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to getting information.
    “Do you remember anything after thinking you needed to run?” Aidan asked.
    “Nothing.” Claire’s mouth was as flat as her voice. “I woke up here.”
    Silence filled the room.
    She looked at Aidan, then Sean. “Sorry to disappoint you.”
    “We’re not blaming you,” Sean said emphatically. “We blame the criminal who’s responsible for this whole mess. Sure, it would be nice if you could give us a description, but we’ve got more now than we did yesterday.”
    “Like what?” Her voice was skeptical. She wondered if he was patronizing her the way the doctor had.
    “We’ve got a new crime scene with new forensic evidence. We know we’re dealing with a man, a man with what you describe as a cruel smile. We know there is a photograph of the man or someone who looks like him—”
    “No. A photograph of him, ” she interrupted. “It’s the only thing I’m certain of, that flash of recognition.”
    “Okay,” Sean said. “Where did you see this photograph?”
    “I—I don’t remember.”
    “Could it have been in a newspaper?”
    “I don’t subscribe to any papers. I get my news online, text version usually.”
    “Then what photos, particularly photos with men, have you seen recently?” Aidan asked.
    “I may have looked at photos—a lot of photos—during an appointment after work last night. But I can’t say for sure. I don’t even remember going to the meeting.”
    Sean tried to imagine why she would review pictures during a business meeting. He came up blank. “What was this appointment about?”
    Her cheeks turned a dusky red. God, talk about adding insult to injury. “It was a dating service.”
    Aidan’s jaw dropped. “You’re shitting me.”
    “You went where ?” Sean’s voice rose on the last word. He shook his head in disbelief.
    Claire counted to ten and hoped her blush would be mistaken for anger. “All right, gentlemen, I’m only goingto say this once, so listen up. I had an appointment with a dating service last night. I’d just joined, so we were going to spend part of the evening reviewing the catalogue and looking at pictures of male clients to see if there were any matches for me.”
    Sean was too shocked to say anything. Aidan coughed and jumped up from his seat to look out the window, studying the street below with apparent interest. Both men worked hard to look normal.
    “It’s not funny.” Her voice was defensive.
    “I’m not laughing,” Aidan said, but he didn’t turn around.
    Sean shook his head. “I can’t believe someone like you would have trouble finding a date.”
    She narrowed her eyes at him. “I didn’t say I had trouble finding a date. I just have trouble finding someone I want to date. Big difference.”
    “Amen to that,” Sean muttered under his breath.
    He hadn’t been out with a woman in months, since just after the end of his last relationship. He’d quickly grown tired of the casual partner-swapping of D.C.’s singles scene and had buried himself in his caseload with few regrets.
    “Look, I don’t think we should be focusing on the dating service,” she said in a voice that was intended to close the subject. “I could have been picking up my dry cleaning.”
    Sean almost smiled. Temper made her eyes sparkle and added color to her face. His witness was obviously beginning to feel better.
    Aidan, having gained control of his laughter, turned back from the window. “Hang on a sec. Where is this dating service located?”
    “It’s not far from Dupont Circle—you can walk thereeasily from the metro.” Claire gave them the address and cross streets.
    The men exchanged a quick glance. Sean mentally ran through the various routes a pedestrian could take between the Circle and the address Claire had given. One of the shorter ways went directly through the schoolyard where the murder had occurred.
    “Did you plan on walking?” Sean asked.
    “Yes. I was going to take the metro to Dupont Circle, walk to