When she pulled up at the corner and got out of her Toyota Prius, they could tell right away that she was well-to-do. Not from the car she drove or the clothes she wore. They could tell because she carried herself with the kind of regality that came with old money.

Brushing a shock of wiry brown hair away from her inquisitive hazel eyes, she pulled her Burberry trench coat tight around her waist, and ambled toward the police car parked in front of the store.

“Where did they break in?” she asked as Coletti approached with badge in hand.

“Actually, there wasn’t a break-in,” he said as Mann and Sandy came alongside him.

“Then why did you call me?”

“We were hoping we could ask for your help,” Coletti said. “There was a man out here a few hours ago who we’d like to talk to. We think your video camera might’ve caught him on tape.”

“So you called me in the middle of the night for that?” she asked with a half smile. “What’s he wanted for? Murder?”

Coletti didn’t smile. Neither did Mann or Sandy. When she saw their reactions, the woman’s smile faded, too.

Having come from a wealthy family, she’d spent all of her forty years away from the more unsavory aspects of the city. She’d been divorced for the past two years, and the store was a way for her to interact with people outside the society circuit. Thus far she’d enjoyed the chance to spend time with everyday people. But this was more than she’d bargained for.

“Can you give me any details about what he supposedly did?”

“Not really,” Mann said, speaking up for the first time. “But I can tell you this. It’s an ongoing investigation and time is an issue.”

“Will I be in any danger if I cooperate?” she asked.

“We can put a car at your house for the night,” Sandy said. “The detectives could put you up somewhere in the morning.”

Coletti thought back to the notes and the bodies and the dreams and the feeling that none of it was within his control. “The truth is, we can’t guarantee your safety no matter what we do,” he said with a sigh. “But I can guarantee this: The longer we wait, the more people we put in harm’s way.”

The woman stared at Coletti with a look of concern rather than fear, and just beneath that look, there was an odd sort of exhilaration playing in her eyes. She liked the thought of danger. She liked it a lot.

“Wait here a minute,” she said, unlocking the store.

When she opened the door, the alarm went off. As the beeping echoed in the still night air, she pushed a few buttons on the console beside the door, silencing the alarm.

“Come in,” she said, turning on the lights.