“I told you that Kara and I are friends. We go to dinner sometimes. We’ve talked about what Steven Hanzel’s wife had told me, for goodness’ sakes.”

There it was. She didn’t want to think that her friend had been stupid by taking up with a sleazebag. “You never asked Kara about the calls from Mr. Hanzel?” A.L. asked.

“No. I just couldn’t. Maybe I didn’t really want to know. But I have to admit that sometimes I was pissed off. He’d call and she’d leave the room immediately and sometimes we’d be in the middle of some activity that really needed two teachers. It seemed...neglectful.”

“Can you give a time period that these calls were occurring?” Rena asked.

“A few months ago it was the worst. But recently, it’s been better. Maybe they’re talking outside of work hours because she doesn’t leave the room nearly as much.”

“Better but still occurring?” Rena drilled. “Like how often in one week?”

“Like I said, months ago it would have been several times a week. Now it’s maybe one every couple of weeks.”

“Claire, you’ve been very helpful,” Rena said.

“Really? Because I feel sort of shitty, to be honest. She’s my friend and I basically just told you that I think she’s having an extramarital affair.”

“Trust us on this, Claire. We’re not concerned right now with what anybody is doing within or outside of their marriage unless it has some direct relation to our investigation into Emma’s disappearance.”

“Do you think this does?” Claire asked.

“We have no idea,” A.L. said honestly. “But I’m glad we know it.”

They sat in their car outside of Claire’s house. “Are you surprised?” Rena asked.

“About Steven Hanzel?” A.L. asked.

“About either of them.”

“Not about Hanzel. He seemed like a goofball when I met him. His boss thinks he’s a loser and Chuck Hayes implied that he played around on business trips. Kara, maybe. She seems pretty bright so I guess I’d expect her to be smarter than to fall for the goofball.”

“Love and/or lust makes people stupid,” Rena said.

“Which one of them do you want to talk to first?” A.L. said.

“Kara. But wait a minute. Let’s think about this. She said that the calls had diminished but not stopped. We checked Kara’s cell phone. There’d been no calls between her and Baywood Bank for more than two months.”

“We didn’t look at calls specifically between her and Steven Hanzel, say, to his personal cell. We have to do that,” A.L. said.

“You’re right. I’ll get somebody started on that.” She picked up her cell phone. Typed. Looked up. “You should take Washington Street,” she said offhandedly. “That’s the fastest way to her house.”