X's first thought was that they were lucky Valdis hadn't killed many more people. But he believed, down to his core, that any one person's death mattered just as much as several deaths, and the thought warred with his instinct until he had to rub his temples to coax a headache away.

"Do you know who he was?" he asked. "A name, an address, any clue to his identity? Would Devin know?"

That, X believed, would need to be step one. He could imagine all too well what Valdis was feeling, and he understood why she was hiding -- but hiding wouldn't assuage her guilt.