'Because Mary's cop boyfriend, Ken, is also dead.'

Linda swayed. 'Oh God. She thought Ken would protect her.'

'He didn't.'

Panic flared in her eyes. 'I have to get out of here. I can't let him kill me too.'

'Can you go to your grandmother's condo?'

Her lips twisted. 'No. She still hasn't forgiven me for the last time I got in trouble. I got some money put away. I'll go tonight. As soon as my shift's done and I get paid.'

He might have felt sorrier for the woman, but she'd knowingly participated in a scheme to defraud and deceive, not that he was in any hurry to report the crime. Escape was probably her best option. You just don't want her talking to the cops.

Well, yeah, that too. But as far as Clay was concerned, it all worked out, leaving him free to catch Reardon. And find Nicki. When he did, he'd give Sherman all the details he could.

'Good luck,' Clay said. 'And be careful.' He left the club feeling the need for a shower. He'd hit his hotel, grab a few hours' sleep, then drive to Ocean City to find Nic.

He'd driven a few miles when his phone rang. Alyssa's cell. Dread lay heavy on his chest.

'Did you find her?' he asked tautly.

'No.' She sounded stilted. Upset. 'I tried to call you, but you didn't answer.'

'I was in a noisy place. What's wrong?'

'I got a hit on the Ted Gamble card. It was used tonight at the Orion Hotel.'

'There?' he demanded. 'In Baltimore?'

'Yes. And . . . and I was tired, so I started for my place. I pass Nicki's apartment on my way. I drove through her parking lot. Clay, her car is there.'

Clay's heart stopped. 'What? Are you sure?'

'Yes. It's her car. It's not in Ocean City.'

But the tracking device was in Ocean City, which meant someone had taken it off her car. Probably Nicki, since her car was there. A thief would have stolen it. Clay's hands were shaking. 'I'm going to get my files from the hotel safe, then I'm coming home. Where are you?'

'In my apartment.'

Clay thought of Mary Stubbs and Ken Pullman, their throats slit. 'Stay there until I contact you,' he said hoarsely. 'Lock your door. Do you have a gun?'

'Yes,' she whispered. 'I know how to use it. My dad taught me.'

'Good. Load it, and if you see Evan come through your door, shoot him.'

Tuesday, May 4, 1.00 A.M.

Lucy had an entourage as she entered the morgue. In front of her, Alan pushed the gurney bearing the unidentified woman. Behind were Hyatt, Fitzpatrick and Stevie. Ruby brought up the rear, pushing the gurney that held Kevin's body, while staring at Lucy as if she were an alien.

Craig Mulhauser was waiting. 'Let's see what's what,' he said.

Lucy unzipped the bag and took a moment to study the body again.

'Well?' Hyatt snapped, stepping next to her at the table. 'Take off her dress so we can see if she's got a "II".'

Lucy ground her teeth, but kept her voice cordial. 'Lieutenant Hyatt, we need to examine this body properly. I'll see things in this light that I couldn't see under the street lamps in the parking lot. Please take a step back. It's procedure, sir.' She looked up at him, her brows lifted in mild challenge. 'I'm sure you understand about procedure.'

His eyes flashed but he took a step back. 'Just hurry.'

She and Craig examined the body, cataloguing the cuts and bruises on the victim's face and legs. Then Lucy focused on the dark dress that buttoned all the way to the victim's neck.

'This doesn't appear to be her dress,' Lucy said as she unfastened buttons. 'It's too big in the bodice-' She stopped, then grimaced. Not only was there a hole in the victim's torso, her breasts had been mutilated. Most of the tissue was gone. 'Oh, hell.'

Fitzpatrick leaned over her shoulder. 'Please tell me that was post-mortem.'

'It wasn't,' Lucy said grimly. 'She'd had a breast augmentation. He left behind part of the implant.'

Stevie took a place next to Craig on the other side of the table. 'I bet we'll find the serial number on the piece he left in her,' she said. 'Like he left the ring on Bennett.'

'But does she have a "II" on her back?' Hyatt demanded.

Lucy pulled the sleeves from the victim's arms and, with Craig's help, peeled the dress away from her torso. And even though she'd been expecting it, the sight of the evenly spaced burns on the victim's back made her stomach churn.

Hyatt bent sideways to get a closer look. And frowned. 'The bottom part looks like a "2",' he said. 'What the hell's that on top?'

It was a curlicued figure, grotesque in its precision.

'Looks like two "2"s connected in the middle,' Mulhauser said.

'No.' Lucy had seen the figure before. She'd drawn it before. In fact, she drew it every time she signed her name. 'Not "2"s. It's a cursive "L".'

'She's right,' Stevie said grimly. ' "L" for "Lucy"?'

Hyatt was looking at Lucy even more suspiciously. 'Or "Lucinda"?'

Lucy closed her eyes for a brief moment, wishing Hyatt to perdition even as her cheeks burned fire. She opened them to find Craig glaring at Hyatt balefully.

'Does it matter?' Craig asked tightly. 'You cannot blame her for this. Dr Trask has done nothing wrong.'

'Except that she has kept secrets from us since this began,' Hyatt said snidely.

Craig's jaw tightened. 'She has kept her private life private. It's not your business or my business what she does after she leaves here, as long as it's legal. Not. Your. Business.'

Lucy touched his gloved hand with hers. 'It's okay, Craig. Really.'

'It matters,' Fitzpatrick said, his voice even and soothing without being patronizing. 'But only because whoever killed this woman knew about the club. He may have had access to the keys at the valet station, which explains how he gained access to her car. It matters because of how it connects. But that's all, Dr Mulhauser.'

'Then find the goddamn connection,' Craig snapped.

