“For her sake,” Lafferty said, “I hope that’s not true.” Like I wasn’t even in the room with them. He leaned across the table and switched off the recorder once again, and told me to stand up.

“What—what are you—”

“Stand up,” Lafferty ordered. “Turn around.”

“Are you arresting me?” I cried. “Because I can’t give you my boss’s name?” I’d gotten so close. But it wasn’t enough.

Lafferty stood up, and I clutched the side of my chair with both hands, trying frantically to make eye contact with MacLeish. “Wait,” I said, “wait, please.” I took a deep breath. One last gamble, Jo. Nothing left to lose now.

“Give it up, Jo,” Lafferty said. “You have nothing left to bargain with.”

But that wasn’t entirely true. “Give me twenty-four more hours,” I said. I had to get out of that room. I would’ve said anything. “I can bring you—I can bring you fifty grand. And I’ll tell you everything that happened with Ellen and Klein. Everything. I swear. And I’ll . . . I’ll try to find her for you. Please. I can find out more.”

Lafferty and MacLeish exchanged another glance, and I could see how they’d been partners once, that it was like a dance, or the lyrics to a song—once they’d learned it, they’d never quite forgotten.

“So now you do know something about it,” Lafferty said. “Convenient. How do we know you won’t skip?”

“You were right,” I blurted out. “The Lady wanted Ellen dead. Trust me, I want her held accountable for that as much as you do. You’ll never be able to find her without me, she’s too well-connected, she’s too smart. But if you give me one more day . . .”

Lafferty looked at me, his eyebrows raised. Wanting me to know he doubted me even as he was thinking it over. But MacLeish was the one who broke the silence first.

“Come on, boss,” MacLeish said quietly, ever the good cop. The harder role to play. “We can give her twenty-four hours, can’t we?”

Lafferty nodded, his gray eyes never leaving me. “You’re lucky my detective wants that money,” he said, pretending like MacLeish had changed his mind, like this wasn’t a part they were both playing. “But this is a one-time deal, you hear me? If you don’t come back in twenty-four hours with fifty large and a name, you’re on the hook for the Klein/Howard murders.” He gave his old partner one last look and then turned on his heel. When he got to the door, he turned around and said to me, “I overestimated. You’re not that pretty. You’ll do the full twenty-five.”