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body had been discovered.
    Setting her teeth, September pushed the button and the program started. She fast-forwarded to the clip with Pauline Kirby and the two hikers who had found the body, an interview that had occurred before September had arrived at the scene. Sitting on the edge of the couch, she braced for what was to come, determined this time to pay strict attention to the words and not get distracted by her own shortcomings, real or imagined.
    It began with Pauline introducing the two hikers to the camera: “The body of Emmy Decatur was found by Brian Legusky and Dina Wendt, hikers familiar with this area near the foothills of the Coast Range. They called 911 and turned the case over to the Laurelton Police Department, but they agreed to come back to the site for us and give us a recap of just what happened.” She pointed the mic toward Legusky and said, “Tell us what happened.”
    “Well . . . me and Dina had been on some trails and we were coming back and our truck was over there . . .” He motioned toward the gravel road that September had parked on when she’d joined the interview. “It was a nice day. We thought we’d maybe put our packs down in the field, have somethin’ to eat . . . I dunno. And then, there she was . . .” He glanced over at Wendt, who was staring wide-eyed, looking sick with the memory.
    Pauline then tried to engage Wendt, who could barely squeak out a word or two. Then back to Pauline, who said she was about to interview one of the investigators on the case, Detective September Rafferty of the Laurelton PD.
    Enter September, wearing black pants, a black V-necked T-shirt, and her light gray, linen jacket. It had been hot that day, too, but she’d worried about sweat stains so she’d put on the jacket for her television appearance. Her auburn hair was normally clipped back, but she’d let it down for the interview and when the handheld camera brought her up, she looked too young to have any experience at all.
    “Dammit.” Lieutenant D’Annibal had asked her to be the face of the investigation and she’d been sent as a missionary of department goodwill. Never fear, good citizens of Laurelton, the police are here to serve and protect and we’ve sent out our finest — youngest — detective to put you at ease.
    Pauline began by asking September about the circumstances that had brought Decatur’s body to their attention, which was the 911 call, and then brought up Sheila Dempsey, the first victim discovered strangled and left in a field in the area, though Dempsey had been across the county line and not in the Laurelton PD’s jurisdiction until D’Annibal wrested the case away after the discovery of Decatur’s body. Then when the third victim, Glenda Tripp, was found within Laurelton city limits, it was understood the case had been given to Laurelton generally, and to September and Gretchen Sandler specifically.
    But at the time of the interview with Pauline, Tripp’s body hadn’t been found yet, so the thrust concerned Sheila Dempsey and Emmy Decatur, a surprise to September as she’d hoped to keep the crimes separated, at least as far as the public knew. She’d had to go with the flow, however, and said, “. . . we’re still checking the evidence to see if the two crimes are truly related,” hoping to put an end to the speculation.
    Pauline was nodding and regarding her with an intense, “I get you” look, but then she uttered her pièce d’ résistance: “We understand there were markings on the bodies. Words.”
    September watched herself glance toward the hikers. They’d been asked not to reveal anything about the words carved into Emmy Decatur’s body, but Pauline had apparently gotten to them. She then turned from them, faced Pauline squarely, and said, “Cause of death was strangulation in both cases.”
    “But there were markings . . .” Pauline also looked over to Legusky and Wendt. “There were words, cut into Emmy Decatur’s torso. ‘Do Unto