Chapter three.

Age and heat made the cellophane covering the pages stick together. Deb was sitting at her kitchen table looking at Harry and Doris' old photograph albums. The plastic membrane over the photos started to become brittle and came away from the pages at the corners. She took a sip of the amber liquid in her tumbler and watched the legs of her bourbon cling to the sides of the glass.

Both she and Dexter had made their own photo albums as well. Rather, she made one and Dexter asked her to make one for him. She remembered sitting at the table in their parents' house after Harry passed, looking at the photos for his wake. As they picked out pictures of Harry and their parents together, she started setting aside pictures she wanted to keep for her own. Dexter said he should probably have an album too, but he said he didn't know which ones to choose. He stood behind her, making an occasional choice for his album, choosing many pictures of them together, or ones just of her.

However, these albums in front of her now were the reject pictures left in the original albums after they had made their selections. These pictures had meaning for Harry or Doris, but meant little to Debra and Dexter. But the albums were kept because they were important to her parents and it didn't seem right to throw away these memories, even if they weren't meaningful to her. So they were kept. She took another drink, and the liquor's sweetness on her lips overtook the sharp stinging on her tongue. A warmness blossomed in her chest and cheekbones.

One album was dedicated to various parties they attended. Pages of New Year's Eve parties, with each of them taking turns wearing the New Year's Eve hat. Christmas parties with a few of Harry's fellow officers at their house, opening white elephant gifts. Pictures, clearly taken at the bar that she still frequented, of Harry, Matthews, and other uniformed officers throwing back shots. Other pages included photographs of the department's policeman's balls. Year after year was dutifully arranged by Doris on the pages.

Debra looked closer at each page showing her parents at the department's dances. Even though the shine of Harry's memory had dulled since she learned of his involvement in Dexter's serial killing education, she smiled at his handsomeness in his dress uniform. Her mother grinned next to him. Matthews and his wife were in nearly all the group photos with them, as was another woman. She turned the pages forward and back and noticed this woman again and again.

She looked so familiar, this woman. It was as if her name or how she knew her was right on the tip of her tongue. Knowing her mother kept meticulous records, she peeled back the cellophane from the picture and pulled away the picture from the stiff page. On the back was the date of December 9th, 1989 and the names, Harry, Tom, Evelyn. She pulled out another picture and on the back was Doris, Evelyn, Maggie. One picture was of this woman alone and on the back was written in her mother's neat hand, Evelyn Vogel.

She grabbed her bottle of Maker's Mark and poured another shot in her glass. This stranger shouldn't have seemed so important, but the detective in her wouldn't let it go. A quick internet search of Evelyn Vogel on the internet resulted in a home address and a professional profile detailing her work as a neuropsychologist, consulting with various hospitals, foundations, and the Miami Metro police department. That was her connection to her parents, but she couldn't shake how familiar she seemed.

NEWS RELEASE - MIAMI POLICE DEPARTMENT

Subject: Suspected murderer McKay recaptured in Hialeah

On Tuesday at approximately 3:15 pm, Hialeah Police Officers responded to an anonymous tip of the location of Hannah McKay near a local library. McKay fled the custody of Miami Metro Police after being charged with the murder of true-crime writer, Sal Price. When plain-clothes officers arrived at the location mentioned in the tip, they searched the library and surrounding areas. After being spotted in the area, the disguised fugitive was taken into custody without incident. McKay was taken to HPD and held until she was transferred to the Miami Metro Police Department.

McKay will be held for fleeing and eluding in addition to the outstanding murder charges. (See Attached Arrest Affidavit for additional charges)

Prepared by: Det. Angie Miller

Reviewed by: Lt. Angel Batista

Case: 093746-374887/399874

I searched through MMPD's most wanted, the DEA's most wanted in Miami, and wanted criminals of other federal and state departments. After Hannah's capture, it was easier to keep my Dark Passenger at bay by vetting, stalking, and capturing them. Without having to dress a kill room and dispose of their corpses, my 20 year routine had changed. I couldn't explain it, but I no longer needed to kill them myself. No, that's not right. I could explain it. Deb's voice in my head became louder than my Dark Passenger. Sometimes she sounded angry and I could feel her hostility, other times her butterscotch voice murmured to me making me think other kinds of dark thoughts.

