Why doesn’t she see it? It is so obvious. I would tell her but I’m afraid then I’d get in trouble like I did with the water fountain because I don’t understand something like they always tell me I just don’t understand and I don’t want to get in trouble anymore ever again. Especially not with Susan.

I wasn’t particularly upset when I returned to headquarters and found Patrick sitting at my desk. I’m not that easy to set off. But I was surprised-and enraged-to find daytime TV’s favorite non-doctorate-possessing doctor sitting on the opposite side.

“May I ask what you’re doing here?”

Dr. Spencer barely even looked up. “I’m trying to catch the man who killed my daughter. Not to mention another-make that two other girls.”

“Don’t you have some important housewives’ crisis you could be working on? The heartbreak of psoriasis or something.”

That got her. “I’ve begun my own investigation. I’m setting up shop at the Transylvania, where this case began. I came here to inform the local authorities. Even though we are conducting separate inquiries, I hope we can still share information.”

“I’ll bet you do. Since we have some and you don’t.”

Patrick evidently thought this would be a good time to intervene, with the hope of possibly avoiding bloodshed. “Under instructions from Washington, I’ve given Dr. Spencer selected portions of our draft profile, Susan.”

“What?”

“Particularly those parts dealing with what we know about the killer’s preferred victims.”

“Are you crazy? That could compromise the whole investigation! What if she reveals everything we’ve got to her television audience? She could force the killer to change his MO.”

“That is a possibility, but-”

“This stinks to high heaven, Patrick. Did she threaten the department?”

Spencer rolled her eyes. “Don’t be so melodramatic, Lieutenant. I simply informed your superiors that I will be giving a prominent prime-time interview tonight. They thought it best to arm me with information so that I could protect potential victims. Frankly, I don’t understand why you haven’t already done this yourself. I can only assume that it is another reflection of your… currently unstable condition.”

The problem was, she said it so convincingly I almost believed it myself. “You’re just ticked off because you couldn’t get me fired.”

“That was never my goal.”

“Like hell. You gave it your best shot at that press conference. Turned out you didn’t have as much clout as you thought.”

She rose out of the chair and looked me square in the face. “The only thing that saved you, Lieutenant Pulaski, is that timely care package that you say came from the killer. Since he has chosen to communicate with you directly, your superiors thought it would be unwise to dismiss you at this time. But that won’t last forever.”

She grabbed her coat and purse but couldn’t resist a final addendum. “Not if I have anything to say about it. And believe me, I do.”

They didn’t want to let her see me, damn it. And I had made a point of stopping at a gas station, checking my looks. My breath. Putting on makeup. Hell, I even tweezed! And Ozzie and Harriet still didn’t want to let me see her.

“I called NDHS. They say I’m allowed.”

“At designated times,” Ozzie said. He was standing tall, but his nervousness showed. We both knew I could knock him down like a bowling pin. But that probably wouldn’t be in my long-term best interests. “You’ve missed the last two.”

“I’ve been very busy at work. Big murder case. Maybe you’ve read about it.”

“We saw you on the TV,” Harriet said. She was barely visible under the crook of her husband’s arm. “I thought that Spencer woman was very rude.”

“And honest,” her spouse groused.

“Look, could I just see my niece? I’m not planning to take her away. I don’t understand why this is such a big deal.”

I stared at the man. We were practically nose to nose. “You’re trying to sniff my breath.”

He gave me a “Who, me?” look.

“Here, let me make it easier for you.” I leaned forward and breathed on his nose. He winced. “Okay?”

“You come back at your designated visitation time. You’ve got one on Monday after school.”

I wanted to scream. “Why are you being like this?”

“If we are to establish any order in young Rachel’s life, we have to maintain a schedule that she can depend upon and-”

“Susan!” Without warning, Rachel surged past him. He reached for her, but she was too fast for him. She threw her arms around me and hugged tightly. I buried myself in her lovely auburn hair. “Susan! God, I’ve missed you!”

“I’ve missed you, too, honey.” I stared at her, long and hard. “You look great. Is that a new dress?”

“Yeah.” She whispered in my ear. “I think they’re trying to buy my good graces. Of course, it isn’t working.”

That was my Rachel.

“Where have you been?”

“I’ve been chasing this killer, sweetie. Have you read about it?”

“Are you kidding? They don’t talk about anything else on television. Have you seen the guy?”

“No. But I’ve talked to him.”

“Really!”

“Yup. Called me on the phone last night.”

“Get out of here!” She was so pretty, so pure. God, but I loved this girl. “All my friends are jealous that I know the famous Susan Pulaski.”

“Famous?”

“Don’t you know? Everyone watched that press conference.”

“Swell. All of it?”

“Yes. Even when that cow attacked you. My friends are boycotting her show now.”

“Well… don’t be too hard on her. She’s lost her only daughter.”

She gave me another squeeze. “Susan, how long till I can come home with you?”

Above us, I saw Ozzie’s frown intensify. “My lawyer is working on it. We’re supposed to have a hearing in a few days.” I pulled her away a bit and addressed her captors. “Mind if I take her to my car? I’d like to talk to her privately for a moment.”

Ozzie was succinct. “No.”

“We’re not going anywhere.”

“You step off the front porch, I call the police.”

I sighed heavily. He was probably bluffing. But given the current delicate circumstances, I couldn’t take the risk. “Rache, I’m sorry I haven’t been by. But it’s important that I work on this case.”

“I know. He’s so sick.”

“It’s more than that, honey. I have to be able to tell the court that… that I’m working. That I have a steady income. That I’m gainfully employed. I need good references.” I could see she didn’t really understand. But that was okay. Just so she knew I hadn’t forgotten about her. “But as soon as I get you back home, we’re going to spend some major time together.”

She looked at me carefully. “Just the two of us?”

I didn’t know what she meant. Well, I couldn’t be sure. “Just the two of us.”

“You’ll come by again soon?”

“Sure. How about tomorrow night?” Which of course was not my next scheduled visitation.

I heard the tiniest hesitation in her voice. “Oh-geez. I have church tomorrow night.”

“Church?” I gave Ozzie and Harriet the long look. “Trying to bring her to Jesus?”

“They’ve got a big youth group,” Rachel explained. “It’s kind of cool, actually.”

“It is?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s real queer banana,” she added hastily. “Corny like you wouldn’t believe. But I’m tolerating it.”

Uh-huh. I gave her foster parents another once-over. They were more dangerous than I realized.

“You won’t let that crazy man hurt you, will you, Susan?”

I stood and smiled. “Are you kidding? I’m going to put him behind bars where he can’t hurt anyone. Just a matter of time.”

It was well past dark, but he continued reading, reading and rereading, poring over the prose-poem that for him held all the keys to understanding. The answers were there, buried beneath its cryptic passages. They had to be.