Mia magnified the photo of Serena, sharpened the edges with her cell phone photo app. “Okay, the shorter guy has light hair, nearly blond. He’s slender, nothing really distinctive about him that I can see. He’s waving his arms, maybe slashing down like he has a sword? Like he’s acting out a character in a video game? And look, Serena is laughing, pretending she’s getting sliced through. I remember Serena told me, when we were coming back from the bathroom, about a guy she met, but I never saw him. She said he was a gamer, like she was. World of Warcraft, that was Serena’s favorite. Her handle was Aolith.” Mia swallowed. “Serena thought Aolith was a magical name.

“Wait, Gail—look closely at the guy with the chunky bracelet. Do you see a sort of notch in his earlobe, like he was wearing an earring and it was ripped off? Or maybe it’s a shadow, can you tell?”

“Okay, maybe, but I can’t be sure. Look, we have only the two photos I shot at one point in the evening. Early? Late? I don’t remember. There were so many of us packed into the frat house, and we were all over the place, including the upstairs bedrooms.” Gail paused a moment. “Mia, I wondered if I should even send you the photos, but I knew I had to. You loved her so much.”

“Thank you, Gail. I’m so glad you did. Now I have to do what I can with them. After Dirk works his magic, I’ll email them back to you, see if they ring any bells.” As she spoke, she was staring at the notch in the larger man’s earlobe and the chunky silver bracelet on his wrist. “Give Lucia a big kiss for finding your old cell phone.”

“Mia, wait! I’ll admit I was hesitant to send them to you because I worried what you’d do, that it could be dangerous. I know you, and I want you to promise me you won’t go playing Lois Lane and haring off after these two men by yourself. Please promise me after this Dirk cleans them up, you’ll give the photos to the police.”

“And tell them what, exactly, Gail?” Mia said. “Serena was murdered, Gail, probably raped. You know as well as I do that’s what happened. I owe her whatever I can do, and right now I can do more than the police can. I promise I’ll be careful, and I’ll give the police whatever I find.” That wasn’t the promise Gail wanted to hear, but it was the best Mia could do.