“Owen found her. He told me and I came with him. That’s when I saw Maddie for the first time. She was having breakfast in this dining room.”

Maddie sat forward in her chair. “When was this?”

“Months ago.”

Maddie visibly tensed. Her whole body stiffened. “After summer.”

The pieces made sense. Connor didn’t know all the facts and he could put them together. “When the notes started.”

Daria frowned. “What notes?”

Ben’s frown matched hers. “How long have you been on Whitaker?”

“A few days.”

“And you didn’t call Maddie or talk with anyone other than Owen?”

“I got here and wanted to . . . watch her.” Daria waved her hand in the air. “I didn’t have a solid plan. It was about collecting information and seeing what Owen was seeing.”

Connor scoffed. “Because that’s not creepy.”

“I’m going to need specifics from you and an official statement, but let’s go back to Owen. What else was he supposed to do for you?” Ben asked.

“That’s it.” Daria threw up her hands. “Find her. End of my story and how I got here.”

“Then why is Owen dead?”

Daria slowly lowered her hands. The sarcastic edge to her questions and replies vanished. “I was hoping Maddie could answer that. Needless to say, when that happened I became less inclined to knock on her door. I’ve been hiding in the house we rented, trying to figure out what to do next.”

Ben sighed. “You should have come to me.”

“I don’t exactly trust police and investigators right now.”

Connor understood that reaction. The rest of the situation and all the facts and questions spinning around were harder to track.

“I didn’t touch him.” Maddie shook her head. “I didn’t even know who he was or that he was connected to you.”

Ben exhaled before diving in again. “What do you think is happening here? Spell it out for us so we can see your side of this.”

“Maddie pulled off a pretty spectacular scam back home. Now she’s willing to do anything to protect the secrets she has.” Daria’s body language shut down. She went from lounging in her chair, crossed legs with her foot bobbing up and down, to still. Both feet dropped to the floor and she sat up straighter. Her hands balled into fists on her lap.

“Scam?” Maddie sounded stunned at the accusation.

“I’m no longer convinced you’re as innocent as you claimed.”

“Why would you think that?” Connor asked, because it was the question that wouldn’t leave him. It felt like Maddie held something back, something big. Maybe Daria sensed that, too.

But Daria kept her gaze locked on Maddie. “Who really killed Owen? I know it wasn’t me and you’re the only one with big secrets.”