Page 78 of Lorenzo

“I find the bluntness refreshing.” His gaze moves toward the apartment building behind me. “Did you find anything?”

“Nothing obvious.”

“Which means?”

“Which means Rachel or whoever helped her knew enough about Genevieve’s life to take what they needed without leaving much behind.”

His amusement fades. “The dress.”

“Yes. It had to come from that apartment.”

“Could Genevieve have given it to her?”

“Possible. Unlikely.”

“Why?”

“There is no trace of Rachel anywhere in Genevieve’s life. No photographs. No messages I’ve found. No shared addresses or public connection. And Genevieve’s apartment doesn’t suggest someone else was spending time there.”

Lorenzo studies me. “They could have hidden the relationship.”

“Yes, but I just don't get that feeling. Genevieve's public life was perfectly curated. But her apartment, while still very neat, is more relaxed. If she's the only one living in it, I don't see why I would find no signs of a sister, even a new one, in there. No more of her clothes were missing, as far as I could tell. And there were no clothes in there that looked like they didn't belong to her.

“If they were close enough to be exchanging clothes, I would have seen some sign of it.”

His gaze shifts past me toward the building.

“Rachel could have entered the building without her knowing.”

I turn and look at the building as well.

“The only obvious way in is from the front door. I'm sure if she tried hard enough, she could find another way.”

“Have you considered that Rachel went in as Genevieve?” he asks. “No one would look twice.”

“Briefly,” I say, “but I didn't find any signs of forced entry, which means she would have to have a key.”

Lorenzo steps closer. “Why do you look dissatisfied?”

“Because I haven't solved the mystery yet,” I say.

“But you know more now than you did going in.”

“Not satisfactorily.”

He smiles. “What specifically is bothering you?”

“Someone entered Genevieve's apartment and took her dress. I suspect it was Rachel, but it could have been someone else.” Now I lean against the car. “The part that bothers me, though, is that Genevieve didn't notice.”

“We don't know how long it's been missing,” he says. “Perhaps, when they took her that night, they lifted her key, got the dress, and put it on Rachel.”

I shake my head. “You know that's not right. That timeline doesn't match up. If someone was watching Alessio to see when he was going out, then they would have found out that same night. That doesn't leave enough time for them to kidnap Genevieve, take her key, go get the dress, and put Rachel in the club before he got there.”

“No,” he says, “it doesn’t. I was simply trying to offer some suggestions to help you out of your rut. Tell me your theories.”

I blow out a breath. “Somebody got in here and took the dress. Then when Alessio was going out, they were already prepared with their plan so Rachel could be there, and while she was doing her thing, somebody was taking care of Genevieve. They had to have been in the hotel somewhere,” I mutter.

A car passes at the end of the block, headlights briefly sweeping over us.