Xo (Kathryn Dance 3)

"I sure didn't friend him," Kayleigh muttered.

"TJ's found four different screen names he uses--'nics,' they're called, like nickname. Edwin's pretty active online but no more so than millions of other young men. He posts to a lot of music blogs and is in a few chat rooms. Some sexual but they're pretty tame. And special interests--music mostly but movies and books too." Dance shook her head. "Typically a stalker is more engaged in online activities than Edwin is--and a lot darker ones too."

She continued to read. "Ah, may have something here. Looks like he went through a breakup last year. TJ found a reference to someone named Sally in one of the blogs.

He was talking about your song, 'You and Me.'"

"That's right," Kayleigh said. "It's about a breakup."

"The posting was in December." Dance asked Kayleigh, "Not long before the stalking started, right?"

"Yes. January."

"Trauma often precipitates stalking. Getting fired, a physical injury, death in the family. Or the end of a romantic relationship." Dance nodded toward TJ's email. "He said the song really meant a lot to him. It was a hard time in his life and he talked about the trouble he was having with Sally. He said it's like you knew exactly what he was going through. Then a few days later he posted about a single you'd just released, 'Near the Silver Mine.' He said he'd been feeling bad because he'd lost his house when he was about that age too but his girlfriend told him to get over it."

Kayleigh's lips tightened. "He knew about my house?" She explained about how she'd loved the old house she'd grown up in, north of Fresno, but her father had sold it to a mining company when she was young. "I probably mentioned in an interview that I wished he hadn't."

She'd be thinking: Isn't there anything private about my life anymore?

Dance flipped through TJ's homework. "Again, though, nothing threatening or troubling in any way." She read some more. "One thing to keep in mind. He's smart. For instance, he wrote, 'Happy or sad, you speak the truth.' The sentence is a bit of a dangler but look at how he set off the modifier 'Happy or sad' with a comma, which is correct, but a lot of people wouldn't do that. His spelling and grammar are very good. Which tells me he's in control. Very in control."

"Is that bad?" Crystal Stanning asked.

"It means that if he's the one who killed Bobby, he's going to be covering up his tracks and planning out the stalking very carefully. He's not likely to slip up."

Madigan finished his ice cream and surveyed the paper cup to see if he should scrape the sides, Dance supposed. He pitched it away. "What're you thinking about where we go from here?"

"First, we've got to keep him under surveillance."

"Deputy Fuentes is doing that."

"Where is Edwin now?"

"Seeing a movie. In the Rialto."

Harutyun explained that this was an old movie theater in Fresno's Tower District, an eclectic area of galleries, restaurants, tattoo parlors and shops.

His being at a movie didn't surprise her. "Stalkers spend a lot of time in theaters and watching movies at home--the link between voyeurism and stalking is strong."

"What about those prepaid mobiles from the drugstore in Burlingame?"

Madigan said, "Not traceable. They might've been destroyed or the perp's taken the batteries out. Or who knows, maybe he just bought a bunch to keep us busy and he's got another one here to make more calls."

Dance then turned to Kayleigh. "Now, some basic stalker rules. You probably know them from Darthur Morgan and your lawyers but remember you have to have no contact with him at all. Nothing. Even threatening him or telling him to leave you alone gives him a high--any contact at all is positive to him. If he approaches don't say anything, just walk away."

"Okay. Fine with me."

"And I want to know more about him. We need to find this former girlfriend. Sally."

"Lopez, you handle that. Have her call Agent Dance."

"Sure, Chief."

The head detective then added, "We should identify other possible victims, don't you think? Keep an eye on them. Who'd be at particular risk?"

Dance said, "Probably first is anybody he sees as a romantic rival." To Kayleigh: "You and Bobby dated?"

Apparently this wasn't public knowledge. Kayleigh blushed and Alicia turned to her with a hint of frown. Dance wasn't much interested in the delicacies of disclosure. She lifted an eyebrow, tacitly repeating the question.