I studied a facial close-up. Eyes closed, mouth slightly parted. The dirty-blond hair, long and very curly and spread on the ground.

More arrangement.

Someone taking the time… playing.

Back to the full-body shot. Her hands were next to her thighs, palms up, curled open, as if asking Why?

Insipid olive-gray shadows washed across the pale face like brushstrokes.

Light filtering through the trees above.

My chest felt clogged and I started to close the file. Then I noticed something small and pink near the girl's right ear. “What's that?”

“Hearing aid. She was also deaf. Partially in one ear, totally in the other.”

“Jesus.” I put the file down. “Irit Carmeli. Is that Italian?”

“Israeli. Her father's a honcho at the Israeli Consulate. Which is why the department's inability to develop a single lead in three months is problematic.”

“Three months,” I said. “I never read about it in the papers.”

“It wasn't in the papers. Diplomatic pull.”

“Sounds like a very cold case.”

“Any colder and I'd be wearing fur. Any gut impressions?”

“He took his time with her,” I said. “Meaning he probably abducted her fairly soon after she arrived. When's the last time anyone saw her?”

“No one's sure. From the moment they let them off the bus it was chaos, kids running all over the place. That was the point of the conservancy. The school had gone there before, thought it was a safe place for the kids to run loose and explore.”

“How'd the murderer get in without being noticed?”

“Probably a backroad, the place is full of them on three sides, access from the Valley side, Santa Monica, and from Sunset. There's a thick belt of trees between the hiking area and the nearest road so you'd need to know your way around, meaning the piece of shit was familiar with the area, either hiked or drove. If he drove he parked at a distance because the roads closest to the murder scene were clean, no tracks.”