She expected Mancini to be no more than ten minutes away. She returned to her bedroom, changed out of her tracksuit, and went to the kitchen to start the coffee percolating. She decided to wait for him in the living room where she could see the front door and meet him before he knocked or rang the bell. No one was stirring upstairs, and she didn’t want to wake them. At this point, she hoped to keep the conversation between the two of them.

A few minutes later, the Arlington detective parked his Camry at the curb in front of the house. Ethel had the door open before he reached the porch.

“They’re all asleep,” she whispered. “Let’s talk in the kitchen.”

Mancini chose his customary stool and watched Ethel close the kitchen door for greater privacy. She brought him a mug of coffee, and then she busied herself with the omelet.

Mancini cut to the chase. “So, what do you want to pry out of me with this food?”

Ethel whisked the eggs in a bowl while keeping her back to him. “Well, if you’ve told me everything you know, then I’d like to talk through some questions I hope are being asked.”

“Like what?”

“Like why the hell would Norwood go to the trouble to drive to Roosevelt Island, when he could have more easily killed himself at home?”

“Maybe he didn’t want someone he knew finding a mess. Better to be discovered by a total stranger than a loved one.”

Ethel looked over her shoulder. “Did he have a loved one?”

“I don’t know. I’m sure Cory’s delving into his personal life.”

Ethel reached into a bottom cabinet and retrieved a large cast-iron skillet. “Which means he should get to Norwood’s house or apartment as soon as possible. As Jesse witnessed, two men ran off with Jonathan Finch’s computer, phone, and the second half of the stolen counterfeit money. Norwood might have killed himself, but we’ve deduced that at least three people had to be in on the scheme for the logistics to work.”

Mancini took a healthy sip of coffee and sighed. “I’m confident Cory’s following up on all those points.”

Ethel turned on a stove burner and set the skillet on it. Then she grated cheese and diced slices of ham onto a small cutting board. “My questions are simply my due diligence for Jonathan and Jesse because at least two suspects are out there, and for some reason, they’re still interested in Finch’s family. I’d like you to talk to Cory about my questions, including whether he’ll do a DNA match of Norwood’s blood to what he found in Jonathan’s SUV.”

“Why don’t you ask him yourself?”

She poured the beaten eggs into the skillet. “I think he’s sick of hearing from me.”

Mancini laughed. “And I’m not?”