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McCarthy mentioned something about the Quilter. I guess he worked one of those scenes and said this was identical.”
    There was a pause on the other end of the phone for a moment before Bostok spoke. “Redding was executed a long time ago. If this is the same, it’s by way of a copycat. Redding was the Quilter, without a doubt.”
    “I’m just letting you know what he said.”
    “Any evidence there?” Bostok asked.
    “On first glance, no. I’m having the patrol guys get the scene secured, but I’m going to need more men out here. That’s why I’m calling.”
    “How many?”
    “At least a dozen.”
    “I’ll talk to Timmons and have him round some people up to send over. Geez, almost a month without a homicide and now this.” The captain let out a puff of air. “Find me when you get back.”
    “I will.” I hung up.
    I spotted headlights and the outline of the county coroner’s black van approaching from up the street. I walked to the curb and guided Ed, driving the van, to the corpse. He parked twenty feet away from the body and opened the driver’s door. The dome light lit the van’s interior, and I could see Ed’s dark-blue jacket with the word coroner across the back as he stepped out and closed the door. He rounded the front of the van toward me.
    “Morning, Ed,” I said.
    “Lieutenant,” he said. He shook my hand. “Been a while. I heard your vacation up north last month was eventful.”
    “To say the least,” I said.
    “Everything done with all of that?”
    “Azarov is dead, and the feds say I’m in the clear.”
    “Good. The word trickled through that your father was shot. How is he doing?”
    “He’s been back on his feet for a couple weeks now. He’ll be fine.”
    “Good to hear. I take it that’s our body there?” Ed pointed toward the tarp.
    “Yeah, the sooner we can get it out of here, the better,” I said.
    Ed motioned with his hand for me to lead the way. I walked him toward Berris, McCarthy, and the body. Ed went to the side of the covered man and crouched.
    “It’s bad under there, Ed,” I said.
    He balked but then pulled the tarp back. He stared at the remains. Ed turned his head toward me. He rubbed his bushy eyebrows and then ran his fingers through his gray hair. He spoke one word, “Quilter.”

Chapter 3
    Hank and I left the park around eleven. I divided up all the uniforms sent over. Half searched the park while the other half spent the morning door knocking and keeping the residents of the neighborhood at bay. We came up empty in our search for anything resembling a clue. There wasn’t as much as a trace of evidence anywhere. Not one resident gave us anything to work off of. Our officers found no cameras in the vicinity. We had nothing.
    Hank and I grabbed a quick lunch at Dotana’s on the way back to the station. I talked to Callie briefly while I ate. I decided to wait to break the news that our fishing and camping trip we had planned for the weekend would most likely get canceled. I sat down at my desk a few minutes after noon and then saw the captain leaving his office and heading over.
    Bostok stood in my doorway. “Well?” he asked.
    “We have zip.”
    “Nothing at all?” he asked.
    I let out a breath and rattled my fingers across my desk. “No evidence in the park or surrounding areas. Not a single resident saw anything. At least, that’s what the ones who actually spoke with our guys said.”
    Captain Bostok cleared his throat. “What about Rick and Pax?”
    “I’m pretty sure Rick and Pax are at the medical examiner’s office.”
    “For?” Bostok asked.
    “They were going to look over the remains for any kind of trace. The scene was starting to turn into a zoo, with all the residents coming out to get a look. The media started to show up around nine. After Rick and Pax were done photographing everything and searched the area, Ed took the body. We just wanted to get the remains out of there as soon as possible. No one needed to see