“Fabric softener.”

“Is that what it is? I like it.”

“It’s pretty attainable. I buy it at the grocery store.”

She laughed, leaned over, kissed me on the mouth. Again I was shocked by her softness and her delicate lips. Electric flashes from the previous night shot through my body. I recoiled, my head spinning.

“Sorry,” I said. “I feel sick.”

“Okay, I’ll go. Call me later, okay?”

I let her out the front door. It was a relief to be alone and have some time to think, to get organized. I drank a glass of water, ate a piece of toast, and took my clothes to the Laundromat. I sat on top of a washer while a handful of Mexican kids played and shrieked around me. Every few minutes they would assemble to work out some new rules to their game, which involved jumping out from behind the machines and growling like lions. A girl my age called out to a little boy. She gave him a cup of applesauce and he sat on the floor to eat it. She folded a sheet into a sharp square and picked up another. I wished I could fold myself up that neatly.

I thought about Audrey. She was so good at distracting herself from Danielle. I didn’t understand how she did it. The drugs helped, obviously. Sex and drugs. But still, I couldn’t get Danielle out of my head. I couldn’t stop wondering who killed her, or thinking about those pictures of her, or the videos. It was all jumbled up in my head, along with what Detective Ash had suggested that night at House of Pies—that maybe I had something to do with it. It didn’t make sense, but it kept nagging at me. I transferred my clothes to the dryer and called him.

He answered on the second ring.

“Hey, it’s Charlotte,” I said.

“Yeah,” he said. “What can I do for you?”

“I just wondered if you found anything out. About Sally? Or her brother?”

“Yeah, we did. I was meaning to call you. We checked up on him. We found out this morning, the uncle’s out of the picture.”

“Are you sure?” I said.

“Positive. He’s been in prison for three years. Good alibi.”

“For what?” I said.

“For rape,” he said. “He was doing it out there. In Colorado. They finally caught him.”

“Oh my god,” I said.

“So it’s not him. And he won’t hurt any more little girls. He’ll be locked up a long time.”

“What about Sally?”

“I told you before, we’ve been very thorough, we haven’t found anything that leads us in that direction.”

“But it’s so much money, and they always fought. And the timing of it—”

“Charlotte, right now you need to just sit tight. Be patient. We will be making an arrest fairly soon, I think.”

“Who?”

“I can’t talk about it. But be careful. Steer clear of Brandon Young.”

“You think it was him.”

“I’ll let you know when we have something definitive.” He hung up.