Still, he gave me a report number.

Russell later identified the vehicle through information lawfully available to his investigator contact: it belonged to a licensed private investigator hired by a law firm that represented Trevor’s company.

“That’s not automatically illegal,” Lena reminded me.

“Don’t make it part of our criminal theory unless we discover improper conduct.”

The distinction mattered.

For so long, Trevor and Monica had treated any suspicion as proof.

I had no desire to become like them.