Josh looked up at Sam. “She’s at my grandmother’s in Chantilly. My grandmother is sick. It sounds like she has the same thing your family had.”

“Did she say how long she’s been there?” Sam asked.

“You can’t honestly think she had anything to do with my father’s murder.”

“I didn’t say anything about her having something to do with it. I asked if she said how long she’s been there.”

“No, she didn’t, but I got the sense she’s been there awhile. My grandmother is pretty sick.”

“Do you know your grandmother’s address off the top of your head?”

He eyed her for a long moment before he rattled off the address.

Sam wrote it down in her notebook.

“Mr. Hamilton, I’m Chief Farnsworth with the MPD. I’ve made arrangements for you to be escorted home now that the perceived threat to your safety has been neutralized.”

Josh glanced at Sam and then at the chief. “Perceived? There was nothing perceived about it, and when word gets out that he’s dead, his henchmen will be looking for me.”

“I think it’s possible you’ve been watching too much television,” Farnsworth said. “You were afraid of your father. Lieutenant Holland went to extraordinary lengths to keep you safe, and now your father is no longer a threat. We believe it’s safe for you to return to your own home at this time, providing you remain local and available during our investigation.”

“I disagree.” He stood and turned to face the chief. “Lieutenant Holland told me the DNA results are back. I’d like to know those results before I go home.”

“And we’d like to know exactly where you were after you left the hotel this afternoon,” Malone said.

“I told Lieutenant Holland. I walked around. I ended up in Rock Creek Park and took a fall, which is why my coat was dirty and torn when I got here.”

“Rock Creek Park isn’t exactly around the corner from Arlington,” Avery said.

“I walked for a long time. I was scared he was going to find me, so I went to the park. I thought I could hide there until I figured out what to do next. I’d left my wallet in the hotel, so my options were limited.”

“Did you see anyone? Talk to anyone?”

Josh shook his head. “I didn’t talk to anyone. I just walked.”

“Take a seat and let us make a plan,” Sam said.

Seeming resigned, he returned to his seat on the sofa, the controller in hand, but the game remained frozen on pause, like his life since Friday.

She turned to her commanders. “What do you want to do?”

* * *