He started his engine, letting Ashley Banks’s message play to the end. “It’s what we call a ‘starter’ necklace, meaning it retailed at a hundred and ten for the basic stainless-steel version you showed me. But here’s the thing, Detective. We have a resident institutionalist—our archivist. He’s been here nearly forty years and knows our merchandise like the back of his hand. I showed him the old catalogue picture, and I thought he was going to have a stroke. It turns out you’re not the first detective to have asked about this necklace. It has to do with a murder fifteen years ago in Wichita, Kansas.” Carter felt a humming in his ears. “Have you ever heard of Melanie Locke?” This was it. The boom. Finally. “The only thing missing from the house after her husband’s murder was this same piece of jewelry. Anyway, I have no idea if it’s connected, and we sold thousands of these over the years, but call me for the details if you’re interested.”

Carter was definitely interested.

27
Tuesday, June 22, 3:58 p.m.

Lindsay spotted the black Ford Bronco at the far end of the parking lot, as Alex Lopez’s girlfriend had promised. You’re out there looking for your missing friend, she’d said, but the love of my life is dead, and the police won’t even tell me anything, but I know it’s got something to do with that woman.

When Lindsay asked why she would say such a thing, the woman had lashed out. Are you deaf? Because she was stalking him, and now he’s dead! One plus one equals two.

The woman had refused to give her name or any other details. Not unless you tell me who she is. In person. I want to see you and know who you are, too.

Lindsay had a decision to make. Get Hope’s version first, or go talk to the drunk woman. The clear preference was the former, but she needed to get to Atlantic Beach before the woman heard the police alert or sobered up enough to realize that sharing information with a likely suspect’s best friend was a bad move. If this woman was going to claim that Hope had been stalking Alex before his murder—instead of the other way around—Lindsay needed to know that before she arranged for Hope to turn herself in.

Keeping her facial expression neutral, she had told Hope that the call was from a woman who might know why Lopez was interested in Hope. It wasn’t a dishonest answer. Now she had to pray that Hope would keep her promise to stay put at the cottage until Lindsay returned.