Here She Lies

a plaid shirt raised his hand. Detective Lazare nodded at him and a slim audio recorder was lifted between them.
    “Detective, do you think Zara Moklas’s killer abducted the baby? Do you think the killer was after the baby in the first place? The press has already reported that Zara looked a lot like the owner of the house—”
    “Hold it, now. Let’s not jump the gun,” Lazare said. “I’m only stating facts. The house is a common denominator in both cases and so we’re looking at that. Period. Let’s not jump to conclusions.”
    But the more Lazare denied that one overshadowed the other, the more the shadows overlapped. You could practically see the excitement in the reporters’ eyes, in the tension and silence as they took their notes.
    “Any new suspects, Detective?” Pen poised to write. “Have you lost hope of finding Thomas Soiffer?”
    “We have not lost hope of finding Mr. Soiffer,”Lazare answered. “We’re as interested as ever in speaking with him right now.” Soiffer’s face filled the screen, taking me by surprise. It was the same mug shot I’d first seen last week. “As I’ve said before, Mr. Soiffer was known to be in the area shortly before Ms. Zoklas was killed. In light of this new development, we’re hoping he might be able to provide us with some information that could help us in our search for Lexy Goodman.”
    A different television reporter, another woman, stepped forward. “Are you saying, Detective, that you want to question Mr. Soiffer specifically in connection with the abduction of the baby?”
    “That’s what we’re hoping.”
    “Does that mean he’s now also considered a suspect in the baby’s abduction?”
    A thin smile stretched across Lazare’s face, the kind of blank-slate response that was no more promising than discouraging. “I’m saying he’s a person of interest.”
    Person of interest. The media knew as well as I did what that overworked phrase meant: suspect without enough evidence for an arrest.
    “One more question, Detective.” Plaid shirt, recorder raised. “The owner of the house, Julie Milliken, is known to have an identical twin sister who is the mother of the missing baby. Is it possible that Mr. Soi — that someone who killed Zara, if they were after the baby — thought they were killing the sister? To get the baby? And why would they be after this baby, Detective? What is the significance of her abduction?”
    “No use guessing, is there? We want to find Mr.Thomas Soiffer and ask him a few questions. That’s it for today. Thanks for coming out, folks. We’re hoping the media attention will help us find the baby. Thank you.” Lazare waved and thin-smiled as he turned his back on the reporters and walked away. Calmly. The way that man could hold himself together was disorienting.
    Bobby picked up the remote and clicked off the TV. “What was that all about? Why didn’t he at least warn us?”
    “Last night he seemed convinced Julie had her,” I said. “What changed? Does he really think that man has our Lexy?”
    The phone rang again and this time it was Detective Lazare himself. Bobby answered the living room extension and I went to the kitchen phone so I could join the conversation.
    “If Julie thinks we’re after Thomas Soiffer for Lexy’s abduction,” Lazare was already saying when I picked up, “it just might make her feel safer and it might bring her out of the woodwork. She might increase her movements, which would increase our chances of finding her — and your daughter.”
    “Okay,” Bobby said. “I can see it.”
    “So you do think Lexy’s with Julie?” I said, jumping in.
    “I suspect so,” Lazare answered. “I’m using the media to set a trap. When we don’t find someone right away, we try to jolt them out of their hiding place. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you my plan, but you have to understand that time is not on our side.”
    I couldn’t argue with him; he was trying to find mybaby. But a media blitz terrified me because of how it might shock Julie, and it seemed to me that Lexy’s safety depended on Julie’s equilibrium. What also frightened me was his comment about time, because if you really thought about the nature of time — how there was too much of it when it didn’t matter and not enough when you needed it — you’d realize how perilous it could be, at life’s worst possible moments, to wait even a minute too long.
    By early afternoon, Detective Lazare appeared at the