"Sorry. I didn't mean to sneak up on you. Cornell suggested I come in this way. I guess he figured you'd never hear me if I rang the front bell."

"What are you doing here?"

"The usual. I'm nosing around. Mind if we talk?"

"I've already told you everything I know."

"Indulge me, okay?"

She stared at the floor, curbing her annoyance, but I could see her relent, albeit unhappily. "Let me finish this and we'll go into the kitchen."

She shoved in the last of the load of clothes, added liquid detergent and bleach, then closed the lid and set the program knob. She pushed the Start button. She washed her hands at the utility sink, drying them on a terry cloth towel she retrieved from the pile of soiled linens.

I followed her into the kitchen, which was immaculate, a far cry from her mother's house with its grunginess and knickknacks. I don't know how women with active kids manage to keep a house picked up. She offered me coffee, probably to atone for her snappishness. I accepted with an eye to stringing out the visit. She poured me a mug and popped it in the microwave to heat. She was not a pretty girl. There was something washed-out about her looks, as though vital blood supplies had been suppressed for years, leaving her pale and depleted. The green sweatsuit added more color to her eyes than I'd seen before, but it still wasn't much. The microwave pinged and she removed the mug.

When she set it in front of me, a wave of coffee slopped over the rim. She handed me a paper napkin. "Did you want something in particular? We haven't eaten lunch. I need to go to the market to pick up some bread."

"This shouldn't take long," I said, busy cleaning the spill. I decided to take an indirect route getting to the subject of Adrianne and Charisse. "Did you have a chance to talk to Cornell?"

"About what?"

"You were worried he'd get mad at you if you talked to me."

"He got over that. He said he saw you at his dad's so I guess all's forgiven. Lucky you," she said. She brought sugar and half-and-half to the table and then sat down, tucking her hands under her thighs.

"That's because Detective Oliphant was there. He and Ruel seemed to hit it off. Did you meet Stacey?"

She shook her head. "I heard there was a second detective in town, but I haven't met him yet. They must be going all out."

"They are. They're very serious about this."

"Well, good, though I don't get why it matters after all these years."

"Cops are funny that way. They never really give up. They just wait."

"Look, I don't mean to be rude about it, but I really have to scoot. The kids'll get cranky."