Lerner sank in his chair. “Shit, you guys are just going to keep fucking with me, aren’t you?” He bit his lip and looked out the office window. “All right, look…that guy…the one in the Facebook photo, his name’s Christopher Bennett. He’s a client. He runs two dental offices, one here and another in Petaluma. We create print and TV campaigns for him. Elise did all the graphics. Apparently, Chris and Elise had a relationship. I didn’t find out until…recently.”

“A relationship?” Rivas asked.

“Whatever you call it. I don’t know. I saw them in his car one time in the parking garage. They were…together…kissing. Sometimes Elise came back from lunch, and her clothes and hair were messed up. It was pretty clear what was going on. I should’ve addressed it, but there you are.”

“Sounds like we need to talk to Dr. Bennett.” Rivas stood to leave.

“I just want you to know that the reason I didn’t say anything to you earlier is I’m sure Chris didn’t have anything to do with this other…killing thing. He’s a—”

“Dentist?” Frames said.

Lerner shook his head. “I was going to say family man.”

Chapter Sixteen

(i)

(WEDNESDAY, 12:10 P.M.)

Kate stood in the doorway to Mahler’s office. She held out a wrapped sandwich. “Spiro’s Greek Deli. The Number Seven. The Stroke Victim. Meat loaf and bacon on a soft roll, with purple onions, pepperoncini, whole-grain mustard. Extra salt. No goddamned lettuce. No frigging tomatoes. And no mother-fucking sprouts. Did I get that right?”

Mahler smiled. “How’d you get in here?”

Kate sat down in the chair that faced Mahler’s desk. She put the sandwich on a pile of folders. “I bought a Number Three for Cindy in the lobby. She’ll do anything for me, at least for the next twenty minutes.”

She reached into a bag and took out a boxed salad. Her red-brown hair was longer than he remembered. With one hand, she pulled her hair away from her freckled face and looked at him. It was a gesture he had seen a thousand times.

“What?” she said. “Has it been that long?”

“A while.”

“I’m the same girl, Eddie.”

He nodded and looked down at his sandwich. He tore off the tape. “You hear what we got?”

“Whole city’s heard what you got, Eddie. Even poorly paid attorneys like me. That’s why I’m here. You forget to eat when you’re on one of these things. Go on. You’re allowed. I’ll join you.”

Mahler unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite. “Some things don’t change,” he said.

“Are we talking about me again?”

“Actually, I was thinking of the Number Seven.”

Kate leaned forward. “How’s the headache?”

“Is it that obvious?”