“Is this a roundabout way to ask me if I am?”

“Truth is, I’ve never been very good at the man-woman thing. Yeah, tell me, I’d like to know.”

“The answer’s yes.” Slowly, he moved his hand from her cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“It’ll be Friday. A week anniversary.”

“Yes.”

“Does Savich want to hypnotize Fleurette like he did Annie Harper?”

“He hasn’t said. Let’s take a crack at her first.”

She smiled up at him. “Isn’t it odd, Detective Raven? Here you are with this bird name, and you’re not such a bad guy after all. You haven’t bitched about taking me along with you in at least forty-eight hours.”

“That long? Hmm. Well, the thing is,” he said simply, “you’ve got a good brain.”

Callie flushed. “I—thank you. Yes, thank you, Ben.”

GEORGETOWN WASHINGTON, D.C. THURSDAY EVENING

“I’M COMING.”

A few minutes later, Savich walked into their shared office, holding Sean over his shoulder, lightly rubbing his boy’s back in light soothing circles. “He had a nightmare. What’s going on?”

“I’ve got a surprise for you.” She was grinning even as she patted Sean’s cheek. “He okay now?”

“I think so. What are you up to? What surprise?”

“I know you wanted to get to work on Samantha Barrister, but you’ve been too busy to do much, so I contacted both the Boston and the Pittsburgh field offices on Tuesday. I massaged a few egos, and when that didn’t work, I called in a couple of favors, convinced them this was important and required immediate attention.”

“Why the Boston field office?”

“I’ll tell you in a few minutes. I’ve had MAX working on everything too, but so far he hasn’t found much since all this happened in the early seventies.” Sherlock waved a nice thick folder at him. “But no matter, we’re in business. Sit down, Dillon, just you listen, my man, to what I’ve found out.”

Savich stared down at his wife. “Have I told you lately that my Porsche isn’t in the same ballpark with you? You’re amazing.”

She stood up and hugged him and Sean to her. “I like hearing that. After you chew over what I’ve got, I’ll bet you’ll even agree to give me the Porsche if I ask you.”

“That could be pushing it, sweetheart, but I’m open.” He sat down next to her and settled Sean against his chest.

Sherlock sat next to him and opened the folder. “Let’s begin with Blessed Creek, Pennsylvania, 1973, population of about three thousand seven hundred and eighty-five souls. The Barristers were the big cheeses, no one else remotely close to them in influence and wealth. They owned the only tourist facilities around Lake Klister, the six gas stations in the area, and Mr. Barrister was the mayor, had been for twenty years. He also owned the local bank and the two biggest grocery stores. It was the senior Barrister who built the big house on that knoll outside Blessed Creek.

“They had three sons. Townsend Barrister, the eldest, married a woman named Samantha Cooper, in 1964. It was a really big bash that included nearly all the townspeople. It was in the middle of the summer, a big barbecue at the house. The Barristers brought in all kinds of help. They really did it up right.”

Savich, still rubbing Sean’s back, said, “So they approved of their firstborn son’s marriage?”

“It appears so, but I can’t be sure. I’ll need to go deeper. The couple moved into the big house with the two brothers and the parents.”

“Ouch.”

“Wasn’t so bad. As you know from firsthand experience, that house is huge.”

“You got any feel for how she got along with her brothers-in-law?”

Sherlock turned to see him rocking slightly in his chair, Sean held tightly against him. She smiled. Such a familiar sight, it made her want to grin like a loon. She cleared her throat. “I’m reading between the lines in all this stuff—articles on the family, biographical info on the brother, everything the Pittsburgh office could pull together. The second brother, Derek was his name, was two years older than Samantha. He unexpectedly left home three months after Townsend and Samantha married. He joined the army, went to Vietnam and was killed within three months. The family was devastated.”

“Do you think he had the hots for his brother’s wife?”

“There’s no hint of anything like that, naturally, but it could explain his abrupt and unexpected departure. He was twenty-two, had just graduated from Penn State, was going to start training in his father’s bank, but he up and left and joined the army.”