“But we both know what that’s worth. Some of those twisted guys go years before a whiff of anything sinister comes to light.”

I nod and recall various training sessions over the years and the serial killers we’d learned about who managed to blend into society for years before their dark sides were discovered. And I’ve seen enough of human nature to know firsthand that people aren’t always what they seem. Evil lurks, as the saying goes, sometimes in the most unexpected places.

“Yeah. I know. Chase and I are going to bring the wife back in and see if we can get anything more out of her.”

CHAPTER 24 - Rita

CHAPTER 24

Rita

MONDAY MORNING, CHASE AND I SIT AT THE LITTLE TABLE ACROSS from Mrs. Bradley and her new dog. Emotional support animal, she says. Doesn’t matter to me. I like dogs, and this one seems content enough to sit quietly while we talk. Chase jumps up and turns up the heat, offers Mrs. Bradley tea, but she says she’s okay.

“I’ve never seen that necklace before, Detective,” she says. She looks frazzled, dark red hair tied back in a lumpy ponytail, purple circles under her eyes. “Is this why you wanted to talk to me?”

“Yes. Take another look, in case the photo was hard to see,” I say. Chase removes the necklace from its bag with a gloved hand. He turns it so she can see both sides.

She shakes her head. “I have no idea where it came from. You found it in my husband’s filing cabinet?”

“Yes.” We’re almost positive the necklace belonged to Annalise Robb but want to see if Mrs. Bradley knows anything about it.

Mrs. Bradley glances from me to Chase and back again. “Maybe it belonged to a patient. I don’t know. Maybe he found it in his work office and brought it home for safekeeping until he figured out who it belonged to.”

“The initials are on the back. Shouldn’t have been too hard to figure out if it was a patient.”

Her hand finds the dog’s back, where she runs her fingers through its fur. “I don’t know what to say. What has this got to do with who murdered my husband?”

“Whoever killed Mr. Bradley also broke into the filing cabinet and went through his desk. They must’ve been looking for something.”

“I have no idea what that could be, Detective.”

“Well, there was some reason he came back. Maybe he didn’t get what he was looking for the first time. The necklace was stuck in the back of the drawer, hard to find. But when he returned, of course, the cabinet had been removed. Let’s talk about something else,” I say, and she reluctantly meets my gaze.

“Okay.”

“The mountain house in Mountclair.”

“What about it?”

“You said your husband was there the week before he was killed.”