Anonymous tips were my specialty. I'd find them, confirm their guilt, and call the station to let them know just where to find them. One time, I deposited a drunken two-time felon on the front steps of the station. My own case work was never more exact. Other times, I helped Homicide by leading them to the clues. My department's solve rate had never been higher.

Quinn sat in the briefing room staring blankly at the photos pinned to the whiteboard. Lists of possible suspects were written along the sides of the bloody crime photos along with plausible connections. I don't think he'd moved from his seat in the last fifteen minutes. The pictures showed what was left of the victims. The bodies were segmented and arranged in rectangular and square formations. Quinn had reached the limit of his ability. He hit the wall. He was a decent cop, but he didn't have the spark to see beyond what was in front of him. Deb would have seen. Deb would have put this together days ago.

I let my footfalls announce my presence as not to startle him. "How's it going?"

He stood, walked to the board, and hit it with the back of his hand. "What kind of sick fuck does this shit?"

I shrugged and adjusted my bag on my shoulder. I had given him my report. That, along with what was in front of him should have been enough to at least get a start on this one. I tried to lead him in the right direction.

"Sorry I couldn't be more help. I just wanted to stop in before I left to see how you're doing. Is Angel still around too?"

"Yeah, he's out grabbing coffee."

I nodded. "I'm heading home. Harrison is really getting into jigsaw puzzles." He nodded and turned back to a file in front of him. I didn't blame him. After so many years together, he cared, but he was really trying to focus on solving this case, or at least getting a lead. "I told him I'd help him finish one we started the other night. He's getting really good at finding the right pieces and then fitting them together."

Quinn looked up at the pictures again and paused. "Holy shit… That's just what I was…" The ding of the elevator announced Angel's arrival and he started towards his office.

"Angel!" he called out and went to follow him. "Night, Dex," he said as a rushed afterthought and met up with Angel. I walked toward the still open elevator doors. They spoke together for a moment, then both moved back towards the conference room.

Hopefully that was enough to get Quinn a lead to close this case too.

She parked outside a beige house, looking up at the rounded windows overlooking the beach. The was the third time in as many days that she staked out Evelyn Vogel's house, trying to catch a glimpse of the woman. There was only one Evelyn Vogel listed in Miami; this had to be her house.

She squinted into the setting sun and slid on her aviators. She swiped the screen of her phone to unlock it and connected to the internet. A notification in her e-mail led her to the Miami Police Department's Facebook page. Angel Batista's face was frozen within a video box. Underneath his image was the title "Miami Metro Press Conference". She frowned at Angel's smiling face. She watched as he announced the achievement of the highest solve rate in months and thanked the citizens of Miami for their help.

She flipped to the department's web page and scrolled to the news releases. Angel was right. Their solve percentage was as high as she'd ever seen it, based on the number of news releases. Her finger froze on the screen as she saw Hannah McKay's name. She mentally scrolled through all the people who could possibly have found Hannah after all this time and also assisted the department so well. She placed her finger over the link until it gave her the option to copy.

Her finger hovered over the Messages icon. She hadn't reached out to him in a long time and she found herself nervous. She tapped the screen and pasted the link. She wrote only one word, "You?" She wasn't sure if she wanted to open this door again. He'd left her alone for weeks and she felt a tug low in her belly at the thought of seeing him again.

"Fuck," she whispered as she tapped Send, and leaned her head back on the headrest. She held her phone loosely in her hand on her lap and closed her eyes, starting to regret sending him a text. She turned her head toward the large home and opened her eyes.

"Fuck," she said again as she saw Evelyn coming out of her front door. Evelyn looked directly at her, nodded her head, and started to move towards Deb's car.

The phone vibrated in her hand and beeped at her. Deb looked down and saw he responded already.

"Yes." Followed quickly by, "I want to see you."

The sounds of her heels hitting the cement grew louder as Evelyn reached her car. Despite her age, she was a handsome woman in a neatly tailored blouse and dress pants. She looked so very familiar, but she couldn't place this stranger from anywhere other than her parents' pictures.

"Hello, Debra."