“I want to track down John Latham. I haven’t reached him and that makes me feel uneasy.”

“We called him twice,” McAdams said. “Once Decker left a message and then I made a follow-up call. He’s not answering his cell.”

Decker looked at his watch. “Boston’s about an hour and a half from here by car?”

“Probably two hours in this traffic.”

“What about the train?” Decker asked.

“You have to go to Islewhite.”

Decker’s mind was whirling. “Let me see if I . . .” He dialed the cell number associated with his most recent text. A woman answered the phone. “Hi, this is Peter Decker of Greenbury Police.”

“It’s Karen Bronson, Detective. I’m sorry we’re so late . . . we just had to crash last night . . . it was too long a drive and we were both so exhausted.”

“No, no, no, you did the right thing.” Decker cleared his throat. “So you’re planning on being here around eleven?”

“More like twelve . . . twelve-thirty. We’re getting a late start.”

“Okay.”

“Is that a problem?”

“No, it’s perfectly fine. We’ve been talking to a few of Angeline’s friends and I do have a couple of questions for you. Could I ask them now?”

A sigh. “Go ahead.” A pause. “Of course.”

“Are you familiar with the name John Latham?” Silence. “Does it ring any bells?”

A pause. “I don’t know the name . . . hold on, I’ll ask Jim.” Muffled voices and then she came back on the line. “Neither of us knows him. Who is he?”

“I don’t know. He came up in conjunction with Angeline. I was just wondering if she mentioned him to you.”

“No, she didn’t. Is he important?”

“Anyone associated with Angeline is important. I think he may live in a suburb outside of Boston. Did your daughter make weekend trips to Boston?”

“I have no idea. She kept in touch with us, but she rarely spoke about her private life and I . . . didn’t pry. I probably should have.”

Decker heard the sorrow in her voice. “She was a legal adult. You couldn’t have stopped her anyway.” No response. “Okay, if he becomes important, I’ll let you know. A few more questions. I found out from Julia Kramer that Angeline was studying eighteenth-century textiles. She was writing her thesis on the subject.”

“That’s correct. Textiles are her first love. In high school, she did a lot of textile design on her own. She painted material by hand. She taught herself batik and laser print. She experimented with lots of different materials.”

“Is that why she chose Littleton College?”

“Yes, of course. They have a wonderful art department. And she got a great scholarship. She deserved every penny they gave her. She’s a one of a kind, very gifted . . .” There was a sob. “She was, very, very talented.”