“ ‘For whatever reason,’ ” Lydia said.
“Excuse me?”
“You said he could have left in a hurry for whatever reason. As though…he was being chased. Or someone abducted him. Or…Or…he was off…planning the murder.”
“Or he took a spur-of-the-moment vacation or he fell in love and wound up running off with her,” I said. “Please, Mrs. Welch. You’ll do yourself a huge favor—and me, too—if you don’t jump to conclusions.”
“Lydia.”
“What?”
“Call me Lydia.”
God, she’s all over the place.“Please, Lydia.”
“Thank you.”
“Just try and stay with me here, Lydia,” I said.
“I’m with you,” she said.
“All Dylan did was receive a text. That’s it,” I said. “That is the only thing that makes him a person of interest.”
“I’m calling the lawyer.”
“The termperson of interestonly means that Dylan may have information that could help the investigation.”
“That’s it?” she said.
“That’s it,” I said. “It’s very different than being named a suspect. There’s no proof that Dylan and Trevor ever saw each other.”
“What did the text say?”
“It said, ‘Where are you?’ ”
“That’s damning.”
“Not really.”
“Did you reply?”
“Yes,” I said. “I texted that I had Dylan’s phone and that we are looking for him. But I never got a response.”
“What time was this?”
“Two-thirty,” I said. “The police called around six, telling me the body had been found. I just got through meeting with them.”
“What was his name? The chemist?”
“Trevor Weiss,” I said.
I could hear Lydia’s shaky breathing through my Bluetooth. The halogen lights swung in behind me again.Jesus.Any closer and they would have been inside my car. I opened my window and shouted, “Hey! Anybody ever teach you about boundaries?”
“What?” Lydia said.
“Sorry. I was just talking to another driver.”
“Ah.” She said it as though she completely understood. I appreciated that.
