That brought a smile to Joe’s face. Lila smiled too, even though, in her heart, she felt the weight of her lies. How was she going to be okay? She pulled Joe in, wrapping her arms around him before he could notice the deception in her eyes.

Chapter 40

Alice Kempker wanted to meet with Niki Vang at a coffee shop rather than her house. Niki was more than happy to oblige, choosing a café on Southeast Main Street, a quaint and quiet place with outdoor seating where they could enjoy the morning sun and watch people stroll by on the cobblestone sidewalk. The place had a true old-town feel and just happened to look out over the Mississippi River at the spot where Chloe Ludlow would have floated by after Gavin Spencer killed her. The roar of St. Anthony Falls was unmistakable in the distance.

Niki arrived before Kempker and used the time to walk to the river, slipping into Spencer’s world. Niki imagined Spencer’s panic as he’d watched Sadie Vauk start to swim, heading toward the power plant instead of the falls. In trying to reach her he would have driven right past where she now stood. Niki looked at the line of shops and bars along Southeast Main and saw no cameras. The Sex Crimes unit had already canvassed the area for witnesses and footage, coming up with only a single shot of the Bronco, taken from a distance.

She could see the cameras of the power plant a block away, white bobbles stretching out at the corners of the building. With the abundance of outdoor lighting at the power plant, Spencer would have seen the cameras as well and ended his pursuit. He might have even parked within a few yards of where Niki now stood to watch the security guard pull Sadie from the river. Niki had scoured the footage from the plant and found nothing more than the shine of headlights in the periphery.

As she listened to the water churning in the distance, a woman in her late twenties hesitantly approached. Niki recognized her from her driver’s license photo as Alice Kempker.

“Ms. Kempker, I’m Detective Vang.”

Kempker held out a hand to shake, but extended no pleasantry beyond that, not even the slightest hint of a smile. The woman had pretty eyes, green like olives, but the rest of her carried a plainness that murmured, Leave me alone.

A waiter showed the two women to an outdoor table and took their orders for coffee.

“I appreciate you meeting with me like this,” Niki said. “I only have a few questions.”

“I don’t know what more I could say that I didn’t tell your people two years ago.”

“I understand, but we’re taking a fresh look at the case. Just making sure that nothing was overlooked.”

“Fine, what do you want to know?”

Niki opened her pad of paper. “Chloe had been your roommate for how long?”

“About six months.”

“How would you describe your relationship?”