The two laughed and waved him off.
It was a comfortable lunch, sorting out the lives of people Evie knew only in passing. Ann was good at matching people up, had a track record suggesting her instincts were solid for who would click together. Lori Nesbitt and Nathan Lewis were on Ann’s list of people to connect.
Evie got Ann to confirm Lori was retired, but couldn’t get confirmation on it being from law enforcement. She accepted the counsel to let it go. Ann kept secrets, and would be keeping Lori’s for the duration. But it was fun to wonder about the woman’s true story. Given Ann’s particular circle of friends, Lori could be someone who had worked for WITSEC, or she could just as likely be similar to the Grayson brother, leaving an organized-crime family behind, now in witness protection herself, rebuilding a new life in Chicago. Whatever her story, Lori was an intriguing person, of that Evie was certain. Ann didn’t put someone next to Nathan she didn’t trust and deeply like.
Evie used her teeth to remove a stuck glove, slipped out of her coat, glad to be back in the office.
“How’d it go with Jenna’s sister?” David asked from a desk where he’d set himself up near the office windows.
“Surprisingly, Marla confirmed Candy’s take on Jenna.” Evie raided a bowl of pretzels before walking over. “Candy’s basic charge against Jenna,” she continued, “is that she came in and stole her boyfriend. Jenna’s sister, in more polite words, said that was exactly what Jenna would do if the right situation presented itself. Jenna liked guys and had the ‘good girl’ image to dangle out there. Without it being too obvious, she caught more than her fair share.”
“A predator with a nice smile,” David replied, intrigued.
“Well, an opportunist at least. I’m guessing someone besides Candy didn’t like Jenna getting her hooks into her boyfriend and so went after Jenna.”
“Steve was out of town that weekend,” David recalled. “If Jenna had someone else she was involved with, odds are decent she talked with him that Friday. Maybe the girlfriend overheard the conversation, was there to confront Jenna when she got home from the concert.”
Evie nodded. “That could be the scenario.” She nodded to the box of photo albums and scrapbooks Jenna had put together. “I’m going to sort through the photos Jenna decided to keep, see if I can find some casual shots suggesting one or more ‘other guy.’ She didn’t want to lose Steve, but she wasn’t ready to quit with flirting—maybe another version of catch-and-release?”
David grinned at her humor. She looked curiously at his laptop screen. “Lucas Pitch?”
“Tammy’s boyfriend is now a concert promoter in Ohio. I’ve got an interview with him by Skype in—” he glanced at his watch—“twenty-eight minutes.”
“Nice.”
“If Tammy was taking off on her own that Sunday night, it makes sense she might have been in touch with her high school boyfriend, or she might have looked him up as part of her travels. He was living here in Chicago at the time, working at a music shop off Kliborne Avenue.”
Evie looked to the two whiteboards, where the five possible case details were laid out as a grid. “You remove Tammy, it puts them all going to college. You remove Jenna, it’s even tighter.”
“The missing driver’s licenses say Jenna is linked to the three whose bodies were recovered,” David said. “I think she’ll match there rather than be a stand-alone.”
“Maybe. We need the case before Jenna. It’ll be something more subtle than a disappearance, but it’s back there. An assault, a B&E—something.”
“Search B&Es around your college and pursue pickpocket arrests. Go back in time on this guy. Start looking for what he was doing when he was fourteen through twenty.”
“I’ll put my time there next,” Evie agreed.
“I told Maggie we’d come by this evening about seven,” David mentioned.
Evie wished she had known that when she got dressed this morning. She looked okay, but just okay.
David must have read her expression and said, “You look fine—Maggie goes casual whenever she can.”
“I need to get that housewarming gift.”
“You can take a rain check on that. She’ll be flying back to New York Monday morning. A plant would die on her before she’s in town for good.”
“I’ll get her something nice later then.” Evie went back to her desk. “We’re going to find this guy, David,” she said over her shoulder. “Before you have to tell Maggie someone has been targeting women at Triple M concerts.”