The first time Haggerty contacted me was back in late April, a few weeks after Billy’s arraignment. He said he was a cop, but DeFiore never mentioned his name, so I didn’t call back. Soon he was texting me like a possessive boyfriend, so I did some digging. Turned out Haggerty is from Manhattan, a detective in the 16th Precinct, Special Victims Unit. (It’s real? Who knew?) Knowing he was bad news, I told myself to stay away. And I did, for months—until today, when the doorman announced that a cop was here. Again, points to Haggerty for tenacity and strategic maneuvering.

Admittedly, I was curious. So I invited Haggerty up, welcomed him in, and before you could solve B I L L Y Q U I N N W A S F R A M E D, he and I were sitting at my farm table, sweating our balls off.

“Start from the beginning,” Haggerty instructed. “Don’t think, just talk.” Bossy, bossy, boom, boom.

I offered my most winning smile, but he stared back with those dead eyes. He’s a different animal than most men, neither feral nor submissive. Haggerty is negative space.

“Which beginning?” I asked. “It’s an epic story, goes back generations.”

“Any beginning, doesn’t matter.” He was watching me. Normally, I relish this, but the way he latched on was unnerving. “Pick a spot, any spot.”

I started with Nate’s phone call. Seemed as good a place as any. But soon Haggerty was steering the conversation away from Billy and peppering me with questions about CW and Rachel, Spence, Columbia, Yale—my whole life, basically.

“What do I have to do with Billy’s case?” I asked after a while.

“Maybe everything. Maybe nothing. Trying to decide which.” He sat back. “So, tell me again why you ran away from home.”

“I didn’t run away. I’m forging a path. Striking out on my own. Chasing a dream. All the clichés.”

“What about the family foundation?”

“I’ll work there eventually. It’s why I’m going to graduate school. I didn’t just pull political science out of the air, Detective. I’m interested in language and rhetoric. I plan to study how it’s used as a corrupting influence, particularly in rich countries that hijack and subvert messages. This way, when I do join the foundation, I can make a tangible difference. I don’t want to be another vacant, pampered rich girl ‘working for my dad’”—I make air quotes—“while I wait for a husband.”

“Noted.” He nodded. “And the man?”

“Is that a question?”

“You said you also left a relationship, one that was bad for you. Dangerous, even.”

“Who hasn’t, Detective? We’re all trying to outrun a cunning bad boy, aren’t we?”

“Tell me about him, about Marcus Silver.”

“He’s no one. No one important.”