“He parks, walks through the trees, finds a spot where he can see the kids, watches,” I said. “Any tracks on more distant roads?”

“Nothing that could be identified because you get heavy enough traffic to blur everything. And I can't tell you they checked every square inch of the park early because in the beginning, it wasn't a crime scene, it was a missing kid. In addition to the K-9s and the teachers and the park rangers, her father came over with a whole posse of consulate people and everything got pretty much trampled.”

“What about at the scene itself?”

“Not a trace of anything physical, except for a few pieces of straw that the lab says came from a broom. Looks like the scumbag swept up the area around her.”

“A neat one,” I said. “Compulsive. That fits the way he arranged the body.”

I forced myself to look at the photographs again, picturing a fiendish face bent over the girl. But that's not the way it was. It always came down to people, not monsters.

Arranging. Manipulating.

Sweeping up.

“Strangulation and positioning are usually sexual,” I said. “No assault at all?”

“Nothing. She was a virgin. And you know how sex fiends usually position: spreading the legs, displaying the genitals. This was just the opposite, Alex. First time I saw the pictures she looked unreal. Like a doll.”

“Playing with dolls.” My voice was low and hoarse.

“Sorry for dropping this one on you,” he said.

“How retarded was she?”

“The file says “slightly.' ”

“Abducted without a sound and carried a mile from the group. How much did she weigh?”

“Eighty pounds.”

“So we're talking someone strong,” I said. “Is the theory that she wandered off the path, just happened to be unlucky?”