When I returned from the bathroom, I found Felice waiting for me wearing an expensive Canada Goose parka, pack boots, and a skeptical expression. I was taken aback by the fancy coat. It didn’t match the surroundings.

“Find everything you were looking for?” she asked.

She assumed I had pried.

“Thank you, yes. But while we’re here, I understand your dad was the one who found Eben Chamberlain’s life vest.”

“Who told you that? The Dillons?”

“You wouldn’t happen to know if he still has it?”

“He never had it. That’s just a lie the Dillons fed you. Which one of them told you? It was Tina, right?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

She laughed without any humor showing in her metallic eyes. “I figured as much. Never mind. I don’t want to continue this conversation here. Can you wait outside while I talk to Levi?”

“Absolutely.”

Felice closed the inner door behind me, but it was thin enough that I could hear everything she told her son:

“Don’t open the door for anyone while I’m out. I don’t care who it is. Do you hear me? I’m just going to walk around the loop with this man. I won’t be long. Text me if someone comes to the door, and I’ll run back here. Are you listening to me, Levi? Did you hear what I said about texting me?”

The welcome mat, I noticed, was upside down. I wasn’t sure what to make of that. Maybe they’d worn out the top side.

Felice emerged from the house and locked the door behind her. She must not have trusted her son to bolt it.

Our breath showed in the cold air beneath the outdoor light.

“How old is he?” I asked.

“Levi is nine. Noah, the sick one, is three.” She found a knit cap in her pocket and pulled it over her shaved skull. “Do you have kids?”

“Not yet.”

“Don’t is my advice.”

If we were normal people, and this was a casual, friendly conversation, I might have asked how she’d come to hold that opinion. But the sky was growing darker every second and I needed to get down to business.

“I realize I don’t know your last name,” I said. “What should I call you?”

“Felice is fine. I’m married technically. But I haven’t used my husband’s name in a long time. Sometimes I go by Bazinet. I heard you were up here. On the hill I mean. Levi told me how Treasure held you up for five dollars.”

“That little girl is the first Treasure I’ve met.”

“It’s like Tina wants her to grow up to be a stripper. Well, she’s got the hustle down already, I’ll give her that. Fortunately, she takes after Tori and Tiffany in the looks department.”