“Bill and I walked up that trail Zahn took home,” Mendez said. “That’s a hike. I find it hard to imagine anybody just strolling over that hill before dawn to say hey.”

“I want to know more about this guy,” Dixon said. “Who is he? What does he do for a living? Just what kind of a relationship did he have with Marissa Fordham?”

“What’s his name?” Detective Hamilton asked.

“Alexander—aka Zander—Zahn. Z-A-H-N,” Mendez said.

“He’s some kind of genius,” Trammell said. “He teaches at the college. Math or physics or philosophy or something.”

Everyone turned and looked at him with suspicion.

“How the hell do you know that?” Mendez asked.

Trammell was the kind of guy who could spout sports stats and belch the national anthem. No one would have looked to him for information on physics or philosophy.

Trammell spread his hands. “What? My kid goes there.”

“You been robbing banks in your spare time?” Hicks asked.

“He’s a smart kid. He got a scholarship.”

“Must take after his mother,” Detective Campbell suggested.

They all laughed. Their first good laugh of the day. As serious as their business was, it was important to loosen things up when an opportunity presented itself, no matter how small. Otherwise, the gravity of the job would pull them all into a black hole.

“Fuck you guys,” Trammell said with good humor.

Dixon steered them back on topic. “Let’s get back to Zahn.”

“Sara Morgan said Ms. Fordham was perfectly comfortable having him around,” Mendez said.

“Sara—Wendy’s mother?” Vince asked.

“Yeah. She’s an artist too. Marissa Fordham was teaching her some technique for painting on silk, whatever that means. She showed up this morning for her lesson.”

Vince cocked half a smile. “My uncle Bobo from the South Side used to have a silk tie with a painting of Wrigley Field on it. If that’s coming back, I’ve got an inside track. Put your orders in now, fellas.”

They all chuckled.

“Let’s get one for Trammell,” Hamilton suggested. “With a picture of Einstein on it.”

“Anyway,” Mendez said, “Sara said Zahn would sometimes just show up and hang around. He gave her the creeps, but Ms. Fordham didn’t seem bothered at all.”

“She was comfortable with him,” Vince said.

“Apparently.”

“I’d like to see him in his natural environment,” Vince said. “I’m curious. And I think he definitely knows more than he told us this morning. I’ll take Junior here,” he said to Dixon, hooking a thumb in the direction of Mendez. “He makes the guy nervous.”

“I hear his dates have the same reaction,” Trammell said.

“If he didn’t always have to read them their rights ... ,” Hicks said.

“I thought it was the handcuffs,” Mendez joked.

Dixon cleared his throat. “And do we have any names of friends to start checking out?”

Mendez read off the short list he had gotten from Sara Morgan.