“We met at a school dance.” During the next few minutes, Ruth Blum recounted the emotional highlights of her relationship with Harold, eventually circling back to her theme of a gift given and a gift taken away. “We thought it would last forever. But nothing does, does it?”

“How did you get through it?”

“The main thing was the others.”

“The others?”

“The support we were able to give each other. We’d each lost a loved one the same way. We had that in common.”

“You formed a support group?”

“For a while we were like family. Closer than some families. Everybody was different, but we had that one strong bond. I remember Paul, the accountant, so quiet, hardly ever said anything. Roberta, the tough one, tougher than any man. Dr. Sterne, he was the voice of reason, the one who had a way of calming people down. There was the young man who wanted to open a fancy restaurant. And who else? Oh, Lord, Jimi. How could I ever forget Jimi? Jimi Brewster hated everyone and everything. I often wonder what happened to him.”

“I found him,” said Kim, “and he agreed to speak to me. He’s going to be part of this.”

“Good for him. Poor Jimi. So much anger. You know what they say about people who are that angry?”

“What?”

“That they’re angry at themselves.”

Kim let a long silence pass before asking, “How about you, Ruth? Aren’t you angry about what happened?”

“Sometimes. Mostly I’m sad. Mostly …” Tears started coming down her cheeks.

The video interview segment faded to black, and then the scene cut back to the studio, to a shot of the host at the table with Kim. Gurney assumed that this was the interview segment she’d gone to the city that day to record.

“I don’t know what to say,” said the host. “I’m speechless, Kim. That was so powerful.”

She looked down at the table with an embarrassed smile. “So powerful,” he repeated. “I want to talk more about that in just a minute, Kim, but first I want to ask you something.”

He leaned in her direction, lowering his voice in an imitation of confidentiality. “Is it true that you’ve gotten a highly decorated homicide detective involved in this documentary project? Dave Gurney. The man New York magazine once called ‘Supercop’?”

A gunshot couldn’t have grabbed Gurney’s attention more completely. He studied Kim’s face on the screen. She looked startled.

“Sort of,” she said after a pause. “I mean, he’s been advising me on some issues surrounding the case.”

“Issues? Can you give us any details?”

Kim’s hesitation convinced Gurney that she’d truly been caught off guard. “Odd things have been happening, things I’d rather not reveal yet. But it looks as if someone might be trying to stop The Orphans of Murder from being shown.”

The host affected intense concern. “Go on …”