I froze.
Mercer turned first.
“What did you say?”
Denise looked over her shoulder.
Howard still wasn’t there.
She lowered her voice.
“I saw that photograph months ago.”
Mercer’s eyes narrowed.
“How?”
“My sister showed it to me.”
Mom.
My throat tightened.
“When?”
“Three weeks before the fire.”
The hallway seemed to tilt.
“What did she say?”
“She asked if I knew why Howard had been near the house.”
“And?”
“I told her I didn’t.”
“Was that true?”
Denise hesitated.
That was answer enough.
I stepped toward her.
“What was he doing?”
“I don’t know everything.”
“Then tell me what you do know.”
She looked terrified.
Not of me.
Of someone behind me.
I turned.
Howard had emerged from the elevator lobby.
He saw Denise talking to us.
His face hardened.
Denise whispered quickly.
“Your father had something Howard needed.”
“What?”
“A ledger.”
Howard started walking toward us.
“What ledger?”
