That jibed with what Emily and Julia had said about Lance, that he had made booty calls to Angeline. “Any idea how she might have acquired those items?”

“No idea at all. She didn’t have that kind of money. Did . . . did she have an older man paying for these items? Is that who this Latham character is?”

“The Latham I’m investigating is in his thirties and appears too poor to afford those kinds of accessories. I’m not even sure what his relationship is to your daughter. He isn’t answering his phone, so I’d like to pay him a visit.”

“Is there a problem with that?”

“Latham lives in the Boston area, which is about an hour and a half from Greenbury without traffic. If I go visit him, I might not make it back before you get here. Would you like me to wait for you? There are other things I could do in the meantime.”

“How important is this Latham?”

“I feel he’s very important. And there are things I need to do in Boston. We’re too small to handle the lab work. The captain wanted it done correctly, so Boston sent out a team.”

She cleared her throat, but her voice choked up. “Where is . . . the body?”

“In Boston.”

There was a long pause. “Shouldn’t we meet you in Boston? After all, you’re not certain that it’s her, right?”

“Karen, we can do the identification with a simple cheek swab.”

“But I want to say good-bye!” Anger in her voice. “I need to say good-bye!”

“Karen, please give it a few days. Then you can give her a proper burial.”

Her voice was a whisper. “You don’t want me to see the body.”

“It isn’t necessary to put you through that anguish. I’ll be back down by late afternoon. We’ll get a DNA profile. And I’ll tell you everything I know.” There was a long silence. “Karen, are you still with me?”

“Go to Boston, Detective. Don’t let us stop you from doing your job.”

“I’ll try to make it back as soon as I can.”

“We’ll wait. We’ll wait as long as it takes. As long as it takes for you to get back and as long as it takes to get some answers.”

Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

MCADAMS SIPPED COFFEE from a paper cup while staring out the passenger window. Decker was behind the wheel. It was in the high twenties outside, but the skies were clear. It made for easy driving even with arid heat blasting in their faces.

“Any specific reason why you asked me to come with you?” the kid said.

“Why do you think?”

“You know you always answer my questions with another question.”

“It’s effective in getting people to talk. So why did I ask you to come?”