Page 38 of The House of Cross

“Sorry,” she said at last. “This is going to be hard.”

After taking a deep breath, the billionaire referred in vague terms to the tragedy that had brought Ryan to live with her. She talked about his grief over the loss of his parents and the resiliency he’d showed throughout his life. She talked about his restless mind and his belief that technology could better lives. She never once mentioned his twin brother, Sean.

“They say the greatest pain is the loss of a child,” Mrs. Alcott said, choking and then looking out at the mourners. “I can tell you, it’s true.”

She returned stoically to her seat.

Bree shifted in the pew, wondering if she’d made a mistake coming here, if she’d made a colossal blunder in thinking Malcomb was M, the brains behind the vigilante group Maestro. She decided that she should slip out.

The minister stood up again and said there would be a luncheon at a local country club and then asked those assembled to stand and recite the Lord’s Prayer in Malcomb’s memory. Bree started sliding toward the other end of her pew.

She was halfway there when the mourners said, “Amen.” Shewas at the end of the pew when Malcomb’s aunt got up and walked down the aisle on Arthur’s massive arm.

The billionaire’s veiled face pivoted as she nodded to various grievers, touching a few on the forearms as she came closer and closer. She paused to stare in puzzlement at Bree for a moment, then she nodded to her and left the chapel.

Bree waited until the last mourner had left before exiting. She hoped Alcott would have departed for the country club, but no such luck.

Arthur was waiting for her in the lobby. “Mrs. Alcott would like a word, please.”

In her mind, Bree heard Alex warning her about coming to the funeral uninvited. She closed her eyes a moment and then followed the big Polynesian into a small room, where the heir to the Alcott soap fortune sat alone, veil off, looking imperious.

“Why are you here, Chief Stone?” she demanded.

“Paying my respects.”

“I didn’t know you knew Ryan.”

“We never met, but my husband knew him, used Paladin’s services. He thought I should be here to represent all the law enforcement officers his algorithms helped in the past few years.”

Alcott wasn’t buying it. “And how did you know this service was for my nephew?”

“An article I read in theIdaho Statesmanabout his parents’ murders,” Bree said. “Your sister’s maiden name was May. Her married name was Wheeler. I figured it out.”

“Hmm,” Mrs. Alcott said. “And you came all the way here.”

“Actually, I was in Cleveland on business.”

“With?”

“A private client,” Bree said. “I’m not at liberty to say.”

Mrs. Alcott gazed at Bree for several long moments, her face unreadable. “I don’t believe you. What do you wish to know about my nephew?”

Bree cleared her throat. “Why didn’t he keep the last name Wheeler? Why change it to Malcomb and not Alcott?”

The billionaire shrugged. “He was told in his late teens that he was not my sister’s biological son, that he had been adopted from someone named Malcomb. For whatever reason, Ryan decided to use Malcomb as his last name before he went to MIT. So he’d have a completely new start where no one would know he came from a rich family, he said.”

“He ever try to see if it was true? Try to track his real parents down?”

“I honestly have no idea,” she said, looking annoyed. “He was a grown man. He didn’t tell me everything. Anything else, Chief Stone?”

Bree figured she had nothing to lose, so she hit Alcott with a question she knew was bound to elicit a heated response. “There are some people out in Elko I’ve spoken to who aren’t sure it was your nephew in the van. What with all the burning.”

The billionaire’s nostrils flared. “Some people in Elko?”

Bree said nothing. Mrs. Alcott looked more than a little disgusted. She gestured to her phone. “Arthur set a Google Alert that notifies me anytime something is published or released about Ryan’s case.”

Bree tried not to react, as she had done the same thing. “Okay?”

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