'Finding this victim's identity would be a good start,' Stevie said quietly.

'We'll suit up and remove the remaining fragment of breast implant,' Lucy said. 'You're right, Stevie, he left it there for a reason. Let's find out why.'

Tuesday, May 4, 2.30 A.M.

'Her name is Janet Gordon,' JD said, putting the woman's driver's license photo on his desk. He and Stevie were at their desks and had Hyatt on the speaker phone. The lieutenant had gone home for the night. Thank God. 'She's sixty, currently unmarried, divorced three times, and lived downtown about five blocks from Russ Bennett's condo on the Harbor. So far the proximity is the only similarity we've found.'

'Other than that she and Bennett are both dead,' Hyatt said dryly. 'Is Gordon one of Bennett's women?'

'She's not on the list we got from the courier,' JD said. 'Doesn't mean she's not one of his women, but she's a bit out of the age bracket.'

'Wouldn't be the first time a guy slept with a woman old enough to be his mother,' Hyatt said. 'Is she from Anderson Ferry?'

'That we don't know,' Stevie said. 'Yet.'

'She doesn't have a Facebook account?' Hyatt asked sarcastically.

Across the desk, Stevie rolled her eyes. 'No sir, she does not. We've got warrants in progress for her home, her phone records and her financials. If the pattern holds, her bank account will either be wiped already or will become wiped. If her account hasn't yet been wiped, we may be able to track where the funds go if there's an attempt.'

JD's cell phone buzzed. It was Lucy. Excusing himself, he walked away from their desks so that Hyatt couldn't hear him. 'Hi,' he said quietly.

'Hi,' she said briskly. Professionally. 'I got confirmation from the silicon manufacturer on the surgeon who did Janet Gordon's plastic surgery.'

'Let me guess. Dr Russell Bennett.'

'Yes.'

'Well I can't say that I'm surprised. Are you two done with her cut?'

'We just finished. I'm typing the prelim now. Cause of death appears to be the blunt force trauma to her skull. As with the first victim, removal of tongue and eyes was pre-mortem, removal of the heart was post. The burn marks on her back are of smaller diameter.'

'Made with a different cigarette.'

'Yes. I sent Ruby out to buy a variety of brands. The first victim could have been burned with any one of several brands. Janet Gordon was burned with Virginia Slims.'

'I wonder why.'

'He may have chosen a small diameter so he wouldn't run out of room for the "L".'

'That's very premeditated.'

'So is cutting out her heart. There was another difference. This victim didn't have nearly as much blood in the thoracic cavity as the first victim.'

'Meaning?' he asked. 'In layman's terms, please.'

'He sucked out her blood. With the first victim, there was more blood in the chest. He'd sopped up some of it with the towel he put in the cavity. This victim was relatively clean.'

'What could he have used to suck her blood?'

'Considering the use of a Sawzall to do the actual cut, I'm thinking Shop-Vac.'

JD grimaced. 'So the same device was used to remove the heart of this victim?'

'Maybe not the exact same one, but one of similar make and model. We did find some bruising that you're going to want to see later. I've sent digital photos to your email, so you can take a look now. When we turned her over, there were two very crisply defined semicircular bruises. Both appear to be part of a wheel tire, one much larger than the other.'

'Like on a wheelchair?' he asked.

'Exactly. It's post-mortem, so Craig and I thought she'd been laid against it at close quarters. Maybe in the trunk of a car. We pulled fibers from her hair and sent them and her dress to Drew. The fibers are short and stiff, like carpet fibers, but he can tell you more. Her fingernails have been severely clipped, back past the quick. This looks like a woman who would have had an expensive manicure, so it follows that her killer clipped her nails.'

'She fought back, then. How do you know she'd have a manicure?'

'Because she has well-tended feet with a fresh pedicure. I told you yesterday morning, in my business I see a lot of feet.'

There was a brief pause and JD could picture her studying her notes with that intensity that he now knew was so much more.

'Her stomach was empty, her blood alcohol zero. That's all I'll put in the preliminary report. We'll be looking at tissue and tox reports as they become available.' She hesitated. 'Craig said he'd assist Dr Bellamy with Kevin Drummond's procedure tomorrow. I'll be here, but in another room. I can listen and ask questions.'

It would be hard for her to do, he knew. 'Thank you.'

'It's all right. His parents, are they all right?'

'As all right as they can possibly be. Morton and Skinner went to tell them earlier.'

'They were in the conference room with Hyatt yesterday,' she said, her tone grown cool.

'They didn't know what Hyatt had planned. They knew the facts, knew you weren't found guilty.' She said nothing, quiet for so long he finally said, 'Lucy?'

'I really need to go,' she said, sounding defeated.

'Wait.' He wanted to snarl it, but kept his voice merely urgent. 'What did I say?'

'Good night, Detective. Don't worry about me. I'm going home with Craig. He and his wife have a spare room. He'll bring me in tomorrow and I'll rent my own car. I won't take any unnecessary chances. You'll let me know when I can return to my apartment?'

'Don't do this.' Now he did snarl.

'What? Don't go back to my apartment? You mean ever?' Her tone was now artificially pleasant, which grated even more.

'You know what I mean. Don't push me away, Lucy.'

'Good night, Detective,' she said again and hung up, leaving him to pinch the bridge of his nose in frustration.

He turned to find Stevie watching him. She pointed meaningfully to the speaker phone, her brows lifted. 'Fitzpatrick just got off the phone, sir. JD?'

JD returned to his desk. 'Bennett did Janet Gordon's plastic surgery.'

Stevie frowned. 'Her facelift, too?'

'That I don't know. This came from the breast implant manufacturer. They wouldn't know about her facelift. Why?'