I stared at the gray marble wall three inches above her right shoulder.

“The elevator’s here,” I said.

She looked at my mouth for a second, waiting for a softer answer that never came.

She turned and followed Robert into the brass elevator as the doors slid open.

The brass doors slid shut between us without another word.

Daniel Vance joined me at the tall oak bench by the glass doors leading to the Commonwealth Attorney’s office.

He took off his round spectacles and wiped the lenses with a white handkerchief from his coat pocket.