Much of what Sam had found at the kill site was troubling. But as Sam considered the possibilities, was it realistic to think someone had somehow used a cougar to have Jack killed? In The Hound of the Baskervilles , a fierce dog was kept in a cage and trained to kill. But this wasn't Sherlock Holmes, and it wasn't Baskerville Manor. The idea that someone had trained a mountain lion to chase and kill was ludicrous. Sam Rivers was in Savage, Minnesota, and there were no curses or legends here. There was a prominent citizen who had been viciously killed in a frightening and bizarre manner. And there was plenty about it that didn't make sense. Then there was the sheriff's office and the BCA.

The sheriff was just waiting for the lion's corpse to close the case. And the BCA had the final proof everyone needed, DNA analysis of the fur. A more sensible investigator, Sam reasoned, would stop fighting city hall and accept the evidence, even though there were still lots of questions. Sam's anomalies might be unanswered, but they led to nowhere, and nowhere was a lonely place. Sam had done plenty of work with Tracy McDonald, head of USFW Forensics in Oregon. Tracy not only did forensic work for the service, but he also cataloged DNA samples of several North American species, one of them cougar. Last year, Sam had provided his office with a sample from the cougar they'd killed out at Swenson's place. Tracy wanted every sample they could get, preferably from different parts of the country, so they could build out a complete DNA picture of mountain lions.

Now Tracy McDonald owed him a favor. The forensics lab was on speed dial, and it only took a few minutes to connect with Tracy. When Sam explained what happened and what they'd done, Tracy said, "Get me a copy of that DNA sample, would ya? We need as many as we can get. Right now, our database has less than a hundred samples." Sam told him he'd see what he could do. "But tell me something, is it pretty definitive? I mean, could mountain lion DNA be confused with anything else?" "Like what?" "I have no idea." There was a long pause. "If they came up with mountain lion DNA, they probably got it from one of the university labs.

And they're all pretty good. If they say it's lion, it's gotta be lion." "Not a housecat or something?" Tracy laughed. "The cats are all pretty distinct. It would be next to impossible to make an incorrect classification. Even from a housecat." "Okay, thanks," Sam said, and he hung up. Why couldn't he just let it go.

It didn't sound like he was going to hear from Susan Connelly and Angie Sweet anytime soon, but he wasn't sure he needed to. Marlin had photos of one of the women being accosted by Jack McGregor. And Emma Winetraub had seen another driven by Jack McGregor into his garage. Sam wasn't sure what he might find out, but if he discovered one of them was having an affair with Jack McGregor, it would only reinforce what he already knew. Jack was a player.