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“I didn’t recognize his voice that first day. It’s changed since the last time I saw him. When we found him yesterday, it dawned on me, but I didn’t know how to bring it up then. Not when he was right there and nobody believed me about last week anyway.”

He didn’t quite wince at that last sentence, but his cheek twitched. “I would have preferred to know.”

“I’m sorry.”

“And for the record, I do believe you.”

“Now that you have a reason to?”

He didn’t answer that immediately.

She sighed and resumed knitting. “I shouldn’t have said that. With how crazy everything sounded, I don’t blame you for being skeptical. Especially after the break-in.”

His gaze shifted to her notebook, and he flipped to the lastpage with writing and checked the next as well. “You didn’t document that.”

“It happened after I wrote down the first two encounters. I never got around to adding it.” She’d been too preoccupied with everything else, not to mention her discouragement over the police’s reaction to her statement.

“Tell me again what happened that night.”

Her hands began to tremble, and she dropped a stitch. She tried to reclaim it, but her hands weren’t steady enough, so she set the project aside before she could do more damage.

“Are you all right? You’re pale.”

She wasn’t sure how to answer that. She didn’t want to dig into those memories right now. Not after the nightmare she’d woken up from. But she knew she needed to. Maybe she could approach it clinically. If it meant they might be able to catch this guy, she’d do whatever it took.

Eric placed his hand over one of hers, surprising her. But his touch calmed her too and gave her the courage to launch into her memories of that night. She recited everything she could remember—from waking up to that ghastly green glow to finding the door locked after she’d been abandoned on the porch.

When she finished, she stole a look at him. She couldn’t read his expression. He’d said he believed her about the first two encounters with her attacker. Did his confidence extend to this one too? She knew how bizarre it sounded. If she hadn’t experienced it, she wasn’t sure she’d believe it either.

He released her hand and began writing in his own notebook. The absence of his touch left her feeling chilled. That was just weird.

She rubbed her hands together to warm them—and maybe to distract herself from the awkwardness that Eric seemed oblivious to. Maybe she should offer him tea. That would give her something to do while he puzzled through the information.

Before she could voice her offer, his pen clicked twice, andhe spoke. “So he was wearing a mask? Why? You’d already seen his face.”

She stilled. That hadn’t occurred to her. But Eric had a point. Why bother to wear a mask? Her attacker likely knew she lived alone. He also knew she knew what he looked like, and he clearly wanted her to know it was him.

“I don’t know,” she said finally. “He wasn’t trying to hide his identity.” No, he’d taunted her with it. “But then again, nothing he did made sense. I thought he was going to kill me or...” She couldn’t finish the thought, but judging by the way the notebook bent under the pressure of Eric’s grip, he knew exactly what she hadn’t said.

“And you’re sure it was him?”

“Yes.”

“You recognized his voice, then?”

“Yes. At least, I think so,” she corrected.

“You think so?”

“He was whispering,” she admitted. “So I guess I didn’t hear his true voice. But his actions and words made his identity obvious.” She could almost feel his hand on her skin, and her stomach turned.

Click.“Okay. What else was odd about his behavior?”

“Besides the way he locked me outside and then disappeared?”

“Yes. Is there anything else he did—even something small—that was off?”

She searched her slightly fuzzy memories. Between how frightened and caught off guard she’d been, she wasn’t sure she would have noticed anything else off. She hadn’t even processed the fact he’d been wearing gloves until afterward. The gloves made sense. He wouldn’t have wanted to leave fingerprints behind. But the mask? Maybe he hadn’t wanted to risk being seen as he entered or exited?