I could hear a car starting in front of the main house, and I jogged along the side of the building in time to see a navy blue Jaguar pull out from the long driveway onto the road, Derek at the wheel.

Without hesitating, I pulled my keys from my pocket and climbed into my own car. I started it up and also headed down the long driveway, pulling out onto the road in the same direction he had gone.

I caught up with him a few blocks away, and I held back, letting one and then two cars slip between us. I didn’t know what I hoped to accomplish by following him, but I felt it wouldn’t be prudent to let him drive off like that, unobserved. I thought of one of Eli’s favorite sayings, that sometimes it is in anger that we reveal our truest selves. I wondered if that would be true of Derek Smythe, if there was anything I could learn by following him now.

After only a few turns, the Jaguar slowed down, its right blinker flashing. I was surprised to see a brown wooden sign indicating a state park. I watched as the car turned into the parking lot, and then I drove on past, waiting until I was out of sight around a bend before I pulled into a driveway and turned around.

I got back to the park in time to see Derek climbing from the driver’s side of the Jaguar and slamming the door. Without even a glance around, he headed off toward the park. I pulled into the parking lot and slid my Saturn into a space at the other end of the row. Once he was around the first bend and out of sight, I quietly climbed from the car and took a look around.

I realized that this wasn’t a park in the usual sense—there was no playground or baseball diamond. Instead, it featured a walking and biking trail that wound alongside a broad, shimmering river—probably some branch of the Schuylkill. Through the dense autumn foliage I could see the man I was following; he was walking briskly up the path, arms swinging at his sides. Though it was probably still a good half hour before dark, the sun had already reached the horizon, and it seemed especially dark among the foliage. Nevertheless, I took off after Derek, staying as far back as I could without losing sight of him altogether. He walked for a while, and I had just begun to wonder if he was simply doing his evening exercises when he finally stopped walking and stepped off of the path, moving toward the water.

I quickly glanced behind me and then ducked into the trees myself. As quietly as possible, and without looking too suspicious in case someone happened upon me, I advanced. There was a broad tree about ten feet behind Derek, and I thought if I could reach the base of that tree, I could scramble up out of eyesight and shimmy my way down a big branch far enough to be able to see what he was doing by the water.