“The conditions are perfect. You’ll see.”

Teddy guessed the man was Dennis Vega, the lead detective. In spite of the cool air, Vega was sweating. And from the tone of his voice, he appeared more than anxious.

Teddy moved closer, then flinched as he spotted the body stretched out on the dining room table. It was underneath a milky layer of plastic that had been formed into a tent enclosing the entire table. Teddy couldn’t exactly see the girl’s body, just its hazy form. A man wearing a gas mask was at the head of the table, lifting the plastic open. It looked as if a lamp had been rigged inside the tent, the light bulb fitted with an aluminum dish. Teddy watched the man squeeze something from a small tube into the hot dish, eye the body, then repeat the process. Several discarded tubes were laid out on a sheet of newspaper on the floor. Reading the labels, Teddy realized Powell hadn’t been kidding. The man was shooting super glue into the dish and watching it vaporize from the heat of the light bulb. The plastic was actually clear, the young girl’s body entombed in a dense cloud of noxious fumes.

The man gave the body another look. Then he lowered the plastic, sealing it to the table with a pair of spring clips.

“Not yet,” he said, his voice muffled by the gas mask.

The man dropped the empty tube onto the newspaper and opened a new one. As he straightened the drop clothes with his feet, Teddy noticed the blood pool on the floor underneath. He looked up and saw more blood sprayed all over the walls. Whatever happened to Darlene Lewis had been brutal. He took a step back, suddenly feeling nauseous.

“Are you okay?” Powell asked.

“It’s the fumes,” he said, lying. “I think I’ll have a look around.”

Teddy backed out of the living room, passing through the foyer into the kitchen. He’d been hoping for a glass of water, but someone had torn the sink apart, removing the pipes and garbage disposal. When he spotted the pantry, he swung the door open and found a canister of bottled water. The dispenser was an industrial model with hot and cold taps and a paper cup holder. Teddy poured a cup and guzzled it down. Then he poured another and moved to the open window, sucking fresh air into his lungs between small sips of more cold water. He could see the district attorney on the rear terrace, pacing back and forth with a cigarette burning and his cell phone pressed to his ear. Against the far wall, he noticed a beer keg packed in the snow. A squirrel was sitting on the keg, taking a shit and eating nuts as it kept its nervous eyes on Andrews.

Teddy turned away, his gaze resting on the disassembled garbage disposal. The delay in clearing the house had to do with the girl’s body and whatever they were doing with those tubes of super glue. That much was obvious.