Another jolt to my system. They don’t think Lena is at her aunt’s house, and there’s blood on my sweatpants, and, oh please God, don’t let it be Lena’s. We’d spent so many hours talking, talking, talking, and about what? I knew her opinions on every television show we’d watched, on the merits of triple sec versus orange juice, and I knew tons of details about her childhood, but they were vague, unpleasant. “I know she grew up in Arkansas. I think her aunt was the only family she was close to. She wasn’t on social media, except for the business.”

“No idea where else she might have traveled?”

“She said she wanted to go someplace tropical for a second honeymoon. She and Brady didn’t get a real first one, and she wanted to go someplace like Hawaii or the Virgin Islands.” Not a cruise. I could hear Lena’s voice in my head: Floating cesspools of forced fun? Hard pass. But she’d liked the idea of an all-inclusive resort. With Brady, anyway. Even the thought of his smile with its bared teeth made me shudder.

“No idea who else she might have been in contact with?”

“She never really mentioned anyone else. She …” How could I explain who Lena was without sounding like I hadn’t known her at all? “She lived in the moment. Even when she talked about the past, it was just a fleeting thing, unspecific. Her business, her husband, their clients, the Bluebonnet Club, that was pretty much her social world.”

“What’s the Bluebonnet Club?”

“It’s a social group. We raise money for charity.”

She gave a little nod, and I felt like a complete dilettante. Helpless to save Michael or Lena, too stupid for a real job, just a lightweight. As if she could read my thoughts, Alondra winked. Of course, the club was where I’d met Alondra. And no one would consider her a bored housewife.

“Have you tried to get in touch with Lena?” I asked. “Isn’t she at her aunt’s house?”

The detective didn’t respond, and Grace squirmed against my embrace.

“Alondra,” I whispered.

“Later,” she mouthed back. Then, a little louder, she said, “I think my client has been more than cooperative. Given that she and her daughter have been here since two this morning, and given that she is neither a witness nor a suspect, don’t you agree that it’s time to send her home?”

I expected Detective Clark to protest, but instead she raised an eyebrow at Alondra. “I think you may be right, counselor. As long as Mrs. Tremaine remains available to assist our investigation as needed and refrains from speaking to the press, I think she should be clear to return to her home for now.”