Sherounded the wall at the back of the hotel, turned the corner.

    'Hello,Lucy.'

    Shestopped, her heart in her throat, her legs all but giving out. She knew the manstanding before her. She knew his face.

    'It'syou,' she said.

    'Yes,Lucy,' he replied. 'It's Detective Byrne.'

Chapter 23

    Jessicaspent the early afternoon running data through ViCAP, the Violent CriminalApprehension Program. Started by the FBI in 1985, ViCAP was a national registryof violent crimes - homicides, sexual assaults, missing persons, andunidentified remains. Case information submitted to ViCAP was available toauthorized law-enforcement agencies around the world, and the system allowedinvestigators to compare their evidence with all other cases in the databaseand to identify similarities.

    Jessicasearched the database with the most salient points of the case, those being thesignature marks of the shaving of the victims, as well as the use of paper toblindfold them.

    Shefound a similar case from 2006 in Kentucky, where a man had shaved off the hairof three prostitutes before stabbing them to death and dumping their bodiesalong the banks of the Cumberland River. In this case the man had shaved onlythe hair on the victims' heads, including their eyebrows - not their entirebodies. There was another 1988 case in Eureka, California of a man who hadshaved a strange pattern into the scalps of four victims. The pattern was lateridentified, through the man's confession, as what he thought were the firstfour letters of an alien alphabet.

    Therewere many cases of blindfolded victims, most being execution- style homicides.There were also numerous examples of pre- and post-mortem mutilations. Nonematched Jessica and Byrne's case.

    Therewere no incidents where all three signatures were present.

    Jessicawas just about to print off what she needed when all hell broke loose in theduty room. She stood aside as a half-dozen members of the Fugitive Squad randown the hallway, then through the door to the stairs. They were soon followedby three men wearing US Marshals windbreakers.

    Whywere the US Marshals there? The purview of the marshal's office, among otherthings, was the apprehending of fugitives, the transport and managing ofprisoners, as well as the protection of witnesses.

    Jessicalooked across the room to see Dana Westbrook walking toward her. 'Whathappened?' she asked.

    'Wehad a break.'

    Unfortunately,what Westbrook clearly meant was there had been a prison break, not abreak in Jessica's case.

    'Fromdownstairs?' The sub-basement of the Roundhouse was where the PPD holding cellswere located. The holding cells were staffed by the county sheriffs office, notthe police.

    Westbrookshook her head. 'From CF.'

    Curran-FromholdCorrectional Facility, on State Road, was a prison in Northeast Philly. InJessica's entire time on the job she had never heard of a break from CF. 'What happened?'

    'It'ssketchy right now, but it looks like the prisoner got his hands on a visitor'spass and some street clothes. They've got video of him just waltzing out of thevisitor's area.'

    Thesecurity at CF was tight, which probably meant that the escapee had anaccomplice of some sort. Jessica knew the drill. Members of the PPD FugitiveSquad would team up both with US Marshals and with officers from thePennsylvania State Police. They would scour motels, bus stations, trainstations, and of course establish surveillance of the prisoner's residence andthose of his known associates. She also knew there was a pretty good chancethat a head or two would roll at Curran-Fromhold.

    'FugitiveSquad is all over it, and as you can see the marshals are in,' Westbrook said.'Only a matter of time. Captain wanted me to give you a heads-up, anyway.'

    Thisgot Jessica's attention. 'Me? Why?'

    'Theprisoner? The guy who escaped?'

    'Whatabout him?'

    'He'syour AA Killer suspect. Lucas Anthony Thompson.'

    Byrnereturned to the Roundhouse at just after three p.m. Jessica had tried to callhim twice, got his voicemail both times.

    'Howdid the doctor's appointment go?' she asked.

    'Good.'

    Jessicajust stared. Byrne knew better than to give her the bum's rush on somethinglike this, yet still he tried. Her icy look firmly in place, the moment drewout. Byrne caved in.

    'Theytook the MRI, now they have to read the results. They said they'd call me.'

    'When?'

    Byrnetook a deep breath, realizing he had to play this game or he'd never hear theend of it. 'Maybe tomorrow.'

    'You'lllet me know the second you hear from them, right?'

    'Yes,Mom.'

    'Don'tmake me ground you.'

    Jessicatold Byrne about Thompson, as well as the scant information she had harvestedon ViCAP. Then she gathered her notes, filled him in on the rest of the detailsregarding the second victim found that day. Black male, mid-fifties, no ID.Initial canvass turned up nothing.

    'Hashe been printed?' Byrne asked.

    'Thebody's on the way to the morgue now. Boss is going to put Russ Diaz and histeam on this. Russ did four years in Behavioral Science, you know. I have asneaking suspicion we're going to need him.'

    'Whatabout the signature?'

    'Identical,'Jessica said.

    Theyturned back to the case files on the desk. Three bodies. Three identical MOs.Kenneth and Sharon Beckman were tied to the murder of Antoinette Chan. In the caseof serial murder, the first order of business was to try and establish a linkbetween the victims, a commonality that might lead to a denominator they allshared - job, family, circle of friends - and ultimately to the killer.Connecting Kenneth and Sharon Beckman was, of course, easy. They'd see aboutthis new victim.

    'Iordered you some garlic prawns, by the way,' Jessica said. 'But it got eaten.You know how Chinese food goes in this place. Like pork in a kennel.'

    'Iate at the hospital,' Byrne said. 'But I did bring dessert.' He held up a whitebag.

    Jessicasat up straight in her chair. Dessert at lunch! She beckoned forth thebag. Byrne handed it to her.

    Jessicaopened the bag and saw that it was an apple fritter from that bakery onSeventeenth she liked.

    'Whattook you to Seventeenth?' she asked.

    'Ihad to pick up a pre-amp from a guy.'

    'Anda pre-amp would be ...'

    'I'mconverting all my old vinyl records to digital. Some of them are old 78s, andI'm trying to clean up the sound.'

    Jessicatook out the apple fritter, thinking that she couldn't wait for that moment inher life - a moment she fully expected, a moment she fully intended to savor -when she just didn't care about her weight anymore, a moment when she couldfully embrace the slide into middle age and obesity.

    Orwhen she got pregnant again. Pregnant would be better.

    Shebit into the apple fritter. Heaven. 'You can get MRIs as often as you want.'

    'We'regoing to have to give statements, you know.'

    Jessicanodded, wiped her lips. She and Byrne had met with Sharon Beckman the daybefore, and now the woman was the victim of a homicide. Jessica and Byrne hadbecome part of the timeline.

    Thecall came at just after four. Nicci Malone and Nick Palladino were at themorgue with the third victim. Jessica put them on speaker.

    'We'reat the ME's,' Nicci said. 'You wanted me to call?'

    'Yeah,'Jessica said. 'Have you checked the victim's hands for tattoos?'

    'No.We bagged them at the scene. You want us to check here?'

    'Yeah,'Jessica said.