get anyone else to say that they heard the rumor.”

“Really? That seems odd. How good’s your source?”

“Pretty solid. I don’t think he’s lying,”

“But he has no direct knowledge.”

“Nope,” Tommy said, shaking his head.

“Was your source thinking this was related to the skull in Zozobra?”

“Yep.”

“Damn it. Well, what do you want to do?”

“I’ll chase it tomorrow. We might never be able to confirm it, but my gut tells me that it’s true.”

“Yeah, mine, too. Well, good luck tomorrow. I’m only sorry I won’t be here to help you. I guess this means you won’t be getting to this other story idea I had for you.” She told him about the burned-out cars, the red graffiti, and how they all led back to the same apartment complex.

“That’s going to take some intense investigative work,” he said. Which was why Lucy had thought of him. He loved deep research and slowly cultivating sources. The boy might have grown up on a Northern New Mexico farm, but he was a natural when it came to working the city folk. She could tell he was thinking it over.

“And the reporter has to know Spanish since most of the victims seem to be Mexican,” she said in a singsong voice, trying to tempt him further.

“I would love to do it,” he said, “but I can’t until this skull thing has cooled down.”

Lucy sighed. “Yeah, I know. I’m just teasing. We’ll wait until next week to get going on it. It’ll hold until then.”

“What about Andrea?”

“The copydesk intern?” Lucy had only bumped into her in the ladies’ room, so all Lucy could say about her was that she was a thorough hand washer.

“Yeah,” he said. “She’s from Puerto Rico, and she’s dying to do a news story.”

“Tommy, come on. We both know this isn’t a story for a newbie.”

“She could just go over there and get the ball rolling. See what the deal is.”

Lucy thought about it. It might not be such a bad idea. Andrea could serve as an initial undercover reporter, then hand it off to Tommy later.

“I guess I’ll go see if she’s interested,” Lucy said. She walked toward the copydesk corral with Tommy following close behind her.

Andrea looked up brightly and expectantly from her computer. She had yet to learn that anyone who came over to your desk probably wanted you to do something that you didn’t want to do.

“Hi,” Andrea said, smiling. “What do you guys need?”

Tommy quickly explained the situation. Andrea actually clapped her hands in joy. Lucy was starting to regret her decision.

“I just need someone who can ask questions,” Lucy said, trying to temper the girl’s enthusiasm. “I was thinking you could go by there tomorrow.”

“Are you going to be there?” Andrea asked Lucy.

“What? No,” Lucy said. She had never been asked by a reporter to act as babysitter.

“Please,” Andrea said imploringly. “I don’t even know what questions to ask.”

“How would it work if I came?” Lucy asked, annoyed. “I’d ask the questions and you’d translate? That’ll go over great. An Anglo chick telling a Hispanic chick what to do.”

“But I don’t think I can do this myself . . .”

Lucy sighed heavily. She had no use for helpless women. “Fine. I’ll come with you, but I’m staying in the car. Okay?”

She went back to her desk and sat down heavily just as her cell phone started to vibrate. It was her mom. Lucy’s desire to talk to her was over, replaced by the reality that talking to her mom could be exhausting. She let it go to voice mail.

Gil drove back to the Santa Fe County Adult Detention Center and had Rodriguez booked into one of the special protective custody cells. They would bring him over to the station in the morning when he was sober. Hopefully, if they found no more bone displays, Gil might have time to question him further about Ashley’s abuse.

Gil waited until he and Joe were back in the car before saying, “I think that guy’s a dead end. I just don’t see him taking Brianna and then setting up the crime scenes that way.”

“Yeah, I agree,” Joe said, sighing heavily. “He’s a molesting son of a bitch, but honestly, he couldn’t kill his way out of a box.”

“Let’s just go back to the office and go at it again.”

“Copy that, good buddy,” Joe said.

“And, Joe,” Gil said, “I just wanted to thank you for before, back at the house with handling everything.”

“Hey, you always hold it together for me, dude, so I