Sophie made noises of sympathy, and I plowed on. “Two, she didn’t defend Wendy.” Mentally I backpedaled through the conversation. “I don’t think she did, not even once.”

“What does that tell you?”

“At the least? That Wendy hasn’t always been truthful with her. At the most? Mom isn’t discounting the possibility that Wendy really was involved in the murder.”

“That sounds grueling.”

From inside the school the final bell rang. The girls would be out in the next few minutes. Two teachers I didn’t know opened the double doors before they took their places on the steps.

“I’m sure you didn’t call to hear my progress report,” I said. “What’s up?”

“I hope you’re sitting down. Alabama bore fruit and I traced Kearns to a bar with the same hotel chain in Albuquerque. He was working there for six months or so before the murder, but he quit just before it happened. That means it’s possible he was still in New Mexico when your sister was.”

“So now we know where he used to be.”

“The trick was locating him anytime, anywhere, in the past year. The rest fell into place. He quit his job in Albuquerque because he got an offer to become the head bartender at an ecotourism resort near the Tortuguero National Park.”

“Tortuguero?” It didn’t sound familiar.

“In Costa Rica, on the east coast not far from Nicaragua. It’s literally in the middle of nowhere. Not a road to speak of that will take you all the way. You can fly in, but January’s a popular month and flights might be hard to get. The best way is by flying into San Jose, then booking a seat on a bus, followed by one of the resort boats.”

“I guess if he wanted to be inconspicuous, that might be the place.”

“Someone in his family owns the resort where he’s working, a brother-in-law or an uncle. I can’t tell. Anyway, Kearns is there now, and he’s going by Ex, not Milton. Get this. The resort has a Facebook page, and they update it every day, interviews, videos, photos. I’m going to steal their social media person for Out in the Cold. Last night they posted a photo of him with three other employees, mixing drinks on camera. It’s definitely him. I compared it to his mug shot.”

“Why would he allow anybody to put his photo on the internet?”

“He didn’t know? He figures he’s so far away, nobody who matters will see it? He doesn’t know Wendy’s looking for him? He’s assuming the cops won’t fuss with extradition unless they have proof he murdered Dr. Calvo? And maybe he feels safe because he didn’t do it.”

Sophie’s lists of possibilities were even longer than mine, and today every one came with more questions. “He couldn’t be somewhere easy to get to. Like Key West.”

“Nope. And if you’re going to Costa Rica, Ryan, I’d go soon. Anything could happen, and he could split. How’s your Spanish?”