It took Alyssa several seconds to gather her thoughts and then prioritize and compartmentalize them before she could share with the others what she was thinking. ‘Yesterday, when Sandra and I were speaking with Ms. Monroe, there was a large gash on her hand between her thumb and forefinger.’ She pointed to the spot on her hand. ‘She explained it away by telling us she sliced it open making dinner. And while I believe there’d be more damage if she was responsible for the carnage in the Kensington home, maybe we should head over there with some follow-up questions.’

‘Why not call?’ Sandra wanted to know.

It was Joe who answered. ‘That’s a good question. Short answer is that it’s easier to tell if someone is lying or possibly stretching the truth if they’re standing right in front of you.’

Alyssa didn’t miss the way Sandra’s face flushed before she lowered it, mumbling, ‘Of course. It’s obvious. I should’ve thought of that.’

Hal patted her hand. ‘It’s only obvious because you know now. Nothing wrong with asking questions. It’s how we all learned.’

Cord pushed back from the table, and catching Alyssa’s eyes, cocked his head to the side. She nodded once, and he turned to Sandra. ‘Why don’t you come with?’

He didn’t have to ask twice. Sandra was on her feet and across the room almost before Cord was to the door.

Before they left, Alyssa asked Hal to contact Grace. ‘After we meet with Ms. Monroe, we’re going to see if we can meet up with Rosalyn Benson. In the meantime, could you see if Gabriel or Lydia had anything to celebrate or if they had a favorite steakhouse they enjoyed. If she can think of one’ – she pointed to Joe – ‘head over and see if they’ll let you go over their security footage from Thursday evening.’

She turned back to Hal. ‘Also, see if we can get credit card statements. Or see if you find something in that box of evidence pulled from the house that shows a restaurant receipt. And if none of those options turn up anything, then I guess we’ll start checking out all the steakhouses within a fifteen-mile radius of their home and branch out from there if we need to. If anyone gets a hit, call me.’ And then she disappeared through the door with Cord and Sandra trailing behind her.

Chapter Seventeen

Saturday, October 5

It was immediately clear to Alyssa when they finally pulled up – Balloon Fiesta traffic was still horrific at this hour of the morning – that Elizabeth wasn’t home. Still, the three of them got out and rang the doorbell, but after waiting five minutes, they returned to the vehicle. Undeterred, she tapped her built-in Bluetooth, scrolled through her call log, and dialed Elizabeth’s number, listening to it ring five times before going to voicemail.