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“Yes,” Nora said simply. She and Ava waited, wanting the mother to fill the silence. Regina’s surprise felt genuine.

Regina slumped back in her chair, her bangle bracelets jingling. “He didn’t say a word to me,” she said. “He saw these men killed?”

“We believe so.”

“But four? All at once?” she asked.

“No, three happened recently, but Vance Weldon was killed over a week ago.”

Regina sat up straight, alarm on her face. “Vance Weldon?” she gasped.

“You know him?” Ava asked sharply. The woman had paled under her makeup.

“Yes, yes, I know—I knew Vance. Oh, my God.” She pressed her hands against her forehead and peered at the investigators. “Vance worked for the FBI. Is that who you’re talking about?”

“Yes,” said Ava as dread grew in the back of her throat. “How did you know him?”

I don’t know if I want to hear her answer.

Regina looked away, her palms still covering part of her face. “I can’t believe this,” she muttered, and Ava saw tears run down her cheeks.

“How did you know Special Agent Weldon?” Ava asked in a firmer voice.

Bloodshot eyes met hers. “He was a good friend.” She held Ava’s gaze.

“You had an affair with him,” Ava stated. If Regina wouldn’t say it out loud, she would.

Regina looked away. “It was a long time ago.” She seemed to wilt into her chair.

“How long ago?” Nora asked.

“Three years? Four? I haven’t heard from him since then.” Her gaze stayed on the floor, more tears running. “He was a good man.”

“Did you know Denny Schefte, Louis Samuelson, or Lucien Fujioka?” Ava asked. Is she a black widow? But her son kills the lovers instead?

Regina shook her head, not looking up. “Never heard of them.”

Ava exhaled. I watch too many movies.

“Ms. Zuch.” Nora paused. “Micah came in and confessed to killing these men, do you—”

“He what?” The lashes nearly touched her eyebrows.

“Do you believe Micah could kill Vance Weldon?” Nora asked. Her voice was steady, her eye contact deadly serious.

“No, no, of course not! Micah wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

Ava saw doubt flash in Regina’s eyes, but she instantly controlled it.

“My boy wouldn’t hurt anyone! He’s a good boy!” Regina’s voice shot up an octave.

“Regina,” Ava said in a lower voice. “We don’t believe Micah killed these men, but we’re concerned because he knows so much information about the deaths. He knows facts that only someone who was there could know.”

Regina held her gaze, her chest rising and falling with her rapid breaths. “You don’t believe he killed them? You’re not lying to me, right? Are you trying to trick me into saying something?”

“No. Can you tell us why he’d try to make us think he did it?” Ava asked kindly. The grown-up mean girl had vanished and in her place sat a terrified mother.

“I don’t understand,” she whispered. “Who confesses to something like that? I need to see him.” She half rose out of her chair. “Take me to him.”

“Now, Ms. Zuch, we—”

“Take me to him!” she shouted, anxiety shaking her voice. “You’re holding my boy!”

“Ms. Zuch, Micah is an adult. He’s here of his own choosing,” said Ava, standing to look Regina in the eye. “You understand that when someone admits he killed someone, we need to know the whole story. We have four families whose loved ones have been murdered. Micah is our first solid lead. We’re going to get every ounce of information we can out of him, so we can find out who did this.”

Regina was silent, studying Ava’s face, searching for lies.

“Is he going to be okay?” she whispered.

“We want him to tell us how he knows facts about the murders,” said Ava. “Can you convince him to tell us?”

Regina sat down in her chair, defeat in her face. “No, he hates me. He doesn’t listen to a word I tell him. I can’t even get him to put his dishes in the dishwasher. He seems to take pride in never doing what I ask. It’s like a game for him.”

“I’m very sorry,” Ava said. Inside she was shaking her head. This was a case of a kid who’d needed some tough love long ago. “Can you tell me how you met Vance Weldon? Did Micah know him very well?”

“I think Micah only met him once or twice. He couldn’t have known we were having an affair.”

You’d be surprised what your kids know. The face of Vance’s widow, Sharon Weldon, flashed in Ava’s mind and she remembered Sharon had said during their interview that if Vance had had affairs, she hadn’t known about it. That was different from claiming her husband had never had affairs. A subtle choice of words. Looking back, Ava believed Sharon had suspicions. Did Sharon know Regina Zuch? Did she know Micah?

“I met Vance at one of those basketball fund-raisers. The type where professional players play against amateurs to raise money for one cause or another.”

“Did you ever meet his wife Sharon?”

“No.” Regina looked away. “Our relationship didn’t last very long. He told me it was a mistake.”

No kidding.

24

Mason was ready to pull out Micah Zuch’s fingernails. The kid knew who’d killed Denny; Mason could feel it. But the punk sat there like King Shit of Turd Island and brushed aside every question asked of him. He’d wanted more attention, so they were giving it to him, and now he was reveling in it.