“What?”

“A baby.”

Her jaw tightened and her arms grew rigid. “Does it bother you?”

“You bet.”

“Well, me, too,” she said. “So it’s settled, we both make our livings off other people’s misery but we’re still human.” She turned to me. “Guess that applies to you, too—the misery part. Tell me, did you coach him in all this psychological warfare?” She faced Milo again. “Does it bother me? Let’s put it this way: I’ve got one kid and it took me three miscarriages to get him, so no, I don’t get a thrill out of dead babies, don’t find them the least bit entertaining. Now what the hell else do you want to know?”

Milo said, “Sorry.”

“Screw the apology. Give me some meat to chew on.”

“We’ve identified the adult victim. Nothing in her past predisposes her to being murdered.”

“Name,” said LeMasters.

“Adriana Betts, originally from Idaho. She was religious, had no bad habits, worked as a nanny.”

“She took care of kids?”

“Yes.”

“That include babies?”

“In some cases.”

“That doesn’t sound like a connection to you?”

“Theoretically? Sure, Kelly, but we interviewed her employers and all their kids are alive and well. No one has a bad word to say about her.”

“Religious types can be hypocrites.”

“Anyone can.”

“What, you’re a Holy Roller? Despite what the church says about people like you?”

“Let’s stick with the case, Kelly.”

“I can’t see it,” said LeMasters. “Being Catholic and gay.” She laughed. “Unless you’re a parish priest.”

“You’re Catholic?”

“Once upon a time.”

“Nice to know you’ve got no biases.”

She frowned. “Where will you be taking the investigation?”

“Hard to say.”

“No, it’s not,” she said. “Everyone says you’re methodical as well as intuitive, always come up with a plan. So don’t hold back on me. What’s next?”

“Same answer, Kelly.”

She folded her arms across her chest. “I go off-record and you give me generalities?”

“That’s because generalities are all I’ve got. I could feed you stuff that would spark your prurient interest, set you off on a useless maze-run. But it wouldn’t help my case, could even hurt it if you printed fallacious crap.”

“I thought we were working on trust here.”

“We are,” he said. “Have we reached our goal?”

“Of what?”

“Mutually advantageous buddy-hood.”

“Not even close,” she said. “I promised to keep everything under wraps and you gave me squat.”

He creased his brow. “I’m going to tell you something else but you have to pledge not to use it until I say otherwise. I mean that, Kelly. It’s essential.”

“Fine, fine. What?”

“Though of apparently sound moral character, Adriana Betts may have somehow gotten mixed up with bad people.”

“What kind of bad people?”

“This isn’t fact-based,” he said, “but possibly cult members.”

“Not fact-based? Then what?”

“Inference.”

“Yours or Dr. Delaware’s?”