Imani exhaled. “Well, why was she working with you, then?”

Kelner cleared his throat. “Clearly, I can’t get into specifics.”

“It’s only that, if there is anything you know, anything at all that can help police focus on finding Melissa rather than blaming her, anything that she was working on with you that would indicate she and Nate were not at each other’s throats or that there were other issues that might have made someone angry or—”

A surge of emotion cut her off. Imani held the phone away from her mouth, taking a moment to compose herself. “Please. She’s my best friend, more like a sister. I’m scared for her, and I just want to help in any way that I can.”

Kelner breathed on the other end, a soft whistle, the kind made by a slightly stuffy nose. “I can tell you that my typical role is to discreetly handle delicate financial matters.”

Imani was silent, struggling to process the job description in relation to Melissa.

“I help separate marital assets to limit spousal liabilities or ensure that certain debts can be paid without involving both parties,” Kelner continued.

Though the lawyer wasn’t a divorce attorney, it sure sounded as though he shuffled money around in preparation for a separation. “And you were doing this because Melissa wanted to leave Nate.”

The exhale that followed this time sounded more annoyed than resigned. “None of this can come back to me, understand? I’m only saying anything since you seem to think Ms. Walker is in trouble.”

For a moment, Kelner went silent. Imani could only hear her own anxious breaths on her end of the line. “Nate had made some questionable decisions,” Kelner said. “Melissa wanted to make sure that her earnings were siloed and untouchable in case he found himself owing people.”

Imani again recalled Melissa’s quip about Nate’s lack of business acumen. He’d buy swampland in Florida…

“Did he invest with bad people?” she asked. “People who might kill him and kidnap Melissa?”

“He wasn’t in bed with the Mafia, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Kelner said. “If I’d thought Nate had gotten himself mixed up with people committing fraud or any other kinds of crimes, I’d have come to the police before anything had happened. Not doing so would have risked my license.”

The last part made Imani doubt Kelner’s honesty. If the guy had failed to come forward with information that might have stopped Nate’s murder, he might lie in hopes of indemnifying his practice or, at the very least, avoiding bad publicity. However, if that were the case, Kelner would have been smarter not to have divulged anything in the first place.

“But Melissa was afraid these people would come after them?”