Banfer crossed his legs, tugged a sock up a hairless shin. “Well, that’s good to hear.”

“On the other hand, Floyd, if the employee who recommended her was Qeesha D’Embo, that complicates matters.”

“I’m not familiar with that name.”

“How about Charlene Chambers?”

“Nor that one.”

Milo produced the mug shot.

Banfer sagged.

“How do you know her, Floyd?”

“She represented herself to Jack and Daisy as Simone Chambord. That’s the name Jack and Daisy used to check her out and she came up spotless.”

“When was she hired?”

“Twenty-three months ago.”

Soon after leaving Boise.

I said, “What was she hired for?”

The question seemed to puzzle Banfer. “Child care, of course.” He tapped the photo. “After you showed that to Jack and he called me in a panic, I took a closer look at her. Specifically, I traced the Social Security number she’d used when she applied for the job. It matches a Simone Chambord, all right, but that person turns out to be an eighty-nine-year-old woman living in a rest home in New Orleans. I called over there and the director informed me Mrs. Chambord had advanced Alzheimer’s, had been that way for five years.”

“Jack and Daisy’s search didn’t pull that up?”

“They were focused on relevant criteria. Criminal record, poor credit.”

“Good point,” I said. “Advanced Alzheimer’s would sure inhibit criminality.”

Banfer shook his head. “The potential ramifications for Gold Standard are obvious but no harm was intended.”

Milo said, “Your clients provided a con artist as a nanny for movie stars’ kids, did the same for a woman who ended up dead. Yeah, I’d say those are ramifications.”

“That’s a tiny proportion of all the wonderful people Jack and Daisy have connected with wonderful clients.”

Recited with all the conviction of a gulag loyalty pledge.

I said, “Unfortunately, you’re only as good as your last picture.”

Banfer sighed. “I’ve advised Jack to sit tight, but obviously he’s on pins and needles. To make matters worse, Daisy knew nothing about any of this.”

Milo said, “Unhappy wife, unhappy life.”

“It’s a mess, all right. By the way, I did check out Ms. Betts’s Social Security and it comes back to her. Have I missed something? Because she and Chambord seem an unlikely pairing.”

Milo said, “Nothing crooked has turned up on Adriana.”

“That baby found at the park—those bones—what’s the connection?”

“Don’t know yet, Floyd. That’s why we wanted to talk to Jack and Daisy.”

“Well, they certainly can’t tell you anything about that.”

“Qeesha—Simone—was hired twenty-three months ago. What about Adriana?”

“Recently. Around three, four months ago according to Jack.”

“He can’t be more precise?”

Banfer stared straight ahead.

Milo said, “He destroyed the files?”

“I can’t get into that.”