A fresh coat of sweat glazed his forehead. “You probably think I’m overreacting. But here’s the thing—and this is going to sound strange, particularly in view of what happened to Ursula—as if we’re some sort of … we’re just a boring law firm, nothing out of the ordinary occurs here … I’m sure this is irrelevant but the timing … maybe I shouldn’t even open up this Pandora’s box, if I’m wrong and frankly I hope I am, it’ll turn out irrelevant. Because this person’s already unhappy with the firm and the last thing we need is complications.”

“Which person is that, sir?”

Fellinger pinged his empty glass with a fingernail. Long, deep breath. “Recently, we let an employee go. A couple of days before Merry disappeared. I’m sure there’s no link, but … Merry had problems with him. Other people, as well.”

Milo said, “Other women?”

Fellinger poured himself scotch, tossed it back. “Several female employees were made to feel uncomfortable, so we were forced to take action. He didn’t take well to being fired, not well at all. In fact, he showed me a different side of himself. Nasty. We confronted him and the day he left I noticed him passing Merry’s desk and giving her a look. I’d have to call it rage. Cold rage. I forgot about it but then Merry didn’t show up and by the third day—” A second quick snort. He burped. Grimaced.

“Lieutenant, here’s where it’s really going to get dodgy, but I might as well …”

Rolling the glass between his hands. “Not only did I get to thinking about Merry, I also began wondering about Ursula. Because this person was with Ursula shortly before she died. Walked her to the elevator, for all I know he rode down with her. By itself that means nothing, if he hadn’t showed me that other side of himself, I’d never have given it a second thought. But the look he gave Merry plus all the other complaints. And now no one can find Merry—I just don’t know.”

I said, “What was Jens Williams accused of specifically?”

Milo’s head whipped toward me.

Fellinger blinked. “You already had him on your radar? Oh, God.”

Still studying me, Milo said, “How about we start at the beginning, Mr. Fellinger?”

“The beginning was nine months ago when we hired Jens. My previous assistant left to have a baby and I happened to be talking to a colleague and she said she had a cousin who’d fit the bill perfectly.”

“Which colleague was that?”