It seemed as if Kara had anticipated most everything. But there was something that still needed an explanation. “Scent-trained dogs picked up Emma in Alice Quest’s yard. Is she involved?”

“No. Absolutely not. Catherine does not have much experience with children. Evidently Emma was happy enough to get in her car but quickly became restless. I had driven by Alice’s house with Catherine. She remembered that there was playground equipment. She promised Emma that she could play if she would stop crying. It was a bad decision. I don’t know her well enough to know if it was a lapse or whether her judgment is always a bit off.”

“Alice didn’t know about your sister?”

“No, but oddly enough, I know Alice’s sister. I met Melissa Wayne at the time of my roommate’s wedding. She did our hair and makeup. Years later, when I applied at Lakeside Learning Center, I was amazed at the resemblance. And when my own sister appeared and there was such a strong resemblance, I was tempted to tell Alice but I never did.”

“Your plan was dependent upon Alice not being in the office. How did you manage that?”

“Olivia Blow eats yogurt every afternoon. I added some stuff to her yogurt to make her sick. Nothing that would hurt her but enough to keep her in the bathroom for a long time. If she was ill, then Alice would be in a classroom.”

Kara Wiese was a piece of work. “What’s in this for Catherine?”

“Twenty thousand dollars. That’s the amount of bonus that Steven will get if he reaches his ten-year anniversary with the bank in December and has a certain amount of loans in his portfolio.”

He was pretty confident she had no idea how close Steven really was to losing his job. Steven wasn’t ever going to see that money. If A.L. had anything to do with it, he was going to be in jail.

“You did all this for a man that you’re not married to,” Rena said.

“I love him,” Kara said. “He was very concerned about losing his job. Had made some threats that scared me.”

“What kinds of threats?” Rena asked.

“Threats that he was going to harm himself. I couldn’t take that chance.”

“Troy Whitman has said that he never would have used the money in the fund-raising account to pay off his debts.”

Kara shrugged. “He would have. Steven would have convinced him.”

There was a quick knock on the door. It opened and Chief Faster motioned for A.L. and Rena to come into the hallway. “They’re at the house. Emma isn’t there. She was there. Dogs verified that. But both she and her kidnapper are gone.”

“Fuck,” A.L. said.

“Let’s have Kara call her sister,” Rena said.

“Do whatever you need to do. I want to find this kid,” Chief Faster said as he walked away.