“No. We were fine.”

Max said, “Were there ever times when Sandy might slip out of the room to take a call or come home from work later than you might expect?”

“You could set a watch by her schedule. Every day the same thing—and that’s the way she liked it.”

“Unexplained credit card purchases?”

“She kept track of the money, but we talked about everything. We were hoping to buy a house in a year or two. But it’s not like I was holding her back. If she wanted to buy something, well, it was okay with me. Like the new couch. That was her idea.”

Lyle sat up with attention. “New couch?”

“She’d been wanting a new couch for some time, and I kept telling her to get one. We had the money. Finally, she took me down to Rivertown and we bought one of those wraparound… what do you call ’em… sectionals. I called it an early Christmas present—you know, to ease her worries.”

Both Lyle and Max looked toward the living room, at a worn brown couch.

“It ain’t got here yet,” David said. “They’re shipping it up from a warehouse in the Cities.”

“When did you buy it?” Lyle asked.

“That would have been… the Saturday before she went missing.”

Max and Lyle shared a look.

“Is that important?”

It was Max who spoke next. “We’re just gathering information right now.” Max leaned in to the table, resting on his elbows, and made eye contact with David, hoping that his next question didn’t come across as an insult. “You’re aware that Sheriff Bolger believes that Sandy ran off with another man. I don’t mean for this to sound… disrespectful, David, but is it possible Sandy was seeing someone else?”

“No!” David’s answer came fast and hard. “I know that’s what Bolger thinks, but no. There’s no way. I mean, Sandy and I weren’t… you know, grabbing at each other all day. We’d both been through bad relationships before. But we love each other. We’re like… You ever cross a lake in a well-balanced canoe—both people paddling in sync? That’s what Sandy and me are like.”

Lyle said, “What if I told you that we had a picture of her Honda Passport in Minneapolis and there was a man at the wheel?”

“Then he stole it. You have a picture?”

“Surveillance video,” Max said.

“No.” David stood up and began pacing around the room. “I don’t believe you. There was no other man. This is bullshit.”

“David…” Max patted the chair next to him and David sat down. “I don’t mean to put this indelicately, but of all the possibilities, having her alive and well with another man is one of the better ones.”

“What possibilities?” David asked.

Max paused and looked around. The house was pleasant and well kept, and David Haas struck Max as being a caring man who genuinely loved Sandy. If there was no other man in Sandy’s life, then what would she be running from? A terrible feeling washed over Max as he paid heed to what his instincts were telling him. He wanted to believe that he would bring Sandy home alive, but in his heart, he didn’t.