Lakshmi laughed. “Indiana Organic Bro-duce? That’s bloody awful.” She read a paragraph out loud. “ ‘Located on a twenty-acre farm in Monroe County, Indiana Organic Bro-duce was founded by fraternity brothers from Indiana University, with the goal of bringing farm-fresh organic produce to students across the Big Ten.’ ”

Breakfast arrived. Caitlin pushed the keyboard back, making room. Lakshmi went for her egg-white omelet. Caitlin looked down at her own sensible fruit and yogurt combo, then back at her computer screen. The phone number in the footer section of the website kept her from impulse-ordering a side of bacon.

She pulled out the cheapest cell phone she’d found at the Bloomington Mall. “Next step.”

“Did you get a new mobile, Caitlin?”

“Local number, caller ID disabled, perfect for cold-calling possible sources.” She grabbed a pen, jotted the number on her napkin, and slid Lakshmi the digits. “Plus, if I’m in the field and my battery dies, I can use this burner as a backup.”

“Smart,” Lakshmi said, typing the number into her own phone’s address book.

Caitlin bit through an unripe piece of cantaloupe and dialed the farm’s business line.

Two rings in, a male voice answered, “Bro-duce.”

“I’m a biology teacher at Bloomington South,” Caitlin said. “I see you’re an organic farm and was wondering if I could speak to someone about a tour of your facility.”

“Hold on.”

Caitlin heard the voice’s owner set the phone on a counter. “Hey, Lord of the Rings, Dave here today?”

Someone in the same room replied, “Don’t know.”

“Fuck it,” the voice said, then hung up.

“Oh, good God,” Lakshmi said. “This is what happens when frat boys get jobs.”

“Not exactly a well-oiled machine, but at least one thread to pull. Did you catch it?”

“The Lord of the Rings.” Lakshmi brightened. “Do they mean Frodo?”

“Exactly. Nate Fodor. What’s he like?”

“He was a pledge when I knew him, so I didn’t get much of his personality.”

“And Amireau was his big brother, as in the mentor-slash-torturer fraternity meaning?”

Lakshmi looked surprised. “How did you know?”

“Just a hunch. Let’s move on to their financials. We can’t see their accounts, like the police, but we can look at their filed corporate structures.”

“Corporate structures? This just got really boring. Let’s go over there and look around.”

“Settle down, Miss Restraining Order.” Caitlin logged into a subscription-based legal and financial database. “Cops get to knock on doors. Journalists have to do homework. It’s time-consuming, far from glamorous, and most of the time it’s boring as hell, but when you find something no one else has seen, it’s better than sex.”

In three searches, Caitlin had a list of the shareholders in Indiana Organic Bro-duce.

Delta Omega Tau Alumna Philanthropic Association

Organic Foods International

IOBD LLC

“No mention of Dave or Kieran,” Lakshmi said. “They’re hiding their involvement.”

“Not from us.”