign?" I asked.

"In the mid-sixteen hundreds Bourgeoys was given a hefty hunk of this little peninsula. Bit by bit, the nuns sold the land off, and Pointe St-Charles now covers most of the acreage, but Bourgeoys's original school and parts of the farm are up ahead. Site's now a museum."

"Maison St-Gabriel?"

Ryan nodded.

Snow removal in the area had been sketchy at best. Sidewalks were mounded and parked cars jutted into the traffic lanes. Ryan drove slowly, pulling far to the right for oncoming traffic. As we moved deeper into the Point I a.s.sessed my surroundings.

The architecture was a jumble of nineteenth- and twentieth-century housing, most of which appeared to have been built for the working-cla.s.s poor. Many streets were lined with two-story redbrick row houses whose front doors opened right at the curb. Others streets tended toward rough-hewn limestone. While most residences were starkly plain, a few sported a cornice, a false mansard, or a carved wooden dormer.

Mixed in with the previous century's efforts were three-story trior six-plexes built during the early years of this one. Their creators favored more generous setbacks allowing tiny front gardens, recessed entrances, yellow, chamois, or brown brick facing, and exterior staircases twisting to second-floor balconies.

Near the entrance to the Maison St-Gabriel, we pa.s.sed several four-story postwar monstrosities with entrances canopied under concrete or plastic. The designers of these eyesores obviously placed efficiency well before style. So much for feng shui.

After several turns, Ryan made a right, and rue de Sebastopol stretched before us. To our left sprawled the rail yards, half-hidden by six-foot fencing and evergreen shrubbery. Through the branches and chain-linking, I could see row after row of rusted tanker cars.

Snow crunched under our tires as Ryan rolled to a stop. Wordlessly, we each made a visual tour.

At midblock, a series of redbrick row houses elbowed up to the curb, the run-down little dwellings seeming to huddle together for support. Or warmth.

Beyond the row houses, I could see a gap, then a hodgepodge of cement structures with graffiti scarring their exterior walls. To our right stood a seedy barn enclosed within a dilapidated fence. Inside the fence, a mongrel dog took issue with our presence.

Bare trees fingered up through the power lines. Previously plowed snow sat mounded and blackened with grime.

Rue de Sebastopol looked like many other streets in the Point.

Yet somehow more bleak.

More isolated.

To our left yawned the vast uninhabited rail yard. Behind us lay the only vehicle access to the lane.

As I stared the length of the block, I felt a deep sense of foreboding.

Ryan nodded toward the row houses. "That's Sebastopol Row, built in the 1850s by the Grand Trunk Railway."

"Apparently Big Railroad didn't pony up for aesthetics."

Ryan pulled the napkin from his pocket, checked the address, then advanced so he could see the digits on the first row house.

The dog stopped barking, rose with forepaws on the fence, and watched our progress.

"What's the number?"

Ryan told me.

"Must be farther down."

As Ryan crept forward, I read off the addresses. The numbers on the row houses didn't go high enough, but that on the first cement structure indicated we'd gone too far.

"Maybe it's farther off the pavement, back in that vacant area," I suggested.

Ryan reversed up the block and parked opposite the last of the row houses. A silhouette was faintly visible through bare trees and heavy pines.

"Ready?" Ryan scooped his gloves from the backseat.

"Ready."

I pulled on my mittens and got out. At the thunk-thunk of our doors, the dog reengaged.

Ryan proceeded up an ice-crusted walkway six feet beyond the outer wall of the last row house. Needled boughs and bare branches blocked the sky, creating a gloomy tunnel effect.