And now all she had left was a scarf and a dead hero to worship. No substitute for a living, breathing father, even if Sally’s mother had treated him as nothing more than a sperm donor. “When was the last time you saw Erik?”

“Sunday. I came up in the morning with doughnuts and coffee. He wanted me to come down to the dig. He said he’d used the dig as an excuse, something he could pretend to work at so he could stay here and see me. He said that he’d found something unexpected, something that would refute prior studies and add to the history of the Sugpiaq in the Bay.”

“Did he tell you anything about his personal finances?” Liam held up a hand. “I’m not accusing you of anything, Ms. Petroff. I’m just trying to find a paper trail to inform my investigation, so I can find out who killed him.” He gestured at the table. “So far as I can tell he didn’t even have a checkbook.”

She sat down again and took a deep breath. “He didn’t have many possessions. He said when you spent time in places like east Africa, you understood how much we have that we don’t need. Clothes and food and shelter were necessities.” She glanced at the bookshelf and smiled a little. “He said books were a luxury he couldn’t do without. He said once he spent more money on books than everything else combined.”

“How did he pay for them?”

“When he was working for UNESCO, he said they paid him by wire deposit into his bank. He charged everything to his Visa card or paid with cash out of an ATM, and paid his bills with automated payment processing through his checking account.” She smiled faintly. “No stamps, he said.” Her hand caressed the scarf again, gently, reverently. “I barely got to know him. Just a few months, and now he’s gone.” Her voice broke.

“What do you know about your father’s brother, Joshua?” Liam said.

She looked up, blinking away tears. “What?”

“Your uncle Joshua, your father’s brother. What do you know about him?”

“I—I—I guess I know what everyone knows. He disappeared when he was ten years old.”

“Did you know that Erik was with him when he disappeared?”

“Yes, and I know Erik was attacked at the same time and due to a traumatic brain injury that he was never able to remember what happened that day. Erik told me.”

“You asked him about it?”

“Of course. It was one of the first things we talked about.”

“And you believed him.”

She drew herself up and Liam saw a resurgence of the Ms. Petroff of old, and, truthfully, was glad of it. “Of course.”

Liam looked at Wy. Wy shrugged. “Okay, Ms. Petroff. I’ll be talking to your aunt and uncle to confirm your presence at the picnic, but that’s all for now.”

She raised her chin and met his eyes squarely. “Am I fired, sir?”