Foster’s eyes opened and widened. “What? When?”

“Wednesday. Late afternoon.”

“Uh ...” Foster’s wheels were spinning as he searched his memory—a little frantically, Mendez thought. “Wednesday ... Oh, yeah. I was really busy that day. Gina called. She wanted to talk about a memorial for Marissa. I didn’t have time to get into it.”

“When did you last see her?”

“Sunday night. She had some friends over. You don’t think anything has happened to her, do you?”

“We don’t know,” Mendez said. “I spoke with her the afternoon she went missing. She seemed extremely upset.”

“Well, losing Marissa that way ... ,” Foster said. “They were like sisters. She was hysterical when I first spoke to her after the news broke.”

“Did she mention anything—any reason she thought someone would have wanted to harm Ms. Fordham?” Hicks asked.

“No. My God, we were both in a state of shock. You don’t think the killer would have gone after her too, do you?”

Mendez lifted a shoulder. “It’s possible.”

Foster shook his head. “I can’t imagine the kind of mind that does something like that. People are saying she was stabbed seventy-two times and her body was mutilated. That’s insane. That person has to be insane, right?”

“That’s not our call to make,” Mendez said. “We just catch them and lock them up.”

“I hope you’re close to catching this one.”

“You said the last time you saw Marissa was in Los Olivos—”

“Actually, that’s not right. I saw her a week before she died at the Licosto Winery. They were having their fall festival. Great wine. Chefs from all around the area. Marissa was there with Haley. How is Haley?”

“She’s doing well,” Hicks said. “We’re hoping she’ll be able to identify the killer for us.”

“That’s a lot to put on a four-year-old child.”

“She’s our only living witness.”

Foster shook his head, troubled by the thought.

“Did anything seem to be bothering Marissa that day?” Mendez asked.

“Marissa let things roll off her back,” Foster said. “She’d had a little set-to with Mrs. Bordain that morning, but she just shrugged it off.”

“What was that about?”

“Something ridiculous,” he said. “I know Milo pretty well from working on the summer music festival committee. She’s a force to be reckoned with but she always believes she’s got the best of intentions. I always say whenever two or more are gathered Milo will form a committee and organize something.”

“She’s manipulative,” Mendez said.