“And what would you do if you thought she might be in danger? Or if, God forbid, she was dead and someone else might’ve been responsible.”

“I would do anything for her.”

“Then do not judge me.”

“I’m not judging you, sir. We both want the same thing here. I’m just trying to find out the truth of what happened, and the timing of bringing the public in on this isn’t right yet.”

“That’s your opinion. My opinion is that if your team was doing its job we would know the identity of this person by now.”

Something was definitely off here. The senator wasn’t acting anything like he had the other night when he’d been so patient and helpful. It might have just been that the stress of what’d happened was getting to him, but I wondered if someone might have contacted him, maybe pressured or threatened him in some way.

“Listen,” I said, “we’ll—”

“I need to go,” he told me bluntly. “I have a press conference to give.”

End call.

“Well?” DeYoung asked me.

“He’s not going to be dissuaded.”

“This doesn’t seem like the man I know,” DeYoung said.

“Or the man I met.”

Collins called and assured me that Tessa was at Renaldo’s and was fine. “The manager said she’s just sitting there writing in a journal and having a piece of pie.”

DeYoung was staring at the television where the senator appeared on the screen and walked up to the lectern.

Alright.

Here we go.

23

“Thank you all for being here today,” Senator Murray began. “And I’d like to also extend a special thanks to the many people I’ve heard from all over this great state and beyond who’ve shared their condolences with me for the loss of my son.”

He paused for a moment and scanned the crowd. Although he had notes in front of him, it looked like he wasn’t reading from a prepared statement but was speaking off the cuff.

“There is some important information that I need to share with you. The night Jon died, another person was present at the house. We don’t know who it was, but we are seeking information about that person’s identity. I’m personally offering a reward of twenty thousand dollars for information that leads to the positive identification of that individual. I need to emphasize that he is not a suspect, nor is he being accused of anything. He is simply someone who, as the last person to see my son alive, law enforcement would like to speak with. I’m asking you, the public, for help because I trust you and we all deserve answers about what really happened when my son died.”