Detective Elise Navarro introduced herself, asked whether I needed food, and waited while I wrapped both hands around a paper cup.

She did not begin with accusations.

She asked me to describe a normal week.

I told her about Mark’s early meetings, his elaborate spreadsheets, his tendency to call minor household expenses “unnecessary exposure.” I explained that Lily was in third grade, loved drawing maps, and had lately developed a habit of checking whether the back door was locked.

I had attributed it to childhood nervousness.

Now I wondered what she had overheard before Sunday.