Watching her walk away, Mahler spoke again. “Detective Somers, remember in our interview with Partridge, he mentioned his current girlfriend, Lorin Albright?”

Eden nodded.

“Go and talk to her. Let’s see what she has to say about Partridge.”

“You want me to take Daniel or Martin with me?”

“No. Go by yourself. She’s more likely to talk to you alone.”

(ii)

(WEDNESDAY, 10:45 A.M.)

Mahler recognized the voice on the phone as the police officer in Pennsylvania he’d spoken to a few hours earlier—Detective Sergeant Joseph Warringer of the Montgomery Township Police. “Lieutenant Mahler, I’m getting back to you on your request for a death notification.”

Out of habit, Mahler tried to picture the man. It was not a young man’s voice. “I appreciate your taking the time.”

“We’re a small department, but we try to get right on something like this.”

“Thanks. It’s an active homicide investigation.”

“Sure thing. After your call, I drove out to the address for your victim’s mother, Carol Durand. I’ll email you a report, but I thought you’d want to hear this.”

Mahler knew he’d given the officer a crap assignment. Based on a murder investigation that wasn’t his own, three thousand miles away, Warringer had to deliver news to a stranger that ruined her life. If she asked questions, he had very few answers.

Mahler saw Warringer in his mind. Late forties, sitting straight, both elbows on the desktop. “You spoke with her in person?”

“Yes, sir. I guess you could say it was lucky. She works in an office a few miles away, and she came home for lunch. Otherwise, I’d still be chasing her.”

“Yeah, that was lucky.”

“Soon as I identified myself, she knew something was up. Right away, she had a kind of fearful look. Times like that, I wish I wasn’t as big as I am. Scares women. Not much you can do about that, is there?”

“No, there isn’t.” Mahler saw the other man’s height and broad shoulders.

“Anyway, I got her to sit down and informed her of her daughter’s death. I tried to keep it simple. Told her what I know, which isn’t much.”

“We’re just at the beginning of this thing.”

“I told her that. Said it appeared to be a homicide, and the local police were involved. She broke down pretty good then.”

“Was she alone?”

“She was. Just the two of us there. I did my best. Asked if someone could be with her, but she said no. She lives alone.”

“We only had contact information for the victim’s mother,” Mahler said. He heard papers rustling on Warringer’s end. Paper-and-pen man, Mahler thought. Not using a tablet yet. He was starting to like Warringer.