The air conditioner was cranking inside the dimly lit restaurant. Lindsay felt a sour taste in her throat when she spotted Steve Thompson, halfway through a stein of beer. Alone at a booth table in the back corner, he was older and thinner than in the photos she’d been studying for the last two days.

She watched as Ellie Hatcher accepted a hug from the man they believed had enabled a sexual predator for years and then killed Alex Lopez to prevent others from discovering his complicity. She marveled at the detective’s ability to appear completely and utterly thrilled to see her father’s former partner.

By comparison, it should have been easy for Lindsay to simply introduce herself, but she was certain that her facial expression would reveal her suspicions. “Thank you so much, Detective Thompson,” she said, trying her best to sound dispassionate. “I know it’s unusual for a defense lawyer to try to involve a detective, but I at least had to give my best pitch. I know who killed Richard Mullaney, but I need to trust that the police here won’t try to pull my client into it.”

“Well, first of all, I’m off the job for nearly a decade, so call me Steve. And I hope Ellie didn’t get your hopes up. I’ll hear you out and see what I can do, but I can’t make any promises. To be honest, I wasn’t going to turn down the chance to see my favorite NYPD detective—especially when it’s on some defense lawyer’s dime. No offense.”

“None taken.”

Thompson flagged down a passing waiter and asked him to bring two more of what he was having as he looked to Ellie, who flashed a thumbs-up. “How about for you, Counselor?”

“Just a Diet Coke to start,” Lindsay said. “Flying makes me woozy.”

Lindsay slid into the booth first. She didn’t like the idea of being trapped in place across the table from Thompson, but she knew that Ellie should be the one to jump up if it became necessary. She had brought a gun from New York in her checked luggage. Lindsay placed her purse on a ledge abutting the table, then began by saying that she represented a woman named Hope Miller. Though police had not yet charged Hope, she explained, they clearly suspected her of involvement in the murders of both Alex Lopez and Richard Mullaney. They also claimed to have determined that Tara King was her true name.

Across the table, Thompson was already shaking his head, arms crossed in front of him. She even detected a chuckle. “Ellie told me the amnesia part. That’s one hell of a long con. People actually fell for that?”