“I understand,” Pete said. “The connection with this Pensky fellow may be entirely innocent. High school buddy lives in Reno? No big deal. She knows she’ll be in town for this conference so she sets up a meeting to say howdy and catch up on old times. I suspect there might be something more, but we’re not going to know unless I’m authorized to act.”

“Shit.”

“No need to assume the worst. There’s probably more to it than meets the eye, but from what I observed, I don’t believe it’s anything of a romantic nature.”

“What is it then?” Willard sorted through the pages a second time and then studied the copies of the black-and-white photos from the high school yearbook. His complexion, ruddy by nature, now looked like he’d spent too much time under a heat lamp.

“I wouldn’t want to speculate. She ever mention this Pensky fellow?”

“No.”

“She might have looked him up when she got to Reno, on the off chance he was still in town. Old high school chum, a classmate. Nothing wrong with that.”

“But look how intense they are.”

“Fellow might have marital issues. Had you thought of that? She calls him to say hi, letting him know she’s in town, he might have jumped at the idea of having a confidante.”

“Is he married?”

“Records check is next on my list if you decide to proceed. I didn’t have a chance to go over to the Washoe County courthouse while I was there. Enough going on at the hotel that I felt my time was better spent on the premises.”

“What am I supposed to do now?”

“Up to you,” Pete said. “Phone calls in the bedroom with the door shut? I don’t like the sound of that.” He paused to shake his head. “Easiest solution is to install a bug.”

“Stop saying that. I don’t like spying on her. It’s not right.”

“It’s a little late to fret when you have a guy like me chasing all the way to Reno to take photographs. What’s the point of stopping short when it might all be easily explained?”

Willard sank into a brooding silence.

Pete had to suppress his impatience. Here he was spoon-feeding the fellow, coaxing him toward the obvious conclusion. Nothing as persuasive as a self-generated decision even if it was Pete nudging him in the right direction. Let Willard think he’d come up with it on his own. Pete grew uneasy, wondering if he’d pushed the man too hard. “Believe me, I understand where you’re coming from. You love your wife, so it’s natural to want to maintain trust. At the same time, I can think of other explanations for what seems troublesome.”

“Such as what?”