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"Well It was a terrible thing what happened to Lacey So young" Her voice cracked a little and she sniffed discreetly "You letelse, you hear, Ehten with e to dwell on the reminder of how much she missed Lacey, Emma clicked off and i lot, she was close enough that she could access her office Wi-Fi She checked out Tammy Dietrich first, because that was easiest The address Betty had given her was in Alexandria, Virginia, but chances were Dietrich was a member of the DC bar, as well Even Emma was licensed to practice in DC, and she had no intention of ever standing before a court here It was just so in or near the District, especially if one was as coave her access to things like the bar association membership directory, which came in handy at times like today She typed in Dietrich’s name There was no picture, which wasn’t that unusual E, either There actually wasn’t much information for Dietrich at all, just her law school aletown, and the business address that Betty had already given her Dietrich’s was the only name listed for the firm, which probably meant she had a private practice, maybe with one or two other lawyers

Still, the Alexandria address was very pricey She was either doing very well for herself, or she came from money

Emma called up a map and decided to at least drive by and check out Dietrich’s office Maybe she’d walk in and ask for directions, just to get a look around Chances were that since she didn’t know Dietrich, Dietrich didn’t know her either Besides, she probably wouldn’t get past the front desk anyway

Alexandria was close enough that under normal circumstances, it would have been faster to take a cab, or even the bus But Eet out to Violet Slayton’s house this afternoon, and she couldn’t afford to waste the ti lot for her car She sighed It was going to cost a fortune to park in Alexandria

E space a couple doors down from Dietrich’s office It was only a ten minute slot, but she already kneouldn’t take any more time than that to check Ta, Dietrich was listed as a partner on the discreet plaque outside the door of the office building Victor’s taste in women for his parties leaned more toward secretaries than law partners And for another, the law offices were located in an Old Alexandria brownstone, which screamed money and lots of it This was almost certainly a dead-end, but since she was already here, she would check it out anyway

The receptionist looked up when Emma approached the desk The woman was maybe ten years older than E her best to look down her nose, even though she was looking up through a pair of very traditional tortoiseshell glasses

"Hi," E to read the several pieces of paper she’d folded and now carried in her hand, as if for reference "I’m supposed to meet some friends at" she peered at the papers, "Waterfront Park, and I can’t seem to--"

"It’s on the water," the receptionist said frostily, with a heavy dose of oodwith one perfectly er in a direction that just happened to be out the office door

Eave her a friendly smile "Well, of course it is Where’s my brain this afternoon? You’ve been very kind," she added, although it wasn’t true Robots had more human kindness than this wootten what she caid receptionist’s desk were professional portraits of Tammy Dietrich and her law partner And Tas Emma didn’t have names for the women in Victor’s peep show videos, but she definitely had faces And Dietrich wasn’t one of them

Emma didn’t waste any more pleasantries on the unfriendly receptionist She left the office and hurried back to her car with two minutes to spare on the meter It hadn’t been a total waste of time She hadn’t found one of the women on Victor’s list, but at least she’d eli And she still had Violet Slayton, who definitely had worked with Lacey

Eybacked onto soed onto her office network and accessed a listing of households in the Springfield, Virginia area Using Slayton’s last naiven her, she soon had the address of Violet Slayton’s parents She clicked over to her favorite map site, typed in the address, and scrutinized the directions She nodded to herself She could definitely get out there and back to Duncan’s place before his one hour after sunset deadline

She had a fleeting thought that Duncan wouldn’t be too happy about her going to see Slayton without hiht But they didn’t know for sure yet that the guy last night had anything to do with Victor He ht in the act And, even if soations, they’d hardly be following her everyout to Virginia this afternoon, so how could anyone else know? Besides, Violet Slayton could turn out to be as big a dead end as Tammy Dietrich Theback and laughing as E shadows

She sent the directions to Slayton’s house to her cell phone, then started her car and pulled away only seconds ahead of the parking uy

Chapter Nineteen

Violet Slayton was as nervous as a cat in a roo chairs, as Emma’s Grandmama had been known to say Slayton was pale and too thin, but Emma had the impression these were both recent develop, and her skin had that parched look of so properly But none of that, not the clothes and not her pallor, could conceal the fact that she was beautiful Her eyes were deep brown and lu, black lashes, and her dirty hair was thick and wavy Violet re an internship at a rape crisis center during law school The thought of what could havecold, and she knew she’d done the right thing by co out here

"I was sorry to hear about Lacey," Violet said, settling into the corner of a large, overstuffed couch She spoke so quietly Emma had to lean closer to hear It was as if Violet was afraid soh Emma knew there was no one in the house but the two of the sweater nearly double around her body "Lacey was a good person Brave I felt I had to go to the service, had to pay h--" She stopped abruptly, and her beautiful eyes were filled with fear when they flashed up to stare at Eently

Violet looked away "I haven’t seen anyone since I left the firive them proper notice, and they weren’t happy with me I didn’t know if I’d see anyone I knew at the funeral I didn’t want to see anyone, butLacey was kind I couldn’t let the under until they disappeared entirely<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>