He checked the wording and tone of his previous message and purposely made this one more jagged, definitely unsettling, less clear, with an amped-up level of urgency—more like a harried text message than an email:

Increasing flow of new data, obvious corruption. Conviction reversal and aggressive new investigation to come. Family dynamics key issue? Could it be as simple as FOLLOW THE MONEY? How might CyberCath financial stress play into the investigation? Should meet ASAP for frank discussion of new facts.

He read it over twice. If its edginess and ambiguity didn’t provoke some communication from Jonah, he had no idea what would. Then he went into the shabby little convenience store for his coffee and a plain bagel, which turned out to be stale and hard. He was hungry enough to eat it anyway. The coffee, however, was surprisingly fresh, giving him a fleeting sense of okayness.

He was about to pull over to the gas pumps when he realized that he still hadn’t told Hardwick about his meeting with Mick Klemper at Riverside Mall and the subsequent arrival in his mailbox of the Long Falls security video. He decided to take care of that immediately.

The call went into voice mail, and he left a message. “Jack, I need to fill you in on some developments with Klemper. We had a little discussion about the various ways the story could end, some less painful for him than others, and, magically, the missing video turned up in my mailbox. The man may be trying to cushion his fall, and we need to talk about the implications. Also, you’ll want to see the video. No obvious inconsistencies with the witness reports, but it’s sure as hell worth a look. Get back to me as soon as you can.”

This reminded him of another urgent task that had been side-lined—viewing the video segments from the other three cameras in the four-camera array, particularly the two labeled EAST and WEST, since they would have captured images of individuals approaching or leaving the building. Pondering the potential boost such evidence might give the investigation pushed Gurney’s driving speed well above the posted limits for the rest of the trip home.

He was surprised, then confused, then worried to find Madeleine’s car still parked where it was when he’d left that morning for Long Falls, expecting that she would be leaving moments after him for the Winkler farm.

Entering the house with an anxious frown, he found her at the kitchen sink, washing dishes.

“What are you still doing here?” There was an edge of accusation in his voice, which she ignored.

“Right after you left, as I was getting in my car, Mena arrived in her minivan.”

“Mena?”

“From Yoga Club? Remember? You just had dinner with her.”

“Ah. That Mena.”

“Yes, that Mena—not any of the multitude of other Menas we know.”

“Right. So she arrived in her minivan? For what?”