Page 74 of Last Seen Alive

“Yeah, and the poor thing got overlooked because Claire caused so much drama,” Albert pushed out.

“What drama?” Amanda had yet to hear of any.

Sylvia held up her hand to her husband, as if telling him she’d be sharing the story. “She’d get in late, after curfew. I caught her a couple of times. Told her Bert and I could put up with a lot but not sneaking around.”

“Did Brianna ever know where Claire went at those times?” Amanda asked.

“If she did, she wasn’t talking to us about it.”

“It was like those two had a freaking pact.” Albert made a show of zippering his lips.

Amanda would circle back to Brianna. “Did you know a woman named Rita Cartwright?”

“Her boss at the gallery.” Sylvia was nodding. “Met her once when I dropped Claire off for a gala. Seemed like a nice woman.”

“Do you know if she and Claire were friends?” Trent asked.

“News to me if so. There were several years between them.” Sylvia sipped her coffee.

“So just a professional relationship?” Amanda wanted this fully confirmed.

“Yes.” Sylvia narrowed her eyes as if curious why so much discussion was circling around the relationship between Claire and Rita.

“Did you stay in touch with Claire after she left the system?” Trent asked.

“Nope.” Albert tipped the bottle to his mouth.

“That’s not entirely true…” Sylvia worried her bottom lip.

A fluttering started in Amanda’s stomach, telling her that something was coming. Good or bad, she couldn’t always be sure.

“You said that Claire was murdered.” Sylvia cleared her throat.

“That’s right.” And as Amanda recalled it, the news hadn’t been much of a shock to Albert.

“Do you know who did it? Any leads?” Sylvia asked.

“It’s still an open investigation.” Amanda would squeeze out all thought that a man had already technically been charged—though wrongly. “We believe, though, that her past may have caught up with her.”

“Her past? What about it?” Sylvia set her gaze on Trent.

“Evidence suggests that she was involved with high-value robberies in Prince William County and Washington, DC,” he told her.

Sylvia put her hand on her husband’s forearm, and for once it seemed like Albert had lost his voice.

“It also seems plausible that Rita was involved in the robberies,” Amanda began. “She died last week too.”

Sylvia covered her mouth for a second. “Murdered as well?” She blinked; her lashes wet with tears.

“Car accident.” Amanda went with the official record despite her gut screaming murder.

“Oh,” Sylvia said, drawing the word out.

“In one of these robberies, a man was murdered. We have reason to suspect that Claire was present at that time,” Amanda told them.

“Did Claire… ah… did she…?” Albert’s voice trembled and fragmented as he worked to give birth to the question.

“We don’t think so, but we believe she knew who did and was planning to turn them in recently,” Amanda said. “She didn’t get the chance.”