“Never seen him in person,” he says. “One time after Aubrey was born, Sophie met me at Café Cirrus to show me the baby. When we were there, I asked her if she thought Aubrey favored me. She thought a little bit, but surprisingly, insisted Aubrey looked like Adam too. I didn’t see how that was possible, so she showed me Adam’s photo on her phone. I didn’t see the resemblance at all. I think Sophie was trying to make things work and wanted to believe what she needed to in order to save her marriage.”

“Did you continue to meet like that?” I ask.

“No. That was the last time,” he says. “That was the only time I ever saw my daughter. Sophie made it clear that she was going to fix things with her husband and that I should do the same with Kristen.”

A guard pokes his head in, and I indicate that we’re fine.

“What about the DNA?” I ask. “Your DNA was in her body.”

“Was it really?” he asks. “I hadn’t been with her in a very long time. I wouldn’t forget that, Detective.”

“Yes,” I say. “You know it was.”

“How do we know it wasn’t put there later? Maybe in the lab?”

“Because our lab isn’t crooked, Connor.”

“Others are.”

I ignore this and remind him of something very important: a bell that’s nearly impossible to unring. “You confessed,” I say.

“I did that to avoid the death penalty.”

“Right,” I say. “It was a good move. Your relationship with Sophie and your DNA inside her would have convicted you by any jury.”

“Good move?” he says. “I’m in here for a life sentence. Life without. I’m not some tough guy. I wanted to do social work and fix problems. Help people. Now look at me.”

“Maybe you can help people in here,” I tell him. I don’t mean for it to be a cheap shot, but I know that’s how it came out.

“You don’t even want to go there,” he says. “The guys in here can’t be helped. At least, I haven’t met any. I was a waiter before I came here. I was married. I wasn’t dealing drugs or doing anything to anyone.”

“But you’re here because you killed Sophie Warner.”

“Honestly?” he asks. “Why would I kill her?”

“I don’t know why, Connor,” I say. “Maybe Sophie dumped you? You wanted revenge or something along those lines?”

He stays fixed on me.

“She didn’t dump me,” he says, his tone now insistent. “It was mutual. It was the best thing for everyone. When she told me she was pregnant and she wanted to try to make things work with her husband, I agreed.”

I push a little. “It made you angry.”