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young children. She seems to enjoy it.”
    â€œShe’s a top player, right?”
    â€œAll-State. Several colleges are looking at her.”
    â€œWell, that’s great.”
    All the time she’d been talking Terri had been shifting nervously in her seat. Birch waited patiently for her to tell him why she wanted to see him.
    â€œI was wondering if there was any progress. If you have any idea who….”
    Terri’s voice trailed off. Thinking about what had happened to her husband was too hard on her.
    â€œI’ll be honest with you, Mrs. Spencer, we have made some progress but we’re nowhere near an arrest.”
    â€œWhat does that mean?”
    â€œWe asked the FBI in on this and they came up with something.”
    â€œWhat?”
    Birch hesitated for a moment. Then he looked Terri in the eye. “You’re a reporter, right?”
    â€œNot where my husband’s murder is concerned.”
    Birch nodded. “Okay. But I need to know that you will absolutely not tell anyone else what I tell you.”
    â€œOf course.”
    â€œThe FBI thinks that the person who murdered your husband and Tanya Jones has committed other crimes in several states over the past few years.”
    â€œA serial killer?”
    â€œThat’s what they think. But they have no clue to the killer’s identity.”
    â€œWhy do they think it’s a serial killer? What are the common threads?”
    â€œDuct tape was used to bind the victims instead of rope. The FBI has established that the same company manufactured the duct tape used in all of the crimes and they’ve made a physical match between the duct tape used in a case in Michigan and another in Arizona. For obvious reasons, this is something we’re not telling the public.”
    â€œAre there any other clues you’re keeping from the public?” Terri asked, fighting to keep her tone neutral.
    â€œWhy do you want to know that?”
    â€œI don’t want to leak anything unintentionally.”
    â€œYou know the killer ate a piece of chocolate cake at your house?”
    Terri nodded.
    â€œHe ate a piece of pie during a murder in Connecticut.”
    Terri felt the blood drain from her face. She averted her eyes. “So only the investigators know about the snack at our house? You haven’t released the information to the public?”
    â€œThat’s right.”
    â€œAre they keeping the snack a secret in Connecticut too?”
    Birch nodded.
    â€œWhere were the other murders?”
    â€œThey started in New England about five years ago. Then there were a few in other parts of the country.” Birch listed the cities.
    â€œWhat…what does he do?”
    â€œThey’re like your house, Mrs. Spencer. There’s always a teenage daughter. He murders the adults and rapes the daughter before killing her. Ashley is a very lucky young woman. She’s the only person who has survived his attacks.”
    Â 
    Ashley stayed after the clinic session ended to help a seventh-grade girl with her passing skills. The kid was good, and she would get better because she cared about technique. The girl’s mother had waited patiently while Ashley and her student put in an extra twenty minutes. When they were through, she thanked Ashley for taking the extra time to help her daughter. The praise felt good. On the way out of the gym Ashley was wondering if she wanted to teach or coach as a career when a man’s voice interrupted her reverie.
    â€œIt’s Ashley, right?”
    Ashley looked up. Joshua Maxfield was standing in front of her. He was dressed in a T-shirt and athletic shorts and looked like he’d just finished a workout.
    â€œI hope I didn’t interrupt any great thoughts,” the teacher said. “You looked like you were in a trance.”
    Ashley blushed. “It’s okay,” she mumbled.
    â€œI’m Joshua Maxfield. I teach creative writing. We met when