“Did you go often to the same motels?” I said.

“I did,” Abigail said. “There was one near the Burlington Mall we went to four, five times.”

“The one with the little fountain in the lobby?” Regina said.

All of them had been there. He had several favorites that all of them had been to. They showed no geographic pattern.

“And no one has an address for him,” I said.

No one did.

“Or a phone number?”

They had phone numbers, but they weren’t the same numbers.

“I’ll make a prediction,” I said. “These will all turn out to be prepaid disposable cell phones.”

“Which means?” Elizabeth said.

“That we won’t know who the owner was or where he lived.”

“It sounds as if he didn’t ever want us to be able to find him,” Regina said.

“Be my guess,” I said.

“Then… that means… that means he was never, ever sincere, even at the start,” she said.

This guy was really good, I thought. Even after he started blackmailing them, there was still the hope for something.

“Probably not,” I said.

“So how can you ever find him?” Abigail said.

“It’s not as hopeless as it sounds,” I said. “Each of you has been with him, quite often. We’ll talk, each of you and me. One of you, maybe more than one, will remember something.”

“Do you really think you can find him?” Abigail said.

“Yes.”

“How?”

“I’m very resourceful,” I said.

“Can you be more specific?” Abigail said.

“No,” I said.

“If you do find him,” Regina said, “what will you do?”

I grinned at her.

“Step at a time,” I said.

“But how will you make him leave us alone?” she said. “You look like you could beat him up. Will you beat him up?”

“Soon as I find him,” I said.

Reggie seemed satisfied.

Chapter 3