Nikki thanked him and sat down.

“What do you make of all this?” he asked.

“I don’t know. My guess is that the police are looking heavily into the members here. It was one thing to have Iwao murdered last night on the train with the belief that it was someone outside the group being a killer… but now with this second killing, I’m sure the focus will turn to the members and our staff.”

“No,” Hayden said. “No one in this group would do such a thing. I can’t believe that.”

“You don’t know, Hayden. Anything is possible. I think the best thing we can do is allow the police to conduct their investigation.”

Nikki really didn’t want to bring up the applications in front of Rich, but she didn’t have a choice. It was now or never. She took a sip of the Pinot Noir, which reminded her of strawberries and of all things leather. “I don’t know how to broach this with you, so I guess the best way to do this is be honest.” Of course, Nikki couldn’t even count these two out as suspects. The likelihood seemed low and the applications wouldn’t pertain to them anyway. They certainly hadn’t had to fill one out.

“What are you getting at?” Hayden asked.

She set her glass down on the table. “We are a bit of small town in a large county, and, well, I don’t know if anyone said anything to you, but from time to time, I’ve been known to help the police out with their investigations. I grew up with an aunt who was a detective, and being around her, I kind of developed a knack for it.”

They were nodding their heads. Her story was not entirely true. Yes, she’d helped out the police before, but not always by invitation. At least in this case, Robinson wanted her assistance. Granted, she was only supposed to look and listen since she hadn’t overnight become an official member of the department, but Robinson was bogged down at the moment. There may be nothing to those applications at all, and if that was the situation, then Robinson need not waste his or any of his employees’ time. But if there was something in one of them, then she could alert him and still have saved him and the department time and money.

“I don’t think we’re understanding you here,” Rich said and motioned to Hayden.

“I know I’m not.” Hayden took another sip of wine.

Nikki sighed. “Okay, on the hike, Hayden, you said that you hang on to the applications the members fill out.”

“I do. So?”

“I need to see them.” There it was, out on the table.

“Why?” she asked.

Rich looked from Hayden to Nikki.

“Because I am helping the police, as I mentioned, and they will be asking for them anyway, probably with a subpoena, and I don’t know that you want everyone knowing that the police are looking at the applications. It could save you a lot of drama with the members if you gave them to me now.” She threw in that “subpoena” word figuring the legalese might get their attention.

“I don’t understand what you think you’ll find.” Rich took a sip from his wine.

She gave them the same spiel she had given Simon.

The engaged couple exchanged looks after she finished. Rich shook his head. “I’d hate to see Hayden get in any trouble with her dad for this.”

“That won’t happen. If anything stands out in the applications, I’ll let the police know. If not, then no harm no foul.”

“I suppose,” Hayden said.

“I’ll bring them back tomorrow. I promise. You have them here, don’t you?” Nikki nodded and smiled at her.

“Okay,” Hayden replied reluctantly. “But I need them back tomorrow. Early.”

“I think that would be good,” Rich said.

Hayden got up and went into the bedroom, which Nikki knew had paintings of vineyards on the walls and a white silk duvet cover on the bed.

“You help out the police then?” Rich asked.

“Sort of.” She crossed her fingers that Rich wouldn’t ask Robinson about it. If he knew what she was up to, he’d flip out.

“I sure hope they find this creep soon. I’m a bit afraid to stay here.” He got up and refilled his glass.

“I believe the police are posting a man here for the night, and from what I’ve heard, they believe these killings were targeted. I don’t think you have anything to be concerned about.”

“I suppose. The police asked me all about Yamimoto’s publishing dealings and his wanting to publish Alan’s books in Japan. I explained that we have various foreign subsidies that do our publishing overseas and neither Alan nor myself was interested in going with him in that direction.”

“Did you know Mr. Yamimoto very well?”

“No. This is the first time I ever met him. He’d called me a few times, but I knew Alan’s stance and I agreed. Inspiritus has done a fantastic job for him. My mother really helped him build his image.”

Hayden walked out with a stack of folders and handed them to Nikki. “Please do not tell anyone about this.”

“I won’t.” She stood up. “I appreciate it, and I’ll be by tomorrow.”

Nikki walked out of their room, applications in hand, knowing she had a long night ahead of her.

TWO murders in two days. Derek would be thrilled to hear this news. Thank God it was too late to call him in New York. It was already eleven o’clock in Napa when Nikki walked back to their house, and with the three-hour time difference, she doubted he’d even be awake. Police were still busy at the hotel, and Nikki hated that she had not heard from Simon and Marco.

Once inside her home, and with Ollie at her side, she gave a deep sigh of relief. She set the folders on the kitchen counter and bent down to hug the dog, who looked at her like she was crazy but enjoyed the attention all the same. “Hi, kid. How’s it going?” Nikki patted his head.

Ollie wagged his long tail. Nikki went to the cupboard and took out a can of wet food and fixed him a bowl to eat. She then poured herself a glass of wine, sliced off some cheese, and put a piece of bread in the toaster. While the bread was toasting, she tried to call Simon and then Marco and got no response. She then went out into the garage and located the box with the books her aunt had given her and pulled a few out that looked chock-full of information. If she was going to stay up reading, then not only would she get to these applications, she could refresh her memory of what constituted a sociopath and a psychopath. She would do that first because reminding herself about what makes up the behavior and mind-set of a killer might help her when reviewing the applications.

A few minutes later, feet on the coffee table, bread and cheese in hand, and Ollie next to her on the couch, Nikki started flipping through a book called The Mind of a Killer. She found the definitions of a sociopath and a psychopath.

Both personalities have no empathy for others. Neither feels remorse or guilt. They are self-serving and seem to lack any conscience. They routinely disregard rules, social mores, and laws, unmindful of putting themselves or others at risk. Sounded like a wonderful type of human being-just like Derek’s first wife, come to think of it.

Nikki went on to read that the sociopath was less organized in his or her demeanor, nervous and easily agitated-someone likely living on the fringes of society, without solid or consistent economic support. A sociopath was more likely to spontaneously act out in inappropriate ways without thinking through the consequences. A psychopath would think them through and figure out how to get away with it.

Nikki took a sip of wine. Was there anyone she could think of in the group who was steadily nervous or could be considered living on the fringe of society? Kensington did not strike her as nervous, but of all these people, she could see him having a solid lack of empathy. How about consistent economic support? Everyone who was a member had that. They had to in order to be able to afford the membership fee.