The Body in the Woods: A Point Last Seen Mystery

This chapter is narrated from the as yet unidentified killer’s point of view. He sees himself as omnipotent: “He was invincible. He was God” (43). The man sits in a parked car watching the police. He looks at his still hands under the streetlight. He feels powerful. This isn’t the first time he’s killed.

After killing the girl and letting her fall in the grass, he leaned down and cut off a little remembrance. He thinks about the teenagers who asked him about a missing man. One appealed to him most: a redhead with pale skin. He obsesses over the natural hue of her hair. He has to have her for his collection.

Ruby stiffens when a volunteer named Mandy tries hugging her. Ruby doesn’t like being touched by strangers. Finally, Detective Harriman shakes her hand, and she climbs into his police vehicle, examining the controls inside. Ruby asks him about interview rooms and one-way glass. She wants to know what a real investigation is like, but the detective steers the conversation back to what she saw that day. She gives him every detail, including the heights, weights, hair colors, and eye colors of everyone she encountered.