“After you started the coffee, then what?” A.L. prompted.

“I waited until there was enough in the pot to pour a cup and I carried that back to my room. Turned on the lights and started the music.”

“Music?”

“I play all kinds of music all day. The kids seem to like it.”

When Traci was four, she’d known all the words to Alan Jackson and Jimmy Buffet’s “It’s Five O’Clock Somewhere.” His mother-in-law hadn’t thought it was that cute. “Was your music loud this morning?” he asked. “Would you be able to hear it outside the classroom?”

“Maybe if you were standing right outside the door but no farther than that with the door closed.”

“Do you keep the door closed all the time, even when there are no kids?”

Kara seemed to consider the question. “I guess I do. Habit, you know.”

“What time did children start arriving?” A.L. asked.

“Shortly after 6:30.”

A.L. pulled the sign-in sheet from Kara’s room. “Can you verify that this is the sign-in sheet from your room today?”

“Why is it...in plastic?” Kara asked, sounding concerned.

“We’ve started the process of gathering anything that might be evidence,” A.L. said.

“Of course,” Kara said. She glanced at the sheet. “Yes, that’s our sheet.”

“Our?” A.L. repeated.

“Claire’s and mine. Claire Potter is my co-teacher. She starts an hour after me and stays an hour later. I leave at 4:30 and she stays until 5:30. We need a second staff member once we have more than thirteen kids. Early in the morning and late in the afternoon, the number of kids makes it so that one of us can handle it.”

It had worked that way at Traci’s day care. “I suppose the math doesn’t always work out perfectly. I mean,” A.L. clarified, “you might have too many kids arrive before 7:30 or too many stay later than 4:30.”

“On rare occasions, but parents are pretty predictable with their drop-off and pickup schedules,” Kara said.

“Were Emma Whitman’s parents predictable?”

“Usually. Her grandma dropped her off a couple days a week and then her mom the other days. I’m not usually here when she gets picked up.”

“What time would you expect Emma in the mornings?”

“By 7:30. She’s almost always in the room before Claire is.”

“Did you see Emma today?”

“No. I guess I didn’t think too much about it. She has allergies in the fall and had missed a day the prior week because she was sick.”

“Did Claire arrive at her usual time?”

“I think so. I mean, I’m pretty busy with the kids. I don’t really watch the clock.”

“Do you ever leave your room prior to Claire’s arrival?”