“Sit down, Mom. I’ll get it,” Eve said and started gathering the plates and silverware. “But I have to get going soon. I’m in the middle of a case.”

“I know all about it. I saw you again on TV. You were on every local channel.” Jen opened the refrigerator and took out a carton of milk, checked the date, and brought it over to the table. “You’re becoming a celebrity again.”

“It’s not intentional,” Eve said and put a glass, a plate, and a knife in front of her mother.

“It’s so easy for you.” Jen reached into the bag and took out the plastic container of lox spread. “No effort required.”

“I didn’t mean it like that.” Eve poured milk into their glasses.

“You don’t appreciate the exposure you’re getting,” Jen said. “You never had to work for it.”

“Because I don’t want it, Mom. I’m not an actress or a model.” Eve pulled an onion bagel out of the bag, set it on her plate, and sat down across from her mother. “I don’t need the exposure.”

“Not now, but you certainly used it to your benefit before,” Jen said. She took an onion bagel for herself and began slicing it in half. “You can do it again.”

“I got what I wanted and I’m where I want to be,” Eve said, cutting her bagel, too. “It’s not going to get me any further.”

“Maybe not in the sheriff’s department.”

Eve put some lox spread on her bagel while she eyed her mother. “What are you getting at?”

“The studios and networks watch the news, you know. So do writers and producers.” Jen picked up Eve’s knife and used it to put lox spread on her own bagel. “What happened to you before, that was a moment, but what you’re doing now, with this triple murder case, that’s a story. They are going to see that. You could be in a series or a movie.”

“I don’t think so, but even if you’re right, I’m not interested. I’m not going to cash in on this tragedy. That’s not why I’m doing this job.”

“You should talk to your father,” Jen said.

Eve dropped her bagel and stared at her mother, who’d made that outrageous statement as casually as if they were discussing the weather. “You want me to talk to Vince, a man I haven’t seen in ten years. Why would I do that?”

“He owes you years of unpaid child support,” Jen said.

“I’m an adult now. It’s not an issue anymore. What do you want me to do, arrest him?”

“I hadn’t thought of that,” Jen said. “That can be our fallback.”

“Fallback?”