“We asked her that. Apparently, she wanted to get to know the neighborhood,” said Heather. “According to police reports, ever since they cooked up the idea, she’d been sitting on that bench in the park for months. Whenever she had free time, she’d go there and dream about her new life in her multi-million-dollar apartment overlooking the park. Occasionally, she’d bring her husband Greg with her, a sick joke only she knew about. Poor guy had no clue he was being used. He was with her on the day you saw them with your binoculars.”

“So, her husband was never in danger?” said Zoe.

“No. The text you saw that day was referring to the attack on you,” said Daryl. “From what Ms. Harmen disclosed in her plea deal, she was going to divorce her husband. He had nothing of value. She already had her green card and figured she might get a little financial settlement if she divorced him. Once you were out of the way and Conner became the sole owner of this apartment, she would dump husband number one and marry husband number two and his luxury coop.”

“Let me ask you something,” said Zoe later as she walked the detectives to the front door. “Did you believe me when I reported this whole thing or did you think I was crazy?”

“In the beginning there were a lot of holes in your story. I’ll admit I had my doubts,” said Daryl, “but there was an honesty about you that told me you were telling the truth.”

“I owe you an apology. I thought you were completely nuts,” said Heather. “Turns out I was wrong and I’m glad my partner had more faith in you than I did.”

“If you ever need anything, call me,” said Daryl just before he and Heather left. “And Zoe, stay away from crime scenes. You hear?”

Back in the living room, Zoe and Sean sat opposite each other by the window. “From now on, I have full veto power on any man you go out with,” said Sean. “Clearly, you’re a terrible judge of character.”

“I won’t be seeing anyone for a long time, maybe never. I’m swearing off men for a long while.”

“And we’re done playing detective. Those days are over, right?” said Sean staring at his friend. “This whole thing got way too dangerous.”