“It’s him,” Test said.
Rath looked up from a topographic map he used for deer hunting, a map now spread out on the card table he’d set up in his makeshift office at the station. He’d been determining distances from Preacher’s new place to three other points on the map: Johnson State College, the Wayside Country Store, and the Pisgah Wilderness Area. Each point, by car, could be reached in thirty minutes, give or take, from Forgotten Gorge Road. A perfect triangle, with Preacher at the center.
“Who?” Rath said, working out the time frame. Preacher could have been watching Rachel and had time to intercept Dana Clark at the Wayside. If Preacher knew Dana’s pattern. And he’d had plenty of time to murder Jamie Drake in the time Rath had slept.
“Who?” Test said. “Preacher. I’ve got him next door.”
Rath stared at the thin wall that now separated Preacher from him. In a minute, nothing would separate them, save a few feet of air across a narrow table.
“Did you arrest him for Clark or Drake? Or both?” He felt almost dizzy with relief.
“I didn’t arrest him,” Test said.
“You just said it’s him,” Rath said. “Is it or not?”
“He slipped up. He mentioned Jamie Drake being hanged. That’s not in the news. And he knows the time frame. We kept both of those facts out. There’s hardly any news reported except a young female body being found. There is no way he could know unless he did it. Or knows who did.”
“Then arrest him.”
“It’s not enough. We arrest him, he’ll backtrack, say he guessed, was playing with us, and the D.A. will tell us to cut him loose. We need physical evidence, too. Hard evidence. I requested a warrant for his premises.”
“Be sure to include his—” Rath was about to say truck, but caught himself. “His vehicle. If he has one, in the warrant.”
“He claims a truck in the yard isn’t his. I don’t believe him. I’ll run it,” Test said.
Rath thought about Preacher looking up from his front steps at Rath in the trees. Had Preacher seen him?
“What is it?” Test said.
“Nothing.”
“Video is running in the room. Maybe you can press him, get under his skin, and get more out of him, enough for an arrest. Ready?”
Rath wasn’t ready. He did not know if he could deny the violence in him. Be careful, he warned himself.
He let out a breath. “Ready.”