She said Elena tried to help her.” Detective Vance’s jaw tightened.

“We found blood in the kitchen,” she said, and she said it gently, the way you hand someone something sharp.

“Not a large amount.

We don’t know yet whose.

There’s a statewide alert out for Julian and his vehicle as of twenty minutes ago.

Robert — I’m going to be straight with you, because you seem like a man who’d rather have it straight.