“Exactly. Or picked him up at school, or at the Youngs’. He didn’t leave until six o’clock. I want to confirm everything they told the detectives three years ago, and ask the kids if there was anything Ricky said that made them concerned. Something out of character.”

“They would have told the original investigators.”

“If they asked the right questions. At the time, the kids were nine, going on ten. Fourth grade. Maybe the detectives didn’t even talk to the kids.”

“They might not remember three years later.”

“Maybe, maybe not. But when your best friend disappears, you tend to remember everything that happened the last day you saw them.”

That she knew from experience.

Lucy and Nate drove directly to the Youngs’ house from Bandera. It was exactly 1.3 miles from the Albright house using surface streets, but the neighborhoods were filled with ranch homes on large, unfenced properties. It would be easy to cut through open space or use dirt trails that zigzagged through the area. The trek would be closer to half a mile as the crow flies.

They knocked on the door and a very pregnant woman answered. “Hello?”

“Jill Young?”

“Yes?”

Lucy and Nate identified themselves and showed their badges. “Do you have a minute?”

“Of course. What’s this about?”

“The Albright family.”

Her face fell and she opened the door for them to enter.

She waddled over to a chair and sat down. “Sorry, my feet are swollen and I can’t wait to pop. This little gal was a surprise and trust me—it’s a lot harder to be pregnant at forty than it was when I was in my twenties.”

“When are you due?” Lucy asked.

“Christmas Day, but my doctor is thinking about inducing two weeks early. We’ll make the decision at my next appointment provided the baby is on track.”

Lucy didn’t want to distress a pregnant woman, but she couldn’t lie about the situation, either.

“Family has been notified, and it’ll be released to the media tonight, so I regret to inform you that the Albright family has been found dead. They died within weeks of their disappearance.”

“Dear Lord, I’m so sorry,” she said. “That’s awful—I just knew something bad had happened to them. People don’t just disappear like that.”

“You spoke to the police shortly after they went missing and said that Ricky had left your house at six that Friday evening. It’s very possible that you and your children were the last to see him alive. However—and this hasn’t been released, other than to the family—his is the only body we haven’t found.”

Jill put her hand to her mouth and closed her eyes. “How am I going to tell the kids?”

Lucy didn’t envy her.