“Not for you. Gina tells us you shot her and dumped her down an abandoned well and left her for dead.”

“That’s absurd!” Foster said, trying to laugh. “Gina is a friend! She’s confused. She must have a concussion or something.”

“No, actually, she doesn’t. She broke her leg during the fall, but she didn’t hit her head. There’s nothing but layers and layers of garbage down at the bottom of that well. A pretty soft landing.”

“Why would I do that to her?” Foster asked.

“Here’s another tip for you: Never ask a question you aren’t going to like the answer to.

“When Marissa was killed, Gina got scared, on account of she knows a lot of secrets,” Vince said. “She’s a sweet kid, Gina. She doesn’t have the stomach for secrets. She just wants to have her little store, and live in her little house, and have her friends. That’s all Gina wants.

“But her best friend gets killed, and she’s afraid maybe she knows who did it. She figures to get out of Dodge before something bad can happen to her. But she should take a rack of cash with her—just in case. So she calls a friend—you. You’ll give her a little ‘loan,’ she thinks.

“The next thing she knows, she’s in the trunk of your car.”

Foster shook his head. “That never happened.”

“I can tell you haven’t done this a lot, Mr. Foster,” Vince said. “Tip number three: Don’t deny what can be proved absolutely.”

“We’ve impounded your vehicle, Mark,” Mendez said. “It’s in our garage, and as we sit here, evidence technicians are going through that trunk with a fine-toothed comb—literally. All they need to find is one hair.”

“Do you own a handgun, Mr. Foster?” Vince asked.

“No.”

“If you do, and it’s registered, we’ll find out,” Mendez said.

“I don’t own a gun.”

“Does Darren Bordain own a gun?”

“You would have to ask him.”

“Oh, we will,” Mendez said.

“You don’t strike me as the kind of guy who reacts aggressively to situations as a rule, Mark,” Vince said. “You must have felt very threatened by Gina. You must have thought she could cause you to lose something or someone very important to you. Your career, for instance.”

“She threatened to tell Bruce Bordain about you and Darren, didn’t she?” Mendez said. “Bruce sits on the board at McAster. If he wanted you gone, you’d be gone.”

“You define yourself by your career, don’t you, Mark?” Vince said. “You’re proud of what you’ve achieved. People your age don’t reach the status you’ve reached in your world, do they?”