In the warm morning light, I felt a little ridiculous in the black dress and heels. Ray glanced over my outfit with the same suppressed mirth as I greeted his suit, and then gestured at a sack of pastries and two full coffees. Hungry as I was, I was afraid of crumbs all over my dark lap, so I didn’t eat. But the silence seemed like a waste. I floated a few stale topics—weather, time zones, traffic—before cutting to the chase.

“What are you looking for today?” I said.

Ray gave me an appraising look. “Timeline and location,” he said. “First, I hope to prove the video was shot in her studio. Second, I hope to see how someone got in and out of it on Thursday, possibly with her laptop in hand. The medical examiner dates the time of her death to sometime before dawn on Thursday. Computer forensics show that the files were shredded on Thursday evening. On Friday, LAAC staff found her body.” He paused. “Someone must have entered her studio and wiped the files, or took the laptop away then put it back. That had to happen on Thursday.”

“Have you talked to the detectives at LASD? It seems like they must have pursued this,” I said. “Can Alicia connect you to them?”

“One of them already stuck his neck out giving her the file,” said Ray. “For now, that’s all Alicia can do.”

“She doesn’t seem to want to get too involved.”

“All this digging doesn’t make sense to Alicia. She sees things in a criminal justice framework. Either it’s illegal or it isn’t. If it isn’t, move on,” said Ray. “But she feels for Janis. And she can’t stand not keeping an eye on me.”

He said this casually, as if the detective’s interest in him was obvious.

My throat closed, and I cleared it, annoyed with myself. “How long have you known her?”

“Ten years, off and on,” said Ray. “She’s my ex-girlfriend’s cousin.”

For a moment, I was too surprised to ask another question.