Having lived in this place for so many years, Katyusha has never gotten used to the fog on the peninsula. The fog here resembles a shapeshifter, a character from a magic book that Wes reads. Sometimes hug the ground like a long man and sweep past you like a ghost. Other times, it crouches like smoke in the low-lying areas of the land or the road, blurring everything into a blur.

But most of the time the fog was a thick mass of cotton sheets, floating hundreds of feet in the air, shaped like a cloud, enveloping everything in black, giving a sense of foreboding.

Today's fog falls into this category.

The haze is getting thicker. Katyusha drove along the silent national highway between Carmel and the town. She plays music from Raj and the Cave People, a well-known North African percussion ensemble. The area is mostly forested, with pine, holly-leaved oak, eucalyptus and maple trees growing in a tended state, interspersed with small intertwined groves. She drove through the cordon, ignoring reporters and cameramen. Are they here for this case or for her mother's case? Katyusha thought angrily.

She pulled over the car, greeted a nearby officer, and walked over to Hugh. They walked towards the shoulder of the road fenced by a cordon, where the second cross was found.

"What's wrong with your mother?" Hugh asked.

"Not good."

Katyusha is glad he is here. Emotions swelled up in her heart like balloons, and she was speechless for a while. Images of her mother in handcuffs and her clash with the staff of the Children's Service Center over the child have resurfaced.

Hugh had no choice but to smile faintly, "I saw you on TV." ”

"On TV?"

"Who is that woman? The one that looks like Oprah? You're going to get her arrested. ”

Katyusha sighed, "Did they take that down as well?"

"You look," he was looking for a word, "aggressive." ”

"She's going to take the kids to a social welfare facility."

Hugh looked shocked. "Harper did it, using conspiracy. He was going to even arrest his men. Alas, I handled that matter a little hastily. She added, "I approached Hitti to take care of the case." ”

"George? Good. This man is strong. You need to be strong. ”

"Oh, by the way, Terrence let Harper into the California Bureau of Investigation and review my file."

"Can't let him do this!"

"I think he wanted to see if I had concealed evidence from Miliar's case or tampered with the case file. Terrence said he also reviewed your file in the office. ”

"Did the county police department do it?" He asked. Katyusha could sense his anger like a red light on the highway. "Does Terrence know that Harper is working on a case against Edie?"

She shrugged, "I don't know. But he'd at least think: What the hell is that guy from San Francisco searching through our files?' Caseload assessment'. Ridiculous. Her own anger was about to burst again, but she managed to contain it in the end.

They came to the place where the cross was planted, on the shoulder of the road. This memorial is similar to the earlier one: branches tied with thread, and a piece of cardboard with today's date written on it.

At the base of the cross was also placed a bouquet of red roses.

She couldn't help but wonder: Who would this mean killing?

Ten more people were killed.

The cross rested on an unpaved stretch of road, about 1 mile from the sea. This road is not very traveled, and it is a shortcut to Route 68. Ironically, there are several roads leading to the new one Chilton mentioned in his blog, and this one is one of them.

Standing on the shoulder of the road near the cross was an eyewitness, a 40-year-old businessman. Judging by his appearance, he will be in real estate or insurance, Katyusha guessed. He was chubby, with a blue shirt on his stomach and a tight belt. Some of her hair was down from front to back, and she could see sun spots on her round forehead and bald top. He was standing next to a Honda Accord.

They came over. Hugh said to her, "This is Pfister."

She shook his hand. Inspector Hugh said he was going to supervise the crime scene search, and after saying that, he walked straight across the road.

"Tell me what you saw, Mr. Pfister."

"I saw Travis."

"How do you know it's him?"

He nodded, "I saw his picture online at lunch half an hour ago.

So I can recognize him. ”

"Can you tell me exactly what you saw?" She asked, "And when did you see it?"

"Okay, it's about 11 o'clock this morning. I have a conference in Carmel. I am a statewide general agent. He said this with pride.

Straight to the point, she thought to herself.

"I left at about 10:40 and drove back to Monterrey to take a shortcut. It would be nice if that new road was opened, don't you think?"

She smiled vaguely, not in the true sense of the word. "Then I drove the car on the shoulder," he gestured, "to make a phone call." A smile spread across his face, "Never drive to talk, that's my principle." ”

Katyusha raised an eyebrow and motioned for him to hurry on.

"I looked out of the windshield and saw him walking along the shoulder, from that direction. He didn't see me. He shuffled a little, as if talking to himself. ”

"What kind of clothes is he wearing?"

"It's like a hooded sweatshirt worn by a kid."

Ah, it's a hooded outfit.

"What about the color of the clothes?"

"I don't remember exactly."

"Is it a jacket or a pair of pants?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't pay much attention to it. I didn't recognize him at the time, and I hadn't heard of the case of the cross on the side of the road. All I know is that he's a little weird and scary. He was holding the cross, and a dead animal. ”

"An animal?"

He nodded, "Yes." A squirrel or marmot or something, with its throat cut off. He gestured with his fingers to his neck.

Katyusha abhors any atrocities against animals. Still, she asked with her voice steady, "Did he just kill him?"

"I don't see it, there's not a lot of blood."

"Okay, and then what happened?"

Then he looked back and forth at the road, didn't find anyone, and then opened his backpack.

"Oh, he's got a backpack?"

"That's right."

"What color?"

"Well, it's black, I can vouch for that. He pulled out a shovel, small, the kind used for camping trips. He dug a pit with a shovel and inserted the cross into the earth. Strangely, he walked around the cross three times, as if he was still singing something. ”