“And you really didn’t know about them?” Naomi asked.
“I didn’t.” Her voice was sharp. Jenna leaned back, resting her butt against the top of the desk. Her carrots and dip still sat by the laptop, but she didn’t feel hungry anymore. Even the odor of Jared’s grilled cheese hadn’t tempted her stomach. “I had no idea.” She picked at a loose piece of skin on her thumb. “I told you Celia and I weren’t quite as tight as we once were these last few years. She had new friends. Different friends. But you know how it is with a best friend. You don’t need to talk every day or know every detail about their life.” She stopped picking. “Clearly I didn’t know every detail.”
“No one did.”
“Why were you asking about it now?” Jenna asked. “Ian seemed to think you got a new tip or something.”
“Not exactly,” Naomi said. “More than anything, we just like to go over old leads and see if anything new turns up. Sometimes a second pass reveals something different.”
“I guess that makes sense.”
“Now that you have that little piece of news, do you have any new light to shed on their marriage?”
“I’ve been thinking about it all afternoon,” Jenna said. “I’m still processing it. I’ve been thinking about Ursula a lot, the effect the affair must have had on her.”
“Naturally.”
“Ian told me the guy, the dentist, isn’t a suspect.”
“He’s not.”
“But if she was having an affair, doesn’t that make it more likely she’d run away?” Jenna asked.
“Without the guy she was having the affair with? Why would she do that?”
“Because . . . I don’t know. Shit. Maybe one of those guys, her lovers, was following her.”
“Unlikely as far as we can tell,” Naomi said.
“Ian told me he even gave you a name, some business associate of his.”
Naomi took a moment to answer. “We’ve looked into everyone Celia or her family ever came into contact with. We’ve looked into every possible motive.”
“You didn’t really answer my question.”
“That’s true. I didn’t.” She reached up and scratched her forehead. “Some of these leads haven’t been completely closed. We’re keeping our options open.”
“Is there any news about Benny Ludlow?” she asked.
“I can’t say much about him either.”
“Of course.”
“But he’s denying he hurt Celia. Or Holly Crenshaw. We have to figure out where he was at the times these women disappeared. That’s tough to do with a guy who mostly lives and travels alone.”
“But it’s possible,” Jenna said, sounding like a kid wishing for a miracle snow day.
“He hasn’t been cleared,” Naomi said. “Like I said, we’re keeping our options open.”
The conversation seemed to have reached its natural end. Detective Poole rose from the chair and said, “I think I need to be heading home. Rosie and I were just about to watch Sherlock.”
“Rosie?”
“My cat.”
Jenna eyed the detective’s hand. She still wore the wedding band. “And your husband?”
Naomi held her hand up, looking at the ring as though she’d forgotten it was there. “Oh. He died two years ago. I still wear the ring.”
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Naomi said. “I’d have all these young guys chasing me if they thought I was single.”
Jenna walked the detective to the front door and retrieved her coat. Jared was out of sight, the door to his room closed once again. The backpack was out of the kitchen, so at least he was doing homework. Once the detective was zipped up, she turned to Jenna. “I’d tell you to try not to think about this too much, but I know you will.”
“I think you’re getting to know me too well.”
“It’s kind of the job. You know, you mentioned Ian and Celia’s daughter back there, Ursula. How is she doing?”
“I haven’t seen her either.”
“Good kid?” Naomi asked.
Jenna knew Naomi knew the answer to that question. She was a cop, investigating the disappearance of Ursula’s mother. If Naomi wanted to know something about the girl, she knew it. But Naomi clearly wanted to get Jenna’s opinion. Someone who’d known Ursula since the day she was born.
“She’s a smart girl,” Jenna said. “Popular. She’s become a little brattier over the last few years.”
“Teenagers do that.”
“Sure. But she has a tougher edge than most teenagers. She runs in a prominent crowd at school. Rich kids. Why do you ask?”
“You said you were worried about her. What did Ian say about her?”
“I asked him today. He said she’s doing her best.” Jenna remembered what a willful child Ursula was. Sweet most of the time, but also endlessly stubborn. When she and Jared played together as children, there was never any doubt as to who the leader would be in any game. It was always Ursula, not easygoing Jared. In her own mind, Jenna used to think how perfectly the girl was named. Ursula. The Bear. “I’m just remembering something.”