They followed Jessica to the living room. Hardwood floors, dark purple floral sofas, and a flat-screen TV on a dark wood stand in the corner. A small fireplace filled the far side of the room. Above, a mantle painted gray was adorned with photographs. The room was nicely decorated and tidy, though when Nate peered through to the kitchen, he saw snack wrappers and soda cans on the counter.

Marisa sat on the couch, and he sat beside her. Jessica chose a chair catty-corner. "Is Charles in trouble again? Last I heard, he was still in prison."

"He is," Nate said. "We're on a bit of a quest."

Her expression told him what she thought about quests.

"You and Charles were an item before he was arrested, isn't that right?"

"Are you a cop or something?"

He shook his head. "No. I'm sorry, I should have explained. This is Marisa Vega"—he nodded in her direction—"and I'm Nate Boyle. I'm a reporter. I wrote a series of stories about the fraud at G&K."

"You're the guy who took the company down."

"No, not at all. I just wrote a few stories. The feds took them down."

Jessica jutted her chin in Marisa's direction. "Why is your name familiar?"

"I was engaged to Vinnie Depalo."

"You're the one they think stole the money!"

Nate noted the qualifier—they think, she'd said. Maybe Jessica would be more helpful than Anderson had been.

Marisa sat straighter. "I didn't steal it."

"We're trying to figure out who did."

Jessica yanked her glasses off her head, pulling a few hairs with it. "Everybody thinks you did it."

"I didn't," Marisa said.

"Didn't you escape the country or something? Why are you back?"

"I ran because I thought Charles would try to kill me, the way he killed Vinnie."

Jessica's gaze softened just a bit. "Charles can't have meant for your boyfriend to die. At the trial, he said he was only trying to scare him."

"You believe that?" Nate asked.

"Charles was no killer. Sure, he broke the law, but mortgage fraud isn't murder."

"People will go to great lengths to stay out of prison."

"Not Charles." She shook her head, and the bun on top wobbled. "Not that."

Nate nodded and leaned forward a bit. "You two were pretty close."

She didn't say anything. Nate didn't either, and the moment got uncomfortable. After a minute, he said, "Do you keep in touch with him?"

She scoffed. "Are you kidding? The guy's a felon."

"He was a felon when you were with him. He just hadn't been convicted yet."

"I didn't know. He was rich. How was I supposed to know he was breaking the law?"

"So he never confided in you?"

"Nothing like that."

"Even when he feared he might be in trouble? Even after Vinnie died, he never told you anything?"