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computer research for you? For a fee, of course.'
    Malone ran his hand over his face and let out a huge sigh of relief.
'I'll pay you whatever the going rate is, and — thank you!'
    'Okay then, I'll call in sick for a few days. That way we can get together in the morning and figure out what we're going to do.'
    It had been an exhausting day and Malone felt drained; he thanked
Daniel warmly as he saw him out, then he closed the door, and went to bed.
    His night was restless. The effects of drying out were coupled with the day's events turning over and over in his mind. The meeting with
Logan — was he really going to help, or had he just fobbed him off?
The shopping mall — he knew he'd been secretly looking at all the girls there, searching for Mary, desperately scanning for anyone who looked remotely like her, as he'd done for so many years. That is before he started hiding in the Dog Box. And then the chance meeting with Daniel in the computer store . . .
    A repetitive knocking awakened Malone. He looked at his clock: it was eight-thirty. Disoriented, dressed in track pants and a dirty white
T-shirt, he made his way to the front door. Daniel was clutching two cups of coffee.
    'I thought you'd need this,' he said as he extended one of them.
    Malone grunted, took the cup and turned back into the house, leaving the door open for Daniel to enter.
    'You're welcome,' Daniel muttered.
    They went into the living room and sat down. 'What's wrong with your eyes? They look terrible,' Daniel said.
    'I actually feel better than usual, despite how I look. It's been a long time since I've had a morning without a hangover.'
    Daniel shuddered; Malone was not a pretty sight in the morning.
    'I had trouble sleeping last night, going over old memories and nightmares,' Malone added.
    'I couldn't sleep much either. The plumber's van is a good lead but it's not a lot to go on. We've got to find out more.'
    Malone liked the way Daniel said we .
    'I agree the link is a little tenuous and far-fetched, but believe me,
I've chased after less.'
    'And achieved what?' Daniel snapped and then seemed to regret it instantly. 'I'm sorry, man.'
    'No, you're right. I've achieved very little and lost a lot, but I just have a gut feeling about this — I know there must be a better way to go about this. What do you suggest we do?'
    Daniel seemed taken aback at how open Malone was.
    'Well, I'm no detective, but we need to think outside of just the
Marys and the van, and look for more similarities. I don't think the girls' first names — even though they're the same — have anything to do with it. I think that's just a coincidence. The use of the same type of van could be something, but with five years between the crimes, it's still a stretch.'
    The coincidence — if that was what it was — rang in Malone's head, but he dismissed it. The kid was probably right. Would they really be looking for someone who had a fascination with the name
Mary and, for that matter, plumbing? He doubted it.
    'I think we need to look at the geography and time, date, and so on.
Do you have an LA street map?'
    Malone went to the kitchen drawer and rummaged around until he found one. 'It's a few years old, but I think it'll do the trick.'
    They spread the map out on the dining table and looked at the city. In thick black pen was a circle over Malone's street and Mary's school. A line had been drawn between the two circles and it followed the streets around the area, crossing suburbs and passing parks, finally passing Malone's street. It looked like a small maze.
    'The bus route?' Daniel asked.
    Malone nodded. 'Yes, but she didn't take it, she walked home with a friend, or at least as far as her friend's house, two blocks away.'
    'So the bus is no similarity either,' Daniel said, more to himself than to Malone.
    'The police checked out the bus driver anyway, but got nothing.
The teachers, the caretaker, the neighbours, they all got questioned.
The only one who saw anything out of