HALF AN HOUR later, Caitlin met Lakshmi on the sidewalk outside Angela Chapman’s empty apartment. She held back the assault of questions on the tip of her tongue, not because Lakshmi looked like she’d been crying for the last hour, but because she didn’t want the BPD’s cameras to capture a single word. “Why are you hanging out here tonight?”

Lakshmi zipped up a hoodie. “After you asked about Shepherd, I got mad and drove over. You want to come in?”

“Let’s walk.” Caitlin turned toward the opposite end of the complex, her still-wet hair sticking to her neck. “Mad about what, me bringing up Shepherd?”

“What? No, I was mad at myself.” She laced her fingertips and pushed back and forth with nervous energy. “I’m having a hard time remembering Angela. The real her. Does that make sense?”

“Sure.”

Caitlin stepped into the forest on the path that Chapman would have walked to the boys’ apartment. Headlights of cars on a road to their left flickered through the leaves.

Lakshmi started up again. “I came up here to talk to her, you know? I sat in her room and tried to hear her voice.”

“And?”

“Didn’t work. I mostly cried.” She pointed toward the road. “Look, there goes the Monster.”

Caitlin saw a lit red and orange sign strapped to the top of a pizza delivery car. The Monster-mobile’s light passed behind tree trunks, fading into the darkness.

Lakshmi turned back to Caitlin. “Not Chad, though. He’s got an old white SUV.”

Convinced no one else was around, Caitlin went to work. “Memories can be fuzzy, Lakshmi. Sometimes they change over time.” She squared off facing the girl. “What do you remember about Ruth Davis?”

The night hid much of Lakshmi’s face, but Caitlin caught the ripple of tension on her forehead.

“ ‘Jesus’ Ruth? As in my freshman-year roommate?”

Caitlin nodded. “ ‘My roommate went mental,’ you said. Almost three weeks ago, we were talking about how you and Angela met—”

“I remember. What are you asking me?”

Caitlin watched her eyes. “Did Ruth Davis file a complaint against you with the student housing administration?”

Lakshmi stepped back like she’d been shoved, her mouth open in disbelief. “Ruth Jesus-is-the-only-man-I’ll-get-on-my-knees-for Davis was the spawn of a Bible-thumping evangelist who thought girls went to hell if they danced, even in Zumba class. She was a lunatic with a ten-year-old’s understanding of human sexuality.”

Caitlin took a step forward. “A lunatic who swore her roommate harbored a lesbian crush on her, bordering on obsession. Did she file a complaint?”

Lakshmi gave a sharp, single laugh. “Yes, she alleged that I tried to seduce her with my lesbian wiles.”

“Did you?”