David followed Rhonda up the stairs and into a cozy room, almost a large garret. A crude but charming rainbow was rendered in paint on the far wall. A child's desk sat in the corner, beside a single bureau. A retarded woman lay on her bed, facedown, wearing a dirty pink jumpsuit, snoring delicately. Rhonda sat beside her on the bed, plucking the fabric. "I can't get her to wear anything else," she whispered with a smile.

David pulled up a chair as Rhonda rubbed Layla's back in tight circles. "C'mon, sweetie, wake up. A man wants to talk to you."

Layla rolled over and sat up, yawning so wide David could distinctly make out her dangling uvula. Her face was puffy from sleep and, maybe, from crying. "Hi."

"Hi there. How are you?"

"Tired."

David smiled. "I am too. I wanted to ask you about the dog you found."

Her eyes welled instantly with tears. David admired her quick vulnerability.

"My dog. He got illed."

"What do you mean your dog?" Rhonda asked.

" 'Othing. Just that I iked im."

"Did you notice anyone out there watching you when you found him?"

Her eyes went to Rhonda. "No."

"Are you sure?" Rhonda asked.

"I idn't do anything." Her breathing quickened into jerks, threatening to grow to sobs. Rhonda's presence clearly made Layla less forthcoming.

"We didn't say you did. We're not blaming you for anything at all." David turned to Rhonda and said quietly. "Is there any way I could see her alone?"

"No, sir," Rhonda said. "I know you're a doctor and all, but I don't leave my girls alone with anyone."

"Okay. I understand." He turned back. "Have you seen anyone else around? Hanging around the place?"

" 'Ometimes he ooks at me from his car."

"From his car?"

"We get perverts drive by from time to time," Rhonda said. "Teenagers poking fun."

"Is that what you meant?"

Layla again cast a nervous glance at Rhonda, then nodded heavily, her full cheeks bouncing with the movement.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"Nothing unusual or scary at all. No men hanging around?"

A big head shake.

Rhonda checked her watch, then ruffled Layla's hair. "Okay, sweetie. Why don't you go and round up the others for dinner?"

Layla shuffled out.

David stood up, noticing, for the first time, the exposed rafters. A coldness moved through him. "Was it here? Is this the room where Clyde tortured the boys?"

Rhonda nodded. "Obviously, we don't tell the kids that."

David stared around the room, feeling an irrational sense of awe. The rafters were lower than he'd imagined. "How often did he do this to them? More than a few times?"

Rhonda nudged the chair toward David with her foot. "See for yourself," she said.

Unsure what she wanted him to look at, he climbed on the chair, bringing the top of the rafters into view. Every few inches down the center rafter's length, shallow grooves had been worn in the wood. The kind of grooves a hanging body would make.

Chapter 54

DAVID had spent very little time at home the past few days, so it was with a sense of relief that he pulled into the garage and entered his house. A light was on in the living room, and the house smelled of popcorn.

He tensed, until he recognized Ed's voice, calling, "Honey, you're home!"

David threw down his keys on the counter by the garage door and walked into the other room. Wearing a wife-beater tank top and a pair of paint-splattered jeans, Ed lounged on David's couch in front of the television. His hair was just starting to grow back, giving the top of his head an orange sheen. He held an open Amstel Light, a bag of microwave popcorn, and the remote control to the television. "You need to go grocery shopping," he said. "Nothing in the fridge."

"Please," David said, sitting down beside Ed with a sigh. "Make yourself at home." He reached over and touched one of the paint dollops on Ed's jeans, checking that it was dry.

Ed put a ragged workman's boot up on the coffee table. It was worn through the heel, almost all the way. A green sock showed through.

"I think it's time for some new boots," David said.

"These are new boots," Ed said. "They're beat up because I pulled them behind my truck for a half hour this morning."

"So they'll blend with your new getup?"

"You got it."

"Are you ever going to tell me what you do?"

"Probably not."

"You didn't just happen to walk into that Kinko's, did you?"

"No," Ed said. "I was tagging the guy for something else. All of a sudden, he was committing an armed robbery and people were at risk."

"I thought you didn't like to get involved. With violence."

"I don't. But sometimes we don't have a choice, do we?" Ed broke off his knowing look. "So what do you have for me? I've been waiting eagerly for the Spier update, and the news, for once, is a few steps behind."

David filled Ed in on his progress as best he could. Ed listened attentively, asking occasional questions. When David finished, Ed regarded him with an expression of amused respect. "Go go Gadget," he said.

David reached for Ed's beer, took a swig, and handed it back.