Phantom Prey

thing around with another guy. This idea came up— what if there was somebody here, waiting for you? And they attacked Frances by mistake. As I understand it, neither you nor anybody else expected Frances to come home. You told the crime-scene people that there hadn’t been a burglary, you weren’t missing anything, so it probably wasn’t a burglar. Is there anyone who would be interested in hurting you? Is there anything going on in your life? An angry boyfriend, a relative who’d benefit from your death, a business competitor . . . though that’s a bit far-fetched.”
    “A mistake?” She was shocked, an open hand going to her breastbone. “Somebody coming for me?”
    “It’s thin . . . but is there anybody?”
    “Well, I have relatives. My parents. Hunter’s mother died years ago, but his father’s still alive, out in LA. He’d get some money, but he doesn’t really need it. There are some specific bequests in our wills. You think . . . the Bach and Beethoven Society would put out a contract on me?”
    That made him laugh; but he said, “I’m a little serious. Is there a boyfriend?”
    “No, not yet,” she said.
    “Was there a boyfriend? When Hunter was alive?”
    “No. There was not.” Some frost, now. “No girlfriends, either.”
    “Hey—I’m not trying to insult you, I’m trying to figure this out,” Lucas said. “Any businesspeople who were pissed at you? Did you or Hunter screw somebody to the point where they might come looking for revenge? Or maybe a stalker—some deluded guy who thought he’d been screwed. . . .”
    She’d softened up after he snapped back at her: “Lucas, we’ve got money, but we’re really pretty ordinary people. Nobody stalks us, nobody cares. Hunter had a nice company, but it wasn’t General Motors. We had disgruntled employees, but nobody dangerous, as far as I know. They didn’t know me, anyway. And Hunter was dead. Why would they come after me?”
    “Think about it,” Lucas said. “If you think of anything , let me know.”
    She left him standing in the kitchen. He heard the Mercedes come to life, and then the garage door rolling up and down. They’d pushed the housekeeper out of the main wing, and he could hear the faint sound of vacuuming somewhere down the endless hallways. Other than that, he was alone.
    Okay. According to the crime-scene analysts, the murder—or whatever it had been—occurred where a hallway exited the kitchen, leading down to the living room on the right, with the dining room right around the corner to the left
    But wait.
    He wasn’t reenacting, he was just thinking about it, simply buying the crime-scene report. Start over. He walked back to the garage, out into it, then turned and came back.
    It was dark. Huh. Austin had come in from the garage, but would Frances? Why would she? Two spaces were taken up by Austin’s cars, a third space by the housekeeper’s, although the housekeeper’s space would have been empty. Still, Frances would probably park in front and enter through the front door. Wouldn’t she?
    He had Austin on speed dial, caught her a mile or two out, still in her car. “When your daughter came over, did she park in the garage, or out front?”
    “Out front.”
    “Thanks.” Click. Outside, to the front door. Okay, the kid comes in through the front door. She can go straight ahead to the kitchen, left, to the family room/entertainment wing, or right into a public space, a greeting room. No reason to do that.
    So she disarms the alarm system, walks straight ahead, into the kitchen. Now what? He stood there, at the corner of the kitchen. The reenactment was already breaking down, because there were too many possible branches. Two possibilities right here, or maybe three.
    —She argues with somebody who came with her.
    —She argues with somebody already in the house.
    —She encounters somebody in the dark—all right, give the credit to O’Keefe—who was waiting for Alyssa Austin, but who attacks Frances by mistake.
    But did it happen right after she came in? Might not be able to tell without her coat—if the coat was cut through, then she’d still have had it on.
    He struggled with it for a bit, then thought, Let it go .
    Anyway, Frances is attacked. Does the killer already have the weapon, or does he get it from the drawer? If the killing was carefully planned, why would he do it with a paring knife?
    Lucas looked back down the kitchen counter from the death scene. If he wanted to use a