After the focus shifted from Flynn Coe and the crime scene, a number of questions were directed to A. J." who had already completed a search of the FBI VICAP database looking for evidence of similar crimes in other jurisdictions. A few Locard members argued that two murders of young men-one in Arizona the year before, one in Texas the year after-that were accompanied by hand amputations warranted further analysis. To me, A. J. seemed skeptical about the connection.

The very fact that she wanted me to assess the pre morbid psychology of the two girls argued against her having much faith in the serial-killer theory.

My watch told me that we were almost two hours into the debate before a sedate woman who sat far off to the side in the gathering took a break from her needlepoint long enough to speak for the first time. I guessed she was in her early sixties. She wore a long denim skirt and a pale green cardigan over an eyelet blouse. Only the top of the cardigan was buttoned. Everyone in the room quieted in response to her clearing her throat. As the room hushed, she lifted her half-glasses from her nose and dropped them gingerly to her ample chest, where they hung on a beaded chain. She said, "Excuse me, please, Kimber. But I have a question. Maybe two."

Kimber softened his booming voice as much as he could, which wasn't much.

"Yes, Mary. Of course."

"What consideration was given to the involvement of the brother? Tami Franklin's brother? The one who claims he knew where she was taking the snowmobile that night?"

Percy Smith, the current chief of the Steamboat Springs Police Department, responded.

"He was interviewed, but the boy was only fifteen at the time, ma'am."

"Yes?"

Her incredulity was an act intended to place Smith on the defensive. It worked.

Smith said, "It is his family, the Franklin family, that requested that I contact Locard, ma'am. The family is underwriting a significant amount of the expenses associated with reopening the investigation."

"Yes?"

The chief hesitated and looked around the room for help. None was forthcoming.

"Do you follow golf, ma'am?"

She fielded the non sequitur with aplomb. She said, "No, I'm sorry. Should I?" as she busied herself picking some errant threads from her needlepoint that had ended up on her sweater.

"Tami Franklin's younger brother is Joey Franklin. The golfer? Perhaps you've heard of him."

"Actually, no, I have not. But that's very nice for him. I hope he enjoys the sport more than I do. But my question remains, what was Joey Franklin, the golfer, whose family so wants our help solving these crimes, what was that Joey Franklin doing the night his sister and her friend disappeared?"

Excitement clear in her voice, Lauren whispered, "Alan, you know who that is? I think that's Mary Wright. She's a legend in the Justice Department. She was on the team that prosecuted Noriega. People talk about her sometimes for the Supreme Court."

The name Mary Wright meant nothing to me.

The police chief finally replied to Marys question.

"In his initial interview, Joey stated that he was out riding his horse until sunset. He said that after he brushed his horse down he went inside and was playing video games after that. He maintains he went to bed early."

Mary had returned her half-glasses to her nose and had refocused her attention on her needlepoint.

"Were his reports of his activities ever corroborated?" The chief didn't respond. Kimber said, "No, Mary, to my knowledge his whereabouts have not been independently verified. His parents were out that night. Mr. Franklin wasn't back from a business trip of some kind. Mrs. Franklin was having dinner with a friend. Joey was home alone."

Mary clarified, her voice mildly admonishing.

"I'm afraid that is a slightly elastic version of what we know to be true, Kimber. What we know appears to be limited to the reality that, if young Joey was home, he was home without parental supervision, and without a corroborating witness. His solitude cannot be established with anything approaching certainty."

Kimber grinned and proceeded to add a line to the chalkboard that read:

Alibi, Joey Franklin??? Reinterview.

Lauren gestured at the new line on the board and whispered, "Is Joey Franklin who I think he is? That young golfer who everyone's talking about? The one who had the playoff with Tiger at that tournament?"

That tournament was the recent Masters. Lauren didn't follow sports much. I nodded and said," It must be him." "He's cute," she said.

I didn't have an opinion about his cuteness.

Kimber continued his solicitousness toward Mary Wright.

"Is there anything else, Mary? Before we move on?"

She smiled warmly, her gaze wholly above the lenses of her glasses.

"Perhaps one more thing. The location of the murders? I'm troubled that we haven't talked more about that. The initial investigation? One of the things that we don't know is where these poor girls were murdered. That's correct, isn't it?"

Kimber's strategy all along had been to require that the Steamboat Springs cop take the responsibility for acknowledging the weaknesses in the case. The chief finally admitted, "No. The initial investigation did not reveal the precise location of the actual murders."

Mary faced Flynn Coe.

"Flynn, dear? You and russ have determined that the site of the murder wasn't where the bodies were found, was it?"

"No, Mary. The girls weren't killed there. The bodies had been moved. Possibly on the snowmobile." Mary said, "It seems to me that it would be very helpful for us to find that girl's hand and the other one's toes now, wouldn't it?"

Kimber wrote:

Tami Franklin, missing hand. Mariko Hamamoto, missing toes. Locate.

"That's all for me," said Mary.

The meeting persisted through two breaks until late afternoon. Lauren was gamely trying to stay awake as the day waned. A. J. looked exhausted, too.

Finally, Kimber Lister called for an end to the debate and then a vote about the formation of a working group. To the visitors, he explained that the creation of a working group, if approved, would indicate that Locard had reached a decision to make resources available for this investigation. The membership of the working group would be composed of those Locard regulars and invited guests whose special skills were considered essential to advance this particular case.

The debate was brief. In short order, the formation of a working group was approved with only one dissenting vote. Kimber moved to appoint Flynn Coe to coordinate the working group, no one demurred, and he quickly listed the initial working-group membership on his chalkboard.

Flynn Coe, crime scene, working-group coordinator Russell Claven, forensic pathology Laird Stabler, hair and fibers A. J. Simes, profiling, psychology Mary Wright, prosecutor Percy Smith, guest, detective Lee Skinner, detective Lauren Crowder, guest, prosecutor Alan Gregory, guest, psychologist

Lister asked for recommended additions. None were proffered. He gave a short speech about confidentiality and relations with the media, should they learn of our work. He explained that each guest would be partnered with an active member of Locard. Percy Smith would work with Lee Skinner, Lauren with Mary Wright, I with A. J. Simes.

He thanked us for our time, and the meeting was over.

My watch told me it was 4:36 in Boulder, Colorado. But Lauren's drawn face and rapid-fire yawns told me it was much too late in the day for her. She'd told me more than once that one of the most difficult things about her illness was how it shortened her days. Most people get twelve or fourteen waking hours to work and to play and to love.

"Sometimes," she'd said, "I feel like I only get four or six" Whatever allotment she'd had today, she'd severely overdrawn the account. It was absolutely clear to me that she needed to get horizontal and she needed it quickly. I despaired for her and worried about the effects of the fatigue on our baby.