Night fell like a stained shroud over New York City and as she looked out the windshield of the rental car, Rachel felt as if she were suffocating. The last little remnants of daylight struggled in a golden ribbon along the Hudson River and behind countless buildings, but the night squashed it out. Rachel and Jack had opted to be out on the streets, already making the circuits between potential suicide bridges. Jack held the phone records and every little note theyd made along the way and Rachel could tell that he was doing all he could to not come out and say the obvious. In the end he simply couldnt keep it in, though.

Weve gone over everything, he said. Theres the one final blocked number that we currently cant break because of PacCalls lawyers tying everything up. Which, honestly, is utter bullshit.

If we really press that Pete Deringer is our guy, that blocked number could come back to look bad on us, Rachel pointed out. What happens if three weeks down the road we find out the location and caller and it completely reveals Deringers innocence?

Then were screwed, Jack said. But I think its almost forgivable, given the way things are currently looking for Deringer and the fact that its the only strong lead we have.

I dont like it, Rachel said. Something doesnt fit and

Jacks cell phone rang, interrupting her. He answered it, placing the call on speaker mode. This is Agent Rivers.

Rivers, its Branson. Look, Deringers lawyer has been here for the past hour and ever since then, Deringer has been giving us everything were asking for. He can tell us everything about the last four nights right down to what he had for dinner. After some back and forth and guilt, he did reveal that he visited a porn website on his phone three nights ago just a little shy of midnight.

Even if we can prove that with his phones activity history, its not going to completely rule him out at the site of the murder.

Yeah, I know. Ive got the tech guys working with the phone company to see if they can get a read on the location of his phone over the past four days, but that wont be concrete either. He could have just left it at home.

Seems doubtful, though, Jack said. If hes using his phone to reach out and stay in touch with the people he was trying to snatch up, youd think hed have his phone on him.

Yeah, that idea has been bounced around here, too, Branson said. What Im getting at is now that the lawyer is here, Deringer is being pretty damned forthcoming. It may not be a bad idea for the two of you to come back if theres anything specific you want to know. But based on what were getting from him, it might very well be a waste of your time.