Page 158 of Cold, Cold Bones

“Two miles east of Kramden’s bus complex.”

“Does Byrd know about this?”

“Yes. He thought it was weak. And they’ve had their own tip saying the kid’s being held at a compound on Sledge Road, out by the airport. Some registered pedophile. I don’t know the details. Byrd thinks the info’s credible so he’s focusing his manpower on that for the moment.”

“What now?”

“Skinny and I are heading back out to the buses.”

“Byrd is good with that?”

“He thinks it’s a waste of time. But Slidell phoned Mangiorotti. He told him to have at it.”

“I’m in.”

“Nope.”

“I’m going crazy here, Ryan. This is torture.”

“Even if I agreed, he—”

“I can be helpful.”

Silence.

“Which is Kramden’s dominant hand?” I demanded.

“What?”

“You don’t know, do you?”

“What’s your point?” Ryan was asking that a lot.

“He’s a lefty. The preference may be compensatory since he’s missing three digits on the right.”

“So?”

“You know Célia Quintal at the LSJML. Right?”

“The knot lady.”

I briefed Ryan on what I’d learned from Quintal. Chiral knots.SandZimages. The fact that theSvariety is more common. The fact that theSvariety is weakly associated with right-handedness.

“The noose on Boldonado’s neck was made with aZimage knot,” I concluded.

“Suggesting the person who tied it was left-handed.”

“Yes.”

“Kramden is left-handed.”

“Exactly.”

“That’s hardly conclusive.”

“No.”

“And it doesn’t mean—”