Hailey immediately returned to ignoring Carrie when she got the book back, of course, but Carrie never forgot the contents. Or the handwriting. Twenty years later, Hailey still dots her i’s with tiny circles.

It only took a glance at the Middleton High Reunion website to confirm her hypothesis. Hailey Thomas is on the reunion committee, in charge of the guest list.

Not exactly the perfect crime.

Carrie’s phone nags at her and she sees that she’s taken another wrong turn. Google Maps doesn’t know this neighborhood. It was only built a year ago. It’s still too new.

She decides to navigate the old-fashioned way, by looking at the numbers on the houses, and after another couple of blind turns, she finds her way to a cul-de-sac where a massive house sits away from its neighbors.

Now Google tells her she’s arrived at her destination, as if it wants credit. This is the address she pulled from the credit report she got online: Hailey’s new home.

Aside from the address and her credit score, all Carrie knows about Hailey’s life now is what she can see on Instagram. She’s a realtor, and she has an adorable little girl named Regan. The father seems to be out of the picture, since every other aspect of Hailey’s life is recorded for her followers, and there’s no sign of him.

Carrie walks up to the house and rings the bell. It echoes on the other side of the door in a way that she recognizes from a hundred other attempts to interview a suspect; empty homes have a sound all their own. Nobody there.

There are two reliable, Supreme Court-approved methods for a law-enforcement officer to enter a place without a warrant or invitation. The first is to have a reasonable suspicion that a crime is being committed, and requires immediate intervention. The second is to have a belief that someone is in danger and needs help.

Carrie doesn’t glance around or check the street for witnesses; that sort of thing only makes you look suspicious. She brings her leg up, pivots, and kicks the door as hard as she can.

The frame splits at the lock, and the door swings open.

This is a trick her first training agent taught her. Now she has evidence of a crime being committed and a reason to believe that someone might be in danger inside the house: someone has clearly tried to break in.

Her dad would be appalled.