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“Aren’t you subtle,” Marc returned drily “No, I’uy and the best ex-husband any woman could hope for, or a consumnant pause “And yes, I’ objective”
“Actually, I think you are” Casey’s eyes were back on the road as she slowed down at the gates and signaled the guard that they were leaving “I also think you’re purposely avoiding stating the obvious, because you think I’ll call you on it Well, I won’t Because I see the sas for his ex-wife” She paused “Feelings that Madeline is totally unaware of and that she doesn’t return”
Marc grunted “I wonder how that factors into this little equation”
The iron gates swung open, and Casey steered the van onto the main road
“It could exacerbate it And it could ht,” Casey continued “The depression is real, and it’s deep So is the self-blaent and very aware Could he have orchestrated the attacks on Madeline—out of pain, spite, whatever? Cognitively, yes”
“So noe check out his phone records, which are going to be squeaky-clean or he wouldn’t have offered them up Then what?”
“Then we have Ryan dig deeper Figure out if Conrad has a burner phone or some other means of communication Find out if he has any seedy connections inside the facility whoto do his dirty work for hi we just had is only step one where it co list of hospital eave ure out the assailant’s motive”
“Soly,” Marc said
“And so and why? Between the skills you learned from your days at the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit and ood job of figuring out who’s lying But their ot to find a nonconfrontational way into that hospital to get a thorough take on the names on Madeline’s list We have to plan our approach carefully We’ll only get one chance at this before we lose the chance to keep our role in Madeline’s life a secret”
“The dedication cere that,” Marc replied Casey had told him about the hospital courtyard ceremony on the drive to Connecticut
“Exactly” Casey nodded “But we can’t just walk in there We’ll need to go as Madeline’s guests Just a few of us, not the whole team”
“That feill include me”
The emphatic tone of Marc’s response wasn’t lost on Casey
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” she asked
Marc pivoted to face her “Look, Casey You and I agreed that I was going to assuiven you any reason to doubt that I can So keeping me away from Madeline is ridiculous I’m the most qualified person on the tea and assessing the attendees I think it should be you, o”