“That was the medical examiner,” said Ray.

The two men headed up the long walkway to the older home. It was a ranch-style home on a raised lot with huge oak trees in the front yard that made Mason cringe to think about the leaf maintenance. A low white iron fence separated the front patio from the yard. Rust spots dotted its joints. Mason lifted the latch. The screech of the hinges made him shudder.

“Argh,” said Ray, jerking his shoulders. “Now I’m awake.”

“What’d Dr. Rutledge say?” Mason asked.

“The identification came in last night. A girlfriend who was convinced it was AJ Weiss called it in and then went to the examiner’s in person this morning to visually make the ID.”

“Why didn’t the parents do it?”

“The girlfriend told Dr. Rutledge she didn’t want to disturb them unless she was positive. She says the mother has a heart condition.”

“But they know now?”

“Yes, the girlfriend and an officer informed them about an hour ago.”

“Shit. They just found out?” Mason looked at the faded silk flower wreath on the door. It had a small wooden heart in the center that said WELCOME. He took a breath and knocked on the door. “Anything else I need to know?”

“Don’t think so. Rutledge did the autopsy late yesterday. Healthy twenty-six-year-old.”

A young woman with swollen red eyes opened the door and warily studied them. The men held out their identification as Mason made introductions.

“I’m Kari. I was dating AJ,” she said softly. Mason wanted to lean forward to hear her. She was tiny and slight, with long straight dark hair and dark eyes. “His parents aren’t handling this well.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I don’t know if this is the best time to talk to them.” She hadn’t opened the door more than a foot.

“We understand,” said Ray. “But we need answers as quickly as possible—”

“Why? He’s dead. It’s not like you’re trying to track down a suspect.” Her eyes narrowed at them, reminding Mason of a protective mama cat. “You have all the time in the world to talk to his parents. Let them mourn first.”

“Kari,” said Mason, wondering how much to reveal to her. “I know this incident feels like it’s over to you, but it’s not. Yes, AJ is gone, but we need to find out why this happened. We don’t want it to happen again.”

The young woman looked from Mason to Ray. “What are you saying?”

“We’d like to look through AJ’s apartment and see if there’s anything that he’s left behind that will clear up this picture for us.” Mason frowned. “Has anyone else been in there?”

Kari visibly stiffened. “I went in yesterday. We were supposed to meet yesterday afternoon, but he never answered my texts, so I stopped by and let myself in. His parents said they hadn’t heard from him. I called and texted him several times. Then I started thinking about the shooting on the news.”

“Can we come in, Kari? We need to hear what steps you took to figure it out and to talk about AJ.” Mason held her gaze. “I bet you knew him better than his parents.” He held his breath. She didn’t have to talk to them. Neither did the parents, but things were much easier when people simply wanted to help.

She looked over her shoulder again and then back at the detectives. “Just a minute. Let me talk to Pauline.” She closed the door.

Mason and Ray took two steps away from the door. “She better not slow this down,” said Ray.

“I think she’s just overprotective,” said Mason, hoping it was true. “Even the uniform mentioned that the parents were nice people. They must trigger something that makes everyone want to shield them.”

Kari stepped out of the house and closed the door behind her. “Pauline is resting. Roy says he’ll have her ready to talk in about thirty minutes and that you’re welcome to look through AJ’s apartment until then. But he asked that you don’t remove anything without him knowing. It’s this way.” She gestured to the men and pushed open the screeching gate, ignoring its scream. The detectives followed her back to the sidewalk, where she turned into the driveway and then headed down a narrow walkway alongside the house. She stopped at the lone side entrance on the lower level and opened the ancient aluminum screen door. She slipped a key in the doorknob and pushed the door open. She stood back, holding the screen, allowing the detectives to enter first.

Mason removed his hat and stepped inside. The ceilings were low. Claustrophobically low. He didn’t turn on the light switch. Plenty of light was coming in from the kitchen windows that faced east. The apartment was tiny. One bedroom, one bathroom, and a micro-kitchen.

“Shouldn’t you be wearing gloves and foot thingies?” Kari asked, standing outside the open door.

“It’s not a crime scene, right?” said Ray. “Does AJ invite a lot of people over?”

She snorted. “No. More than two people in there and it feels too crowded.”

Mason agreed. “Let’s sit and talk for a few minutes,” he suggested. Kari studied him, and he believed she was about to refuse, but she shrugged and entered.

The three of them sat around AJ’s glass-and-brass dining table. “We’ll put on some gloves before we look around,” Mason said, noticing Kari hadn’t stopped frowning as she watched their hands. “We don’t have a lot of information about AJ yet. Why don’t you tell us how long you’ve known him and what kind of person he was?” Kari looked surprised by the open-ended request. Mason could tell she was a very cautious girl, and distrust continued to radiate from her. His friendly attitude hadn’t won her over.