Evan’s jaw tightened. “Tanya was the mother of my child. And now that child is missing. Who knows what kind of situation Letty has gotten her into? Maya is only four. She’s very sensitive and high-strung. She was seeing a therapist even before all of this.”

“Why not just let the police find Letty and Maya?” Vikki asked. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m happy to take your money, but be straight with me here. This isn’t just about finding the person who killed Tanya, and it’s not just about the kid. Am I right?”

He sipped his coffee and then carefully composed his answer.

“As I mentioned on the phone, Letty worked for me, until I met Tanya. She was privy to some, uh, confidential business arrangements, and then, while Tanya and I were living together, she obviously was around all the time, while I was doing business, talking to associates, that kind of thing. She asked a lot of questions. Tanya was a head case, but she was no dummy.”

“Ohhhhh,” Vikki said, nodding. “Letty and Tanya knew the dirty details about the Airbnbs, and you were afraid they’d spill the beans to the city. Am I right?”

“Not in so many words,” Evan said. “Tanya was determined to move out to LA. She thought she’d get more acting jobs there. I was happy to let her go.…”

“And get her out of your hair, and off your payroll,” Vikki interrupted. “But she wanted to take the kid. And you weren’t having it.”

“Tanya was just out of rehab. Booze and pills. She was … unbalanced. And Maya’s own therapist—the one Tanya insisted she see, by the way—thought the move to LA was a bad idea. A kid that age needs structure and routine.”

“Which you would have provided?”

Evan glared at her. “What’s this got to do with finding Letty and Maya?”

“I like to know all the underlying issues,” she said.

“These are the issues. Tanya is dead. My daughter is missing and I want her returned to me.”

“Let’s say I find them. What happens next?”

“You tell me where they are. I’ll handle the rest.”

Vikki took another bite of bagel. She chewed, swallowed, dabbed at her lips with a napkin, and then frowned. “What’s that mean? Handle? I don’t like the sound of that.”

“It means I want to talk to Letty before the police do. I just need to make her understand that anything she thinks she might know about my business is confidential, and it needs to stay that way.”

“Not sure I like the sound of that either. But back to Letty. Where was she living after she stopped working for you?”

“Brooklyn. But I’ve been to her place, there’s nothing to see.”

“You went to her apartment and searched it?”

“That’s right.”

“Do I want to know how you got in?”