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There was a moment of silence, then Ibarra said, "Why don't we act on that assumption for a moment or two and see where we end up. What happens next?"

"Here is the situation. Do you remember Ron?"

"Oh, yes."

"We have adopted her, my husband and I."

"No wonder you need help."

"Inspector, I'm afraid this situation is serious. But first I must say that adopting Ron was one of the best decisions I have ever made."

"You're young yet. You probably haven't made very many decisions in your life. Please continue."

"Ron's sister, her blood sister, was just murdered. In U-town, under our jurisdiction. We need to find out if any of her other family members are in the area."

"So," he said slowly, "you want to find a suspect that isn't your adopted daughter."

"No, I want to find a murderer. I think my daughter is innocent, but if she's guilty I will not protect her. But Tracy, the murdered girl, came to U-town for some reason. There are indications that she was coming here to meet a lover. So, there are two questions. Are her parents, her birth parents, here? Her identification and any other papers she had on her were stolen, probably by the murderer. But if she'd had a long-distance lover there might be indications in her parents' home."

"Hmmm," he said as Christy got up. She moved silently to the door and out. I wondered what had prompted this, but I was sure that she could handle whatever it was.

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