“That’s not fair. Ridley’s not nuts, he’s just…” I struggled to come up with a word. Damaged, I thought, but that seemed too judgmental to voice. But Jesse wasn’t really interested in the boy.

“You told me yourself what a lousy parent Martin is. Spoils the kid rotten, won’t discipline him for anything, wants to talk everything out.”

“Martin was shipped off to boarding school when he was seven. He’s trying to avoid all the mistakes his father made with him. Martin’s misguided. He’s not a bad parent.”

“Really? If he’s not, then what is?” Jesse sat back in his chair and crossed his arms.

“A bad parent doesn’t care that there’s no food in the house for the kids, so long as she has her gin.” I looked down at my plate and pushed some food around, regretting the words. There was an awkward pause, then Jesse reached out and patted my hand.

“You’re right, Lil. He’s the kind of guy who wants to be his kid’s buddy. Heart’s in the right place, I guess, but misguided.”

I nodded. “By the way, Martin offered to hire a private investigator to find Claudia.”

“Wonders never cease.” Jesse chewed thoughtfully for a moment. “That’s the first decent idea I’ve heard out of Sklar’s mouth. Ever.”

I put my fork and knife down. “Here’s what I can’t get my mind around. Martin and Claudia were obviously in touch. Why is he lying about that? Yet he’s admitting she asked him for money.” I shook my head. “Why not just admit that they talked to each other sometimes? Otherwise, why would Claudia have asked him for money in the first place? Why didn’t she ask me, or Tariq?”

“You don’t have thousands of dollars to hand out, and maybe Tariq turned her down. You mention Tariq to the cops yet?”

“He was on the list of Claudia’s friends that I gave them. I didn’t tell them about his crazy girlfriend.” We’d debated that already. Jesse was certain that I should, but I knew Tariq wouldn’t appreciate it if I did. There was no guarantee he’d tell me what was going on with Claudia, but I was positive he’d hold back any information he had if he thought I was a rat. I moved my food around the edge of the plate, then prodded it towards the center again.

“What’s wrong, Lil?”

“There was something Rachel told me. She said Claudia’s boyfriend had jilted her when his old girlfriend came back to town. That was Labor Day weekend.”

“You think somethin’ romantic was goin’ on between your sister and… Martin?”

I nodded, too upset to look at him.

“Oh, Lil.” Jesse got up and came over to stroke my hair. “I’m sure nothin’ like that happened.”