iolence is performe

ournal (recovered from

f instant film mixing with the Scotch on her breath. Moonlight throu

weater (Christmas gift from her mot

on her right thumb (OPI's

ray's Anatomy textbook (page

en't just visible-they'd been enhanced with fingerprint powder, the who

ntertop. Hale's tenth call. His follow-u

us sedation cocktail. Injection sites between toes-exactly where you taught r

she answered on the first ring, her

o, Ev

playing minor chords-could only belong to one person. But there was some

a voice modulator. The Grundig GX-200, if I had to guess.

The modulation cut out abruptly, revealing his true voice-rougher now, weathe

alpel. The ivory felt warm, almost

ysical caress. "Threats are for strangers. This is an invitation

ne wen

er pupils blown wide, the scar above her right eyebrow (souvenir from a

arried three d

ehyde solution, she'd kn

ine (Daniel's preferred scen

ppery and alive

-balanced formalin, a human heart pulsed with preserved vitality.

i

lay precisely centered. Inside, a

he pair she'd lost during first grade's winter field trip to the natural hist

detailed her breakdown after the first cadaver dissection. Daniel's handwritten notes fille

hal translucency measuring precisely 1.8mm. Scrawled across the bottom in Daniel's met

ned perfectly with that night six weeks ago-after the Thompson autopsy, when she and Ha

e an ice pick be

mint and gun oi

tenderness low

ure mark near her bikini line-just above th

She'd performed enough forensic ovu

arrived. Sarah Chen's body was gone, but the blood remained-arrang

id tang of nicotine. "We pulled Chen's phone records." He held out an evide

imposs

." His jaw worked. "Right around

ed her as the last person to speak to the v

s like some grotesque nesting doll, a music box played a distorted version of

interior

and (recently cut, matching Evely

one, with fresh lilies arranged pr

ital readout still vi

ad:"Three becomes fo

ed. "Detective? You

ore a fresh anatomical drawing-a uter

th

foreign to her own ears. "Revlon's

hat was just Evelyn's blood turning to ice. The technic

hormone levels..." She pointed to the screen. "See how the yolk sac is

filled in the gaps before

inconsisten

yolk sac

endometria

any fertility treatments? These markers suggest..." She

continuous birth control since residency. S

service weapon on her nightstand. The strange metallic taste in her

side her apartment

eft someth

dical school anatomy lab-exactly as Evelyn had been in the Polaroid, rig

iller

with glass marbles containing

lack silk stitches fo

embedded in the chest cavity played a

ines, releasing hundreds of sonogram photos-all dated within the past mon

rding pass for "Evelyn Mercer" on Flight 817 to B

ply said: "C

lmost as an a

the detective. He w