“So let’s talk about Heather,” Ellie said after Anna had begun to relax. “She was one of your best friends, right?”

“That’s right. Heather and Gretchen and I met the first week of college. Something just clicked between the three of us, and we stayed friends over the years.” Anna reminisced about their days as students, then the early years of their lives after graduation.

With a little gentle prodding, she confirmed what Gretchen had said, that Heather had slept with a number of different men. Yet the picture the two women painted of the lonely woman Heather had been gave Ellie a different perspective.

“She and Kade were completely ill-suited,” Anna said. “Heather was beautiful, but she was very insecure and very needy. Kade needed someone he could depend on.”

“Apparently, she met someone new around the time she disappeared. Did Heather ever mention him?”

“We talked about guys whenever we got together. We’d been best friends since college. Some things don’t change.”

“So you knew she was seeing someone.”

“I knew she’d been seeing the same guy for a while, but I’m pretty sure their affair had ended. I know she’d recently met someone while she was skiing with us in Vail. I don’t know if they ever hooked up.”

Same thing Gretchen had said. “Did she mention his name?”

“No. I just remember her talking about him one day after we’d been on the slopes. I know she was excited about seeing him again, though.”

“What about the other guy, the one she’d been involved with before?”

Anna looked down at the hands resting in her lap. “It was a long time ago. I don’t want to get him in trouble.”

“You wouldn’t have agreed to see me if you didn’t want to find Heather’s killer. I give you my word I won’t tell anyone unless I find out he had something to do with her death.”

“You can’t tell Kade,” Anna said, looking up at her.

“I won’t tell Kade unless I have no other choice. I promise.”

“She had an affair with Glen Carver.”

The sheriff? Ellie’s pulse took a leap.

“Glen wasn’t sheriff eight years ago, just an Eagle County deputy. I don’t know how serious it was between them, or exactly when it ended, but I know Heather was involved with him for at least a couple of months.”

Ellie had sensed something off about Carver. Now she knew what it was.

“You think it was her idea to end it, or his?”

“It was always Heather’s idea. She was married to Kade. I don’t think she ever planned to leave him.”

“She must have been surprised when he filed for divorce.”

“Part of her was devastated. In her own way she loved him. Another part seemed wildly relieved.”

“Maybe she felt a sense of freedom she’d never had before.”