“Leigh’s been entering them in spreadsheets so we can sort them better and she’s running last knowns on them all. We can already cross out a few who’ve died. All the perps in Simon’s pictures were white boys, so I eliminated all minorities, too.”

Daniel stared at the stack, half dazed at the thought of the man-hours it would require to comb through. He blinked hard and put the stack out of his mind for the moment. “Chase, what about the rich girls?”

“I got a list of all the girls who graduated from Bryson Academy the same years as Claudia, Janet, and Gemma, plus a year on either side. Leigh and I called as many as we could reach, to tell them to be careful. Most of them had already heard the news and figured it out. Some of them can afford bodyguards and a few have hired one. We’ll try to get in touch with the others tomorrow.”

Mary leaned over to squeeze Daniel’s forearm. “Dr. Fallon and Hope should be done eating supper by now. Are you ready to see if Alex wants to try hypnosis tonight?”

He nodded grimly. “Yeah. Let’s get this done.”

Dutton, Wednesday, January 31, 9:00 p.m.

“Hope’s asleep in the car with Agent Shannon,” Meredith said, climbing up into the surveillance van. Meredith had refused to let Alex go through hypnosis alone, and Hope had become agitated when Agent Shannon tried to take her to the safe house alone, so they’d brought Hope along. “Luckily Hope fell asleep on the way. I don’t know how she’d react to seeing her house again. Have you ever done this before?”

Meredith sat in one of the folding chairs next to Daniel. Ed was manning the video controls and Mary McCrady stood on Bailey’s front porch with Alex, who looked eerily calm. Meredith, in contrast, was a bundle of nerves.

“Relax, Meredith,” Daniel said. “She’ll be fine.”

“I know. I just wish I could be in there with her.” She clenched her hands in her lap. “I’m supposed to be the calm one, Daniel. I have done this before.”

Procedure was that only the therapist and the subject were to be present during forensic hypnosis. It was the way it was done. But Daniel understood how Meredith felt. “I wanted to be with her, too. We’ll both do the next best thing and stay here.”

With his characteristic expression of sympathy, Ed twisted the monitor so that Meredith had a better view. “Can you see?”

She nodded. “I feel like a voyeur,” she said glumly.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” Daniel muttered.

After a beat of shocked silence, she snickered. “Thank you, Daniel. I needed that.”

Ed cleared his throat. “Looks like they’re ready to go.”

Mary and Alex appeared on the monitor, walking into the living room. For more than a minute Alex stood rigid and trembling and Daniel had to force himself to stay where he sat. Mary’s voice came through the speaker, low and soothing, and eventually Alex moved to the leather reclining chair Mary had brought into the room an hour before.

“She might need to bring Alex in and out of it a few times,” Meredith murmured. “If she’s going to get her under enough to move around.”

In the living room, Alex was sitting in the chair, her feet up and her eyes closed. But she was still rigid and Daniel’s chest tightened. She was scared. But he sat and watched as Mary, in a soothing voice, told Alex to find a peaceful place and to go there.

“What if I can’t?” Alex asked, panicked. “What if I can’t find a peaceful place?”

“Then think of a place you felt safe,” Mary said. “Happy.”

Alex nodded and sighed and Daniel wondered where she’d finally gone.

Mary continued her slow, soothing routine, taking Alex deeper into a relaxing state.

“So, do you use hypnosis often with your homicide cases?” Meredith asked.

Daniel knew she needed to talk and the distraction would be a good thing for them both. “From time to time, mainly to generate leads. I’ve never gone with a case solely on a retrieved memory, though. Not unless I could independently verify it. Memories are fragile things, so easily manipulated.”

“That’s wise,” Meredith returned. Both of them had their eyes on the screen where Mary had progressed to determining how deeply under Alex had gone. Alex was watching as her arm lifted and stayed lifted. “Alex was already a believer in hypnosis from her work. That’s making Mary’s job easier.”

“Daniel.” Ed was pointing to the monitor. “I think Mary’s got her under.”

Alex had both arms in the air and was looking from arm to arm with detached curiosity. Mary told her to lower them and she obeyed.

“Now let’s walk to the stairs,” Mary said, taking Alex by the hand. “I want you to think back, go back to the day Alicia died.”

“The next day,” Alex said quietly. “It’s the next day.”

“All right,” Mary said. “It’s the next day. So tell me what you see, Alex.”

Alex made it to the fourth stair and stopped, her hand gripping the banister so hard Daniel could see her white knuckles on the video.

“That’s how far she went yesterday,” he murmured. “I thought she’d have a heart attack, her pulse went so high.”

“Alex,” Mary said with quiet authority. “Keep going.”

“No.” Panic had edged into Alex’s voice. “I can’t. I can’t.”

“All right. So tell me what you see.”

“Nothing. It’s dark.”

“Where are you?”

“Here. Right here.”

“Were you coming up? Or down?”

“Down. Oh, God.” Alex’s breath began to hitch rapidly and Mary gently pressed her down until she sat on the stair. Mary then brought her out, then took her under again.

When Alex returned to a hypnotic state, Mary began again. “Where are you?”

“Here. That stair creaks.”

“All right. Is it still dark?”

“Yes. I haven’t turned on the hall light.”

“Why not?”

“I didn’t want them to see me.”

“Who, Alex?”

“My mother. And Craig. They’re downstairs. I heard them down- stairs.”

“Doing what?”

“Fighting. Yelling.” She closed her eyes. “Screaming.”

“What are they screaming?”

“I hate you. I hate you,” Alex said, her voice even and level, disturbingly so.

“I wish you were dead,” Daniel murmured just as Alex said the same words in that even monotone. “She thought her mother was saying it to her.”

“But she said it to Craig,” Meredith said quietly.

“Who’s saying this?” Mary asked.

“My mother. My mother.” Tears were running down her face, but her expression stayed calm. Doll-like. A shiver of apprehension raced down Daniel’s back.

“What is Craig saying?” Mary asked.

“She was asking for it with her short shorts and halter tops. Wade gave her what she wanted.”

“And your mother? What’s she saying now?”

Alex stood abruptly and Mary stood with her. “Your bastard son killed my baby. You let him. You didn’t stop him.” Her breath quickened and her voice hardened. “Wade did not kill her.” She walked down a step and Mary held out her hands in case she stumbled. “You took her. You took her and dumped her in that ditch. Did you think I wouldn’t see the blanket, that I wouldn’t know?”

She stopped and Daniel realized he was holding his breath. He made himself exhale and draw another breath. Beside him, Meredith was trembling.

“What are they saying?” Mary asked.

Alex shook her head. “Nothing. She broke the glass.”

“What glass?”

“I don’t know. I can’t see.”

“Then come to where you can see.”

Alex came down the remaining stairs and walked to the doorway to the living room.

“Can you see now?”

Alex nodded. “There’s glass on the floor. I’m standing in it. It hurts my feet.”

“Do you cry?”

“No. I don’t want him to hear me.”

“What glass did your mother break, Alex?”

“From his gun cabinet. She has his gun. She’s pointing it at him and screaming.”

“Oh, God,” Daniel murmured. Meredith clutched his hand, hard.

“What is she screaming, Alex?”

“You killed her and wrapped her in Tom’s blanket and dumped her, like garbage.”