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but she did know this: They needed to take a trip to Indiana State Prison.
    Dani called the travel agent used by HIPP and booked three seats on a Monday flight to Indianapolis. After hanging up, she glanced at the clock. It was almost four, past the time she liked to leave for home. And it was Friday to boot, the worst day for early traffic. She briefly considered calling Doug at his office to suggest he stay in the city and meet her for dinner. With Jonah so recently sick, though, she didn’t want to be far away in the evening. Even though Katie could handle any emergency, there was no substitute for the comfort of a mother’s touch.
    She walked out of her office into the large common room and saw Tommy still seated at his desk. Tommy had left the Bureau after ten years because his wife couldn’t take the strain of his undercover stints, which had often kept him away from home—and their five children—for months at a time. He had a swarthy complexion, a full head of wavy black hair, greased down a bit too much for Dani’s taste, and a thick mustache. No doubt he had once been handsome, but now his body, although still trim, had softened, and his years in the field showed in the lines of his face. He still had a razor-sharp mind, though, and he could uncover truths—and lies—like no other investigator in the office.
    “Tommy, would you check into whether any other girls between ages three and five were reported missing around that time?”
    “Sure.”
    “And can you give me a hand?”
    “I can give you both hands, baby. Just tell me where and when.”
    “Give it a break, Tommy. I’m not in the mood for this now. I’ve got a bitch of a ride home and a weekend of work to look forward to.”
    “Ouch. Okay, no jokes. What do you need?”
    “Would you help me carry the cartons in my office down to my car?” The one perk of her job was a free parking spot in the outdoor parking lot two blocks from HIPP’s office. Monthly parking spots, when you could get them—there were waiting lists for most—went for four hundred dollars a month in the East Village. Tony, the owner of the lot, was a former exoneree freed through the efforts of HIPP. He provided HIPP with four spots, gratis. When first offered, Bruce turned them down, but Tony was so adamant about doing something for HIPP that Bruce ultimately relented. He understood that Tony’s gesture provided him with a measure of self-esteem that had been all but obliterated during his twelve years in prison.
    Tommy looked at the stack of boxes. “You got it, boss.”
    Out on the street, the sky was still bright, with the fragrance of sprouting buds lingering in the air. Although the temperature hovered around sixty degrees, the still air made it feel warmer. Dani loved spring. It carried the hope of warm, lazy days ahead; summer vacation with Jonah; and sunlight that seemed to last forever. But this summer would be different. By the beginning of summer, she knew, George Calhoun’s fate would be determined. He would be a free man, released after seventeen years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit, or—rightly or wrongly—dead from a lethal injection.
    Traffic crawled, as Dani had expected, and she didn’t arrive home until after six o’clock. She was exhausted, barely able to muster the effort to eat dinner. After Jonah fell asleep, she decided to give herself a break for the evening. Her mind was too fried for the tedious scrutiny of the transcript that awaited her. Instead, she settled down in front of the fire, Doug’s arms wrapped securely around her.
    “Do you ever regret giving up the US Attorney’s Office?” she asked. Like Dani, Doug had started his law career as an assistant US attorney in the Southern District of New York.
    It would have been easy for Doug to respond with a quick no, but he was too thoughtful to toss off an answer. “Most of the time, no. Teaching has so many rewards, and by and large the students keep me entertained. But