“Be right out,” Melanie said brightly. Tidying up her already perfect mascara with one fingertip, she said quietly to Lindsay, “This wasn’t the time or place, but it’s clear to me that you have more information than the police do about my husband’s murder and yet have drawn some very misplaced conclusions about me. I’ll be in touch.”

“I really don’t think she knew.” Lindsay could barely keep up with Ellie Hatcher’s march across the campus parking lot.

“I told you, you should have recorded it,” the detective said, shaking her head.

“Which I already told you is illegal in the state of Pennsylvania, which means we could never use it as evidence.”

Ellie flashed a thumbs-down sign. The irony of a defense attorney respecting the law more than a cop was not lost on Lindsay.

“She seemed completely shocked when I said Alex admitted to the shooting. I think Decker convinced her that Hope killed both her husband and Alex.”

“Trust me. I’ve seen Oscar-worthy renditions of ‘Who? Li’l ol’ me?’” Ellie flashed wide eyes and clutched at imaginary pearls as Lindsay pulled onto I-95. “My dad used to tell me, ‘Find the motive, and the motive will lead you to the man.’”

“So how does that play out here?”

“Well, Carter Decker apparently thinks all roads lead to Hope, because he doesn’t know that Alex was about to confess.”

“But if you know that,” Lindsay said, thinking aloud, “who has an incentive to keep that from happening?”

“Hope, to be honest. If Alex had come forward, she could have been dragged into it. Felony murder for everyone.”

“Except Hope couldn’t remember any of it. And if Hope has a motive, so does Jess.”

“But Jess didn’t even know Alex Lopez’s name, let alone what he was planning to do.”

Switching into the left lane to pass a U-Haul, Lindsay said, “So that leaves Melanie Locke.”

“Exactly.”

“Unless someone else had a reason to want Richard Mullaney’s crimes to remain hidden.”

Lindsay’s subconscious was on the verge of forming the next sentence when her phone rang. Seeing the 316 area code on her screen, she recalled what Emilia Lopez had told her. He went back to that cop he knew when we were kids. The cop told Alex that it wouldn’t matter that the shooting was an accident, or even if we could prove what Hitch had done to me. It was felony murder, no matter what. So that’s why Alex left town.

Lindsay fumbled her phone with one hand, eager to accept the call before it dropped to voice mail. “This is Lindsay.”

“Hey, is this a good time to talk?”

It wasn’t, but Lindsay wanted confirmation. “Sure. What’s up?”

Ellie glared at her, clearly frustrated with the interruption. Lindsay mouthed that the call was from Alex’s sister.