“So she completely omits the fact that Nate advocated for her kid to go to St. Catherine’s and pays her tuition. I mean, he really pushed for Layla to get this scholarship that he sure seemed to have specifically endowed for her.”

Water tumbled off the bumps in Philip’s forehead generated by his raised eyebrows. “I wonder if he met Tonya at the restaurant…”

“It’s possible.” Imani grabbed the soap from Philip and lathered it over her chest. “From the way he wrote about her, their relationship had to go further than chitchat post-audition. I think they were having an affair.”

Philip dipped his head back under the water. “I suppose it’s none of our business.”

The soap slipped from Imani’s grip. “Are you kidding me? Melissa is missing. Nate’s dead. If he was sleeping with Tonya—”

“Then Melissa would have more cause to shoot him in the face,” Philip said.

Imani watched Philip pick up the soap, feeling like her jaw was somewhere beside the dropped bar. “You can’t really think that.”

Imani heard the doubt in her own voice. Of course he could think that. She was wondering the same thing, after all.

“Well, what are you suggesting, then?” Philip asked. “That Tonya’s been having an on-again-off-again affair with Nate for years and that she finally got fed up and shot him? And then did what with Melissa? Kidnapped her only to move into the house of her best friend?”

As he spoke, Philip concentrated on soaping his body, dismissing her theory in both words and withheld eye contact. Imani had to admit that it sounded ridiculous the way he put it. But she knew from experience that people often acted irrationally under extreme stress. Irrational acts were, by nature, kind of insane.

“I don’t know,” she said, taking back the soap. “All I know is that she lied.”

“Maybe she simply didn’t want everyone knowing that Layla is a scholarship kid,” Philip said. “It must be strange going to a school where everyone has so much money.”

Imani winced. How would it be for their own kids next year? she wondered. Would they even be able to afford two tuitions?

“The police are looking into all of the Walkers’ relationships,” Imani said, bringing her focus back to something she could do about getting the woman who’d been sleeping with her friend’s husband out of her house. “They found out Melissa was talking to some guy on Instagram. If there was something between Tonya and Nate, the cops are going to ask about it.”

“So, let them ask about it.” Philip quickly rinsed off, emphasizing that he was done with the conversation by exiting the shower. Imani watched him approach the towel rack, water droplets dripping onto the marble tile, creating dark, circular impressions. “It’s their job, Imani. Not yours.”