'I'm from Colorado,' Lake said, smiling. 'I went to Colorado State undergraduate, then I served a hitch in the Marines. There was a guy in the judge advocate's corps who went to law school here and suggested I apply.
I met Sandy at the U.'
Lake paused and his smile disappeared. He looked down at his plate. The action had an unnatural quality to it, as if he suddenly realized that a smile would be inappropriate when he was discussing his dead wife. Nancy looked at Lake oddly.
'I'm sorry,' he apologized. 'I keep thinking about her.'
'That's okay. There's nothing wrong with remembering.'
'I don't like myself when I'm maudlin. I've — always been a person in control. The murders have made me realize that nothing is predictable or permanent.'
'If it's taken you this long to figure that out, you're lucky.'
'Yeah. A successful career, a great wife and kid.
They blind you to the way the world really is, don't they?
Then someone takes that away from you in a second and and you see…'
'You see how lucky you were to have what you had, while it lasted, Peter. Most people never have in their lifetime what you and I had for a little while.
Lake looked down at the tabletop.
'At the station you said you had an idea,' Nancy said, to break his mood.
'It's probably just playing detective,' he answered,
'but something struck me when I was going through the reports. The day Gloria Escalante disappeared, a florist's truck was delivering in the area. A woman would open the door to a man delivering flowers. She would be excited and wouldn't be thinking. He could take the woman away in the back of his truck. And there's the rose. Someone who works in a florist's would have access to roses.'
'Not bad, Peter,' Nancy said, unable to hide her admiration. 'You might make a good detective after all. The deliveryman was Henry Waters. He's got a minor record for indecent exposure and he's one of our suspects.
You probably haven't gotten to Wayne's report yet. He's been doing a background check on Waters.' Lake flushed. 'I guess you were way ahead of me.'
'Peter, did Sandy have any connection with Evergreen Florists?'
'Is that where Waters works?'.'
Nancy nodded.
'I don't think so. But I can look at our receipts and the checkbook to see if she ever ordered anything from them. I'm pretty certain I never did.'
Their dinner arrived and they ate in silence for a few minutes. Nancy's spaghetti was delicious, but she noted that Lake just picked at his food.
'Do you feel like talking about Sandy?' Nancy asked. 'We're trying to cross-reference the activities of the victims. See if they belonged to the same clubs, subscribed to the same magazines. Anything that gives us a common denominator.'
'Frank asked me to do that the night of the murder.
I've been working on it. We were members of the Delmar Country Club, the Hunter's Point Athletic Club, the Racquet Club. I've got a list of our credit cards, subscriptions, everything I can think of. I'll complete it by the end of the week. Is Waters your only suspect?'
'There are others, but nothing solid. I'm talking about known sex offenders, not anyone we've linked to any of the crimes.' Nancy paused.
'I had an ulterior motive for asking you to eat with me. I'm going to be totally honest with you. You shouldn't be involved in this investigation. You have pull with the mayor, so you're here, but everyone on the task force resents the way you forced yourself on us.'
'Including you?'
'No. But that's only because I understand what's driving you. What you don't understand is how selfdestructive your behavior is. You're obsessed with this case because you think immersing yourself in detective work will help you escape from reality. But you're stuck in the real world. Eventually you'll have to come to terms with it, and the sooner you do that the better. You've got a good practice. You can build a new life. Don't put off coming to grips with what's happened by continuing to work on the murders.'
Nancy was watching lake as she spoke. He never took his eyes off her.
When she was finished speaking he leaned forward.
Thank you for your honesty. I know my intrusion into the task force is resented and I'm glad you told me how everyone feels. I'm not worried about my practice.
My associates will keep it going without me and I've made so much money that I could live nicely without it.
What matters to me is catching this killer before he hurts someone else.'
Lake reached across the table and covered Nancy's hand with his.
'It also matters to me that you're concerned. I appreciate that.'
Lake stroked Nancy's hand as he spoke. It was a sensual touch, clearly a come-on, and Nancy was struck by the inappropriateness of his action, even if Lake was not.
'I'm concerned for you as a person who is the victim of a horrible crime,' Nancy said firmly, as she slid her hand out from under Lake's.
'I am also concerned that you might do something that would jeopardize our investigation. Please think about what I've said, Peter.'
'I will,' Lake assured her.
Nancy started to open her purse but Lake stopped her.
'Dinner's on me,' he smiled.
'I always pay my own way,' Nancy answered, laying the exact amount of her dinner on top of the check and putting a dollar tip under her coffee cup. She slipped out of the booth and started toward the door.
Peter placed his money next to hers and followed her outside.
'Can I give you a lift home?' he asked.
'My car's in the lot.'
'Mine too. I'll walk you back.'
They walked in silence until they reached the police station. The lot was dimly lit. Patches were in shadow.
Nancy's car was toward the back of the station where the windows were dark.
'it could have happened someplace like this,' lake mused as they walked.
'What?'
'The women,' Lake said. 'Walking alone at night in a deserted parking lot. It would be so easy to approach them. Didn't Bundy do that? Wear a false cast to elicit sympathy. They would be in the killer's trunk in a minute and it would all be over for them.'
Nancy felt a chill. There was no one in the lot but the two of them.
They entered an unlit area. She turned her head so she could see Lake.
He was watching her, thoughtfully. Nancy stopped at her car.
'That's why I wanted to walk with you,' Lake continued. 'No woman is safe until he's caught.'
'Think about what I said, Peter.'
'Good night, Nancy. I think we work well together.
Thanks again for your concern.'
Nancy backed her Ford out of its space and drove off. She could see Lake watching her in the rearview mirror.
Nancy stood in the dark and pumped iron, following the routine she and Ed had worked out. Now she was doing curls, with the maximum weight she could manage. Her forearm arced toward her shoulder, slowly, steadily, as she muscled up the right dumbbell, then the left. Sweat stained her tank top. The veins stood out on her neck.
Something was definitely wrong. Lake had been coming on to her. When Ed died, she had lost — all interest in sex for months. It had hurt just to see couples walking hand in hand. But when Lake held her hand, he had
