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squeezing her eyes closed. “I see only his beauty,” she whispered, then darted around the edge of the kitchen counter and into an alcove that led to a back room. “Be careful,” she warned.
    By the time Catherine appeared, Cassandra was long gone, but Catherine’s gaze followed the girl’s departure as if she’d left a vapor trail behind. Her mouth tightened, but she said nothing as she set a tooled-leather box on the table. She laid her hands on either side of it, bracing herself, and then she drew up her chin and flipped back the box’s lid. From inside she withdrew a plastic bag and held it toward Savannah. Within the plastic lay a knife with a curved blade.
    â€œMy sister was killed with this.”
    Savvy stared at the knife, and Catherine slid the bag across the table to her. “How do you know this?”
    â€œCan you accept that I just know?”
    â€œNot really. If she was killed with that knife, you’re talking homicide.”
    â€œI think it could be suicide.”
    Savvy’s gaze hardened on Catherine. She had the distinct feeling she was lying.
    â€œWill you do a DNA test on it?” Catherine asked.
    â€œIt sounds like you want me to open an investigation into your sister’s death. If that’s the case—”
    â€œCan we first start with the DNA test?”
    â€œI would have to know more about—”
    â€œI can pay for it. Keep it private,” Catherine said, cutting in. “It’s just that I needed someone to . . . turn to, Detective. Do you understand?”
    â€œYou want a DNA test with no questions asked.”
    â€œYes.”
    â€œMs. Rutledge, there’s clearly a lot you’re not saying. I’m going on maternity leave soon. I’m not even sure I could do this,” Savannah said. “You might need someone else. And then there’s the question of the body. We would have to do an exhumation.”
    As if she hadn’t heard her, Catherine asked, “Will you please do me this favor?”
    Savvy expelled a breath. “I can send the knife to the DNA lab, but if it’s for private purposes, it may take some time before they get to it. There are a lot of requests, most of them more urgent, as they’re tied to known crimes.”
    â€œThat’s fine. I just . . . If there’s anything on the knife—blood, fingerprints, tissue—I want to know whose it is.”
    â€œThat sounds a lot like you believe this knife was used in a homicide.”
    â€œIf I truly believed that, I would ask you to investigate her death.”
    Not likely , Savannah thought.
    â€œIt may well be that the only DNA evidence will be my sister’s, and if that’s the case, then I’ll accept that it was suicide, or even an accident, and that will be enough.”
    â€œThe ME tends to make the decision on whether a weapon was used in a homicide or a suicide, but, of course, we need a body.”
    Catherine’s lips pressed into a line. “You’re going to force this investigation, aren’t you?”
    Savannah stared at the knife for a long moment, then slowly picked the plastic bag up. “I’ll take this back to Detective Stone, and we’ll go from there.”
    Catherine seemed to want to say something else, but she let it slide. “What did Cassandra say to you?” she asked instead.
    â€œShe said her name was Maggie and that she told you he was coming. That he came for Mary, and he was coming for you and maybe even me, too.”
    â€œShe said that?” Catherine whispered.
    â€œWho is this he? Does he have anything to do with the DNA you’re looking for on the knife?”
    â€œCassandra sees things, but they’re not always accurate,” she said, in complete denial of her own body language, which was reflecting her intense fear.
    â€œShe knew I was carrying my baby for someone else.”
    It was a role reversal. Now Savvy was the