He checked that the back door was securely locked, tuned Ethel’s old stereo system that she called a hi-fi to a classic rock station, and cranked up the volume. Then he took his laptop out on the front porch, sat on the swing, and began reviewing class notes. He angled his back into the corner of the swing to keep the revolver from pressing against his spine.

The street was returning to normal. Jonathan’s body and the Ford Escape had been removed. Officers cleared away barricades and traffic cones, and the pedestrian traffic diminished as the site lost its macabre appeal. Periodically, Jesse checked the time, and at ten till ten, he closed his laptop, left the porch, went inside, and locked the front door. He went to his room to set up for the Skype call, leaving the music playing loud enough to be heard through windows and walls.

At ten, his connection clicked through, and Tracy appeared on his computer screen. Her usually smiling face was creased with frown lines.

“My God, Jesse, what’s going on?”

He told her about the meeting with Bradshaw and Mancini, their potential jurisdictional clash, and Ethel’s relationship with both men, who had once been roomers at her house. Jesse omitted the discovery of the currency. If Ethel had withheld its existence from the director of the Secret Service, he wasn’t going to blab about it over an unsecured internet connection.

“What do you think happened?” Tracy asked.

“I don’t know. If it wasn’t a carjacking gone wrong, I suspect someone wanted his laptop. We haven’t been able to find it. Maybe it had evidence on it.”

“So, where’s his backup? Surely he backed up his data. What kind of laptop was it?”

“A MacBook Pro.”

“Like yours?”

“Yeah, but newer.”

“And MacBook Pros have that Time Machine feature for backing up the whole system. Don’t you think he would use it to back up a machine he was shuttling between DC and Richmond?”

Tracy was right. Maybe an external drive was in his office in Richmond.

“And isn’t that unusual?” Tracy continued. “I thought most government agencies used PCs.”

Her question was valid. Something he hadn’t considered. “I guess it would depend on the software used by each department. But there are more PC manufacturers, which the government would exploit in purchasing from competitive bidders.”

“Maybe the police found it,” she said.

“Maybe. But if it was a personal computer, the backup drive could be in his home. I should let Ethel know.”

“She’s there?”

“She went with Bradshaw to break the news to Jonathan’s family in person.”

Tracy shook her head. “How terrible. Ethel can’t just extend her condolences and then say, ‘Mind if we search through your husband’s personal things?’”

“She won’t. Not when the family needs space to grieve.”

“Yeah, but what about the director? He might not be so sensitive.”