“Whoa, whoa, hold it right there.” Lerner pushed himself away from his desk. He stood, facing Rivas, who stared back at him implacably. “I don’t appreciate this.”

“How about if you sit down?” Rivas said.

“Is he going to sit down?” Lerner gestured toward Frames.

“Don’t worry about him. Just sit down.”

Rivas waited until Lerner was seated. The problem with secrets, he thought, is they pile up inside us and become another person living in our skin, like a second life that, after a while, we can’t tell from our own. “Let’s start with this,” he said. “You told Detective Frames that Elise Durand was unpredictable. In what way?”

“We’re in the image business. We have to be super-conscious of how we look to our clients. Our customers—wineries, banks, car dealers, doctor offices—are aware of their public image. Elise was a gifted artist, but she had some habits at odds with our office policies. She wore inappropriate clothing to the workplace. Very short skirts. Lingerie tops. And with the clients, she’d act out.”

“Act out?”

“Make off-color jokes, flirt. When she was in one of her manic swings, we never knew what to expect.”

“Did you talk to her about it?”

“Of course, but it was awkward for me…as a man and her boss. Usually, I had my admin speak to her. Anyway, my point is, I think she may have…come to the attention of men, and maybe that had something to do with what happened to her.”

“What sort of men?” Frames crossed the room and sat next to Rivas. “Are we talking about one of your clients?”

“I don’t know. I’m just speculating, trying to be helpful.”

“Oh, great,” Frames said, “now you’re trying to be helpful.”

Rivas took a photo from a file folder on his lap. “This is from Elise Durand’s Facebook page. You know this man?”

Lerner looked at the photo without touching it. “No, I don’t think I do.”

“You’re sure?” Rivas watched Lerner. It was almost over. Liars always give it up in the end. Just as one day Teresa would discover his dreams, just by looking into his eyes.

Lerner smiled tightly. “I just said so.”

“We’re going to take Elise’s hard drive,” Rivas said. “When we’re finished here, you’ll need to show us where it is.”

“Is that really necessary? It has our client files. Don’t you need a court order?”

“Do you want to go through that—with the publicity and all?”

“Publicity?” Lerner looked incredulous. “What publicity?”

“One thing,” Frames said. “If we ask your admin if you were in Elise’s cubicle this morning, what’s she going to say?”

“I don’t know. I may have gone there this morning. Why?”

“Because if you removed anything from Ms. Durand’s hard drive, it would constitute obstruction of an investigation, which is a misdemeanor.”