The sandwich was exactly the way I remembered it. I took several bites before I spoke. “This is heavenly.”

“So...”

I waited and watched him.

He gave a nod. “I think what you really wanted to know back there was whether I’m required to tell the sheriff or any of his deputies if I’m suspicious about something, or if I hear something that might be suspicious.”

“That covers it.”

“No, I’m not. But does that mean I won’t?”

“I need a promise that if I tell you, you’ll keep this to yourself.”

“If it puts somebody else in danger, I won’t keep it to myself.”

“It’s more likely that not keeping this to yourself might put someone in danger.”

“It’s interesting, isn’t it, that we’re picking up right where we left off. Quayle was about trust. This is about trust.”

I’d known he would get to that. “I’ll trust you if you tell me I should. And I should have trusted you then. I know it, you know it.”

“And I shouldn’t have come on like gangbusters.”

Tears rose in my eyes at that admission. “We have a second chance.” I paused and blinked hard. “At trusting, I mean.”

He smiled for a split second. “Yeah, I knew what you meant. So trust me and tell me what’s up.”

“Just so you know, this is Bismarck’s fault. I owe you an explanation because you loaned me your dog, and you don’t know the whole story.”

“You can stop making excuses. I’m listening.”

I’d had a few minutes to figure out how to tell Teo why I was suddenly taking care of my nieces. In the end, though, I just told him the story, beginning with the phone call in Delray and ending with the one yesterday.

He didn’t interrupt, but he made it clear he was carefully absorbing every word. When I finished, he nodded. “So everything you’re telling me is based on what Wendy’s said and what you’ve been able to find out on your own.”

“With the help of my coproducer, Sophie.”

“Okay. This is harder. Do you believe Wendy?”

As a tween I’d religiously watched Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. It was something my father and I had done together if he happened to be home. Fast-forward to today and Teo’s million-dollar question.

“She’s my sister.” It was my best answer, but I wasn’t going to win prize money, and I sure couldn’t phone Dad for a better one.

“Do you think the break-in here had anything to do with Wendy?”

“I didn’t think so at first. But I didn’t know everything I know now, either. I didn’t know Milton Kerns had Wendy’s cell phone number, at least the phone she had the night of the murder. And with that, it wouldn’t be a stretch to obtain her address.”

“So what would he want that’s in the town house?”

“Teo, I’m completely clueless. But if he is after something, it’s pretty clear he has some connection to my sister that she hasn’t told me about.”