Twenty minutes later, Rena was parked in front of Patrice Candle and Ben Wallace’s house. She’d not yet had time to get out of her car when a Honda rounded the corner and pulled into the driveway. A woman was driving. The garage door went up, then down. Rena counted to thirty before opening her door. She knocked and the front door opened.

“Patrice Candle?” Rena asked.

“Yes.”

“I’m Detective Morgan from the Baywood Police Department.” Rena waited for a hint of recognition. After all, she figured Melissa Wayne had called her friend and neighbor. Rena flipped out her badge.

Patrice studied it, then looked up at Rena. “What can I do for you, Officer?”

“I want to ask you a few questions about your neighbor, Melissa Wayne?”

“Oh my God. Is she okay? Did something happen?”

“You haven’t talked to her or heard from her today?” Rena asked.

“No. I...well, maybe she tried to call but I’ve sworn off my cell phone for thirty days. To prove a point to my husband.”

Rena resisted the urge to smile. “May I come in?” She really didn’t want to have this conversation on the sidewalk.

“Of course,” Patrice said. She opened the door.

“Your husband isn’t home?” Rena asked.

“He coaches fall soccer. They practice on Saturday mornings. It’s a pain but he loves it.”

She’d have preferred to talk to both of them but she didn’t feel inclined to wait around for Ben Wallace to come home. “How long have you lived in this house?”

“Six years last May.”

After the Antler kidnapping. “Did you have another home in Dover before that?”

“No. We moved here from Billings, Montana, when Ben got his teaching job.”

“Are you aware that a child disappeared in Dover about ten years ago? Her name was Corrine Antler.”

“Ben had one of the Antler boys in his social studies class last year. He’s...well, I guess you could say that he’s got some issues. Acts up in class. Disturbs other kids. Ben works with a team of teachers and when they were discussing the kid’s performance, one of the other teachers told him the story. It doesn’t excuse how the kid is acting but that’s a hell of a thing to happen to a family.”

“I understand that you attended a party hosted by Melissa Wayne in July. Do you recall who was there?”

“Sure. It wasn’t a big thing, just a cookout. It was Ben and me. And Melissa and Candiss. My sister, Maggie. Oh, and I think Melissa’s sister Alice was also there.”

Matched exactly what Melissa Wayne had told her. “Do you recall, was there any discussion at this cookout about Corrine Antler or the Antler family in general?”