He cleared his throat. “Go ahead and pursue your . . . other avenues. But before you do, I’d like the two of you to restore the victim’s personal effects to the bereaved parents.” He reached into a drawer and plunked the evidence bag containing Thad Vanderhei’s wallet onto his desk. “Reassure them. Let them know we’re on the job, working every angle, tracking down every possibility. See what you can find out about their son’s activities.” He paused. “And while you’re at it, ask if they’re missing a bottle of Macallan.”

Double crap! Not an assignment I looked forward to.

I caught Cody’s eye and made myself nod. “Will do.”

Since there was no point in putting it off, ten minutes later we were in a squad car heading north toward Appeldoorn. “Chief’s right,” Cody said to me. “You do look nice.”

I’d taken the time to stop by my apartment and exchange my Keds for a cute pair of strappy sandals before I went in to the station. “Thanks.”

He didn’t mention calling Jen, and I didn’t bring it up. Instead, I told him about my late-night visitor.

Cody listened in silence, his expression turning grim.

“Do you think it might be related?” I asked him.

“Hard to say.” He glanced at me. “Do you?”

I shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“There’s no telling what kind of hornet’s nest we might have stirred up.” Cody turned down the old country road toward south Appeldoorn. “Maybe you should think about staying somewhere else for a few days. Maybe stay with your mom or your friend Jen.”

I grimaced. “Yeah, I don’t think that second one’s exactly an option right now. And if I’ve picked up a stalker, I sure as hell don’t want him following me to my mom’s place. It’s okay; I can take care of myself.”

He cocked a dubious brow at me. “If you say so, Pixy Stix.”

There was no mistaking the fact that the Vanderhei family was wealthy. Their house, situated on Big Pine Bay, could only be described as a mansion. The grounds were beautifully landscaped and maintained. A three-car garage faced the street, and the driveway was made of some kind of fancy paving stones instead of poured concrete. Although it wasn’t in Pemkowet township, it actually lay less than half a mile beyond the outermost limits of Hel’s sphere of influence, an invisible boundary nonetheless marked by a tangible sense of loss and listlessness as Cody drove past it.

I wondered how the Vanderheis felt about the proximity.

The doorbell was answered by a teenage boy with dark shadows smudged beneath his eyes and a marked resemblance to Thad Vanderhei, maybe sixteen or seventeen, slender, good-looking in a forgettable way.