Matt’s emotions were raging. He tried to read the story, but he couldn’t focus on the words. The world was tilting.

“I’m sorry,” the agent said again.

“Why would they say this?”

“I don’t know. Someone leaked that the crime scene may have been staged, the work of a professional, and that your father had an unusually large insurance policy. That’s probably all it took.”

Matt swallowed again, his mouth a desert.

“It’s not right,” Matt said, his voice laced with emotion.

“I know, Matthew,” Keller said.

“Is it true, that the scene was staged?”

Keller hesitated. “We’re still investigating,” she said. “But maybe.”

“The funeral is tomorrow. And everybody’s gonna think—” Matt repressed a sob. He needed to get it together.

“Here, have some water.” Keller slid Matt her glass and he downed it.

“There’s more, Matt. When the Mexican authorities returned your family, they included their effects. All of the phones and laptops had been wiped clean. And it wasn’t some mistake by the local cops taking the devices into inventory. They’d been scrubbed in a way that there was zero chance of retrieving any data; not even the most skilled computer forensics agents at the Bureau could recover anything. Whoever wiped them down knew what they were doing.”

“But who—why?” Matt’s voice was still quavering.

“I don’t know.”

“Do you think it’s related to Danny’s case?”

“I honestly don’t know.”

Matt wanted to scream, Then what the fuck do you know? But it wasn’t the agent’s fault.

As if reading his thoughts, Keller said, “Here’s what I do know: After your sister posted the video of the party on social media, she and your dad planned the Mexico trip to chase a lead.”

“What are you talking about?”

“A friend of Maggie’s from school is a computer whiz. Right before your family left for Mexico, she asked him to track down the location of a phone that called your dad’s phone. The kid traced it to Tulum, Mexico. And your father also made several Google searches about Tulum.”

“That’s why they went to Mexico? Tracking down some clue about my brother’s case?” It explained the spur-of-the-moment trip. And it smacked of Dad and Maggie.

“Also, Maggie asked her friend if it was possible to make a video call but digitally make it look like someone else was calling. The kid made her a video putting someone else’s face on your sister’s. I watched it and it looked real.”

“And let me guess,” Matt said. “It was Charlotte’s face.”

“How’d you know?” Keller asked.

“Apparently there are rumors that she’s still alive. That it wasn’t Charlotte’s body at the creek.”

Keller frowned.