Niki went to the edge of the pool. It had been sixteen years since Richard Balentine died there, so she knew she would find nothing of evidentiary value—but she looked anyway. “Has Gavin ever had any girlfriends that you know of?” Niki asked.

“I’m sure he has,” Amy said. “But that’s another thing I don’t keep tabs on. A boy needs his privacy.”

“Excuse me for saying this,” Niki said, “but it sounds like you and Gavin weren’t all that close.”

“We’re very close,” Amy said, her nervousness momentarily replaced by indignation. “He’s my only child. I just don’t pry into his life, that’s all. His affairs are his affairs.”

“Do you and Gavin talk much?” Niki asked, turning from the pool to face the woman.

“I guess, maybe once a month or so.”

“And he never told you about dating any girls?”

“Oh, I’m sure he told me, but I’m no good at remembering stuff like that.”

Niki took a couple steps toward the wilting Amy Spencer, closing the gap to about four feet, holding Amy’s attention so that she could read the woman’s eyes. “Did he ever mention a woman named Chloe Ludlow?”

“Chloe Ludlow? I don’t…That name doesn’t ring a bell.”

“It would have been about two years ago.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“What about Virginia Mercotti?”

“I can’t say I remember that name either.”

“She also went by Ginny. Would have been about four years ago.”

“I don’t think I can help you with that.”

“Did he ever date a girl named Eleanora Abrams?”

Amy looked at Matty, then at the ground. “What’s this all about, anyway?”

“Eleanora Abrams? Does that name mean anything to you?”

Amy tried to hold her gaze on Niki but failed. “Of course not.” She smiled as her eyes fell away, laying bare the knots that twisted inside of her. “I told you, I don’t keep tabs.”

“That’s strange,” Matty said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper, then handed it to Amy. “Because I have a police report here that says you threw a hot cup of coffee on Eleanora Abrams at a homecoming dance.”

Amy didn’t bother reading the report. “That was a long time ago.” Her cheeks turned red as she crumpled the paper into a wad and threw it to the concrete. “What does any of that have to do with Gavin now? It didn’t mean nothing.”

“You assaulted a fourteen-year-old girl. That’s not nothing.”

Anger flared in Amy’s eyes. “She treated him like shit. A mother’s supposed to protect her child, ain’t she? And the cops didn’t charge me because they saw the truth. That girl was a mean little bitch and deserved more than what I gave her.”

“Is that why you lied to the police?” Niki said. “To protect Gavin?”

“You’re twisting my words.”

Niki turned back to the pool, walking to the edge again. “Is this where Richard died?” She looked over her shoulder and saw Amy on the verge of apoplexy. Her lip had curled up into a snarl and her cheeks blazed with color.