hito,” she said. “I’ll go find the machine . . .”

Joe walked into the courtyard, oblivious that Gil was on the phone. He started to pace in circles around the perimeter of the courtyard.

“I want this guy, Gil.”

“Joe, I’m on the—”

“I mean I want this guy. I want to stomp on his head and cut his balls off. No, wait. First I want to cut his balls off, then—”

“I’m on the phone,” Gil said again, then, into the phone, “Mom, I’ve got to go, I’ll call you back.”

“I think your Aunt Yolanda is here,” she said.

“Mom, okay, so I—”

“Goddamn asshole,” Joe yelled.

“Who’s that yelling?” Gil’s mom asked.

“Just a crazy man,” Gil said. “I have to go. I’ll call you later.” He hung up and turned to face Joe.

“Did you have to yell every swear word you know while I was on the phone?” Gil asked.

“It wasn’t every swear word,” Joe said, his rant over. “I think I left out ‘hell’.”

“Do you feel better?” Gil asked.

“No,” Joe said. “I feel like I want to kill the guy.”

Gil sighed. He felt the same way, but he couldn’t afford to. He had to keep whatever he was feeling tamped down because one of them needed a level head. Clearly that was not Joe’s forte.

“Okay,” Gil said. “Let’s just talk this through and throw some ideas out there.”

“Okay,” Joe said. “Give me what you got.”

“First off, I think these new bones clearly belong to the same body as the skull.”

“I’m with you there—”

“If this is Brianna—”

“It is—”

“And she was killed last year—”

“Which I hope to God she was because the alternative creeps me the hell out—”

“Then she’s been dead for a while. Why do this now? Was there some stressor on the killer? Maybe something set him off.”

“Like what?”

“A divorce or a loved one dying . . . I don’t know,” Gil said.

“That sounds about right. But why put her bones on display with all the weird doll heads?”

Gil looked over at the small statue of Our Lady of Lourdes, considering. “All right, well, I know it’s going to sound strange, but I think this might be an act of remorse.”

“Dude, this is straight-up evil. The son of a bitch is taunting us. I’m thinking pedophile serial killer.”

“Maybe . . . but I don’t think so,” Gil said. “I think this is someone who feels guilty for killing Brianna. Why put the skull in Zozobra, which is burned to ward off evil? Why put bones in this holy place, in front of Mary? She’s the mother of Jesus, the protector of children.”

“If he’s remorseful, why make it all so creepy? I think he did this for us, for the police.”

“I just don’t see that,” Gil said, shaking his head. “I think it’s more likely that he’s mentally ill and he made the display as part of some elaborate delusion. Like he knew killing Brianna was wrong and he is presenting her to Mary as a way to make amends. This display took time and skill. It isn’t for us, it’s for God. It’s an offering.”

It was Joe’s turn to shake his head. “I’m not buying the guilty conscience thing. This is just fucked up beyond belief. To me that means a serial killer.”

“Okay, so let’s look at that,” Gil said, trying to allow Joe to have his say, not wanting to shut him down completely. They were supposed to be acting as partners, after all. “If it is a serial killer, he’s a guy who plans his kill in advance and then disposes of the body in a very thought-out way. That would make him a hedonist killer, who just kills for pleasure.”

“Yeah, that totally fits with this,” Joe said.

“We need to keep something in mind, though,” Gil said. “This is Santa Fe. We only have seventy thousand people. A hedonist serial killer would really need a bigger population to hunt in.”

“Come on,” Joe said. “It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“I feel like we’re talking in circles,” Gil said, frustrated.

“Yeah, me, too.”

Gil rubbed his eyes and said, “Adam should be done now. Let’s go check with him, and then get out of here and get some breakfast. It might make more sense after we eat.”

CHAPTER FIVE

Friday Morning

Joe and Gil sat in Tecolote Café waiting to order. Adam had promised to call as soon as he made it to Albuquerque, where they would compare the new bones to the skull. Gil had called Liz on their way to the restaurant but got no answer,