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crisp blue water revived him and his mother told people he was like a different child. But the scar of that severe depression never left him and he carried sadness in his eyes for the rest of his life.
    Stanton arrived at his office shortly before midnight. The security guard was dozing and didn’t bother to feign attention when he saw him. Stanton took the elevator and then regretted not taking the stairs. The movement would’ve helped him right now and he needed to try and exhaust himself so he could get some sleep later in the morning.
    Nathan Sell was in his office and Stanton nodded to him as he made his way down the hall to his office. Jessica was still there as well, watching DVD’s of recorded interviews.
    “ Hey,” she said as she paused the DVD, “what are you doing here so late?”
    “ Couldn’t sleep,” Stanton said. He stepped into her office and sat down across from her. The chair was thickly cushioned and warm and he realized how much he would’ve liked to have been able to sleep. “I didn’t know there were any witnesses.”
    “ Just over twenty people were in the area. No one saw or heard anything. Couple of ‘em look like they know more than they’re telling us. I’m going to hit them up tomorrow.” She took out two Ibuprofen from her drawer and washed them down with a Crystal Light. “How’s it going for you?”
    “ I need to talk to the original detectives that worked the case. Few things aren’t adding up.”
    “ Like what?”
    “ They talked to a co-worker that they never put in their reports for one.”
    “ Hm, well, everybody’s got their own style.”
    “ I guess.” Stanton hesitated about telling her the victim may have been seeing a cop. Police were ravenously protective of their own and he didn’t want to seem like he was smearing a cop’s reputation if he didn’t have to.
    “ Can I ask you something, Jonathan? Something personal?”
    “ Sure.”
    She played with her pencil, tapping it lightly against a stapler on her desk. “I knew Noah. We’d worked a case together. A kidnapping where the perp came down here from Watts. In that time that he was your partner, did you ever—”
    “ No.”
    “ Me neither. I know they say psychopaths can be charming, but I always thought if one was in my life I would know. I would just know.”
    “ How long did you know him?”
    “ It wasn’t for very long. We both worked too much to see each other more than once or twice.” She bit her lip and said, “He asked me out.”
    “ What did you say?”
    “ I said no. But not because I wasn’t attracted to him. I was literally just too busy at the time. If I had fewer cases, I would’ve taken him up on it. When I found out what he did to those girls … I can’t tell you how sick I felt. I thought about quitting the force.”
    “ You have nothing to feel sick over. There was a part of him that was human. That was the part that was likeable and friendly. But there was the other part too. It was a fight for him, but it had nothing to do with you.” He stood up. “I better get going.”
    As he left he heard the DVD turn back on, a male voice adamantly denying having seen anything. He turned to look at her but she was already focused on the screen.
     
     

13
     
    Stanton left the office at three in the morning and was back at nine. He began placing calls. Taylor Stewart was in Iraq on active duty. Frontline infantry in the army’s third infantry division. Stanton called the local recruiting office and got the numbers to Army Investigative Command and to the local JAG office. Both offices said they couldn’t help him unless he had an official subpoena or writ. He knew the army ignored writs and subpoenas from state judges. It would have to be a federal judge and he would need a good reason. So far, he had none; other than leaving a name off of a report.
    Francisco Hernandez was different. Stanton was told by Human Resources that he was still with the police department but had