“Nice place,” Adam said, as she unlocked her front door and led him in.

She noted the way he looked at the house. He was probably thinking she had no alarm system and that the wraparound porch might allow entry through a dozen windows.

“It’s very safe here,” she said, as if he had spoken aloud. “And you met my alarm system. Jerry, Mitch and Ben. They would do anything for me.”

“Dogs are vulnerable, just like people,” he said.

“Ah, well... Can I get you something? Coffee?”

“Let’s just sit for a minute, shall we?” he asked.

“Okay. Yes. Sure. Let’s get to this.”

She led him into the kitchen and dining area, indicating they could sit at the table.

He drummed his fingers on the table for a moment but then got right to the point.

“It really upset me when neither we nor anyone else seemed to be able to discover the truth behind the murder of your parents.”

“George Calabria later went to trial for the murders of a couple in Orlando. There are those who are convinced he got away with murder twice.”

“But you don’t believe that.”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“There was another couple on the boat. They disappeared.”

“According to public record, they were nonexistent,” Adam reminded Katie.

“Right. Except they existed. I’ve said it over and over again. And I know at the time people believed I was traumatized, that I wanted to believe someone else was to blame, that I couldn’t accept George was guilty.”

“I don’t think people thought you were making it up. It was just, on record, they didn’t exist. Trying to find out anything about them was a challenge for lots of law-enforcement officials.”

“They existed.”

“So either they were murdered but thrown into the water to disappear or they did the murdering.”

“That’s my assumption, yes. I think they were the murderers because, while no one was sharing information of the investigation with a fifteen-year-old, I never let it go, and I heard they didn’t find any blood belonging to anyone other than my parents and Anita Calabria on the boat. I know forensic teams—including FBI teams—went over the boat with a fine-tooth comb.”

“Yes.”

“They were your teams, I take it?”

“Not at the time, but yes, I had something to do with it.”

“Why don’t I know you?”

“You did meet me—but you were three or four at the time.”

“Ah. Why didn’t you see more of my parents?”