“I’ve already told you people that. It’s a coincidence. That’s all.”

I give her some space. “I’m sure it was,” I say. “And really that’s not why I’m here, Tyra. I’m here to learn more about Ellie. It’s possible that she could be alive.”

She shakes her head. “She would have called me. We were best friends. In fact, I was her only friend. Her parents kept her practically locked up. She used to be able to go out, and then, bam, her dad gets all weird and he makes her a prisoner.”

“All weird?” I ask.

“Yeah. Like all of a sudden, he was in charge of the world. Told her what to wear. That makeup was only for sluts. That kind of thing.”

“I heard he was strict,” I say, leaving plenty of room for her to continue.

Tyra’s fingers pick at the studs. I notice now that several are missing.

“Strict are my parents. Mom was the worst. Dad, I don’t know. He tries to be a friend, but he’s just another know-it-all. Ellie’s mom, Carrie, went along with everything that Hudson wanted. She was weak, like she wasn’t even a person.”

I’ve decided I really don’t like this girl. I don’t show it.

“But she was a person, Tyra.”

She makes a dismissive face. “You know what I mean, Detective. She couldn’t stand on her own. Never stood up for Ellie.”

I give her a nod. “Tell me more about Ellie.”

“She was awesome. We used to talk every night. She wasn’t allowed to have a phone, but I got her one and stuck her on our family plan. Told my dad that I needed two phones, one for social and one for school assignments. He never questioned me.”

“What did she talk about? Did she say anything that gave you cause to worry?”

Tyra shakes her head. “No. She was fine. I talked to her the night before they went to Lake Crescent.”

“Did you text or talk?”

“She’d lost her phone a week or so before, and my dad was being a real prick about getting a replacement. Said I had to learn a lesson or something dumb.”

I think of the night Ellie argued with Hudson and tossed her phone into the Potters’ backyard.

That was a week before the lake.

“Did she say anything about the upcoming trip to the lake?”

“Like did she say, ‘I’m going to kill my parents and swim away’? No.”

She’s dug out a stud and is rolling it around her fingertips.

“Look, Tyra,” I say, losing my patience a little. “This isn’t a joke here. Your friend might be in harm’s way.”