QUOTE : May I offer another scenario?” “Shoot.” “Terese Collins murdered her ex-husband,” Berleand said. “She needed a way to dispose of the body—someone she could trust to help clean up the mess. She called you.” I frowned. “And when I answered, she said, ‘I just killed my ex-husband in Paris, please help me’? ” “Well, she might have just told you to fly here. She might have told you the purpose after you arrived.” I smiled. This had gone on long enough. “You know she didn’t tell me that.” “How would I know that?” “You were listening in,” I said. Berleand didn’t face me then. He just kept smoking the cigarette and looked out at the view. “When you stopped me at the airport,” I continued, “you put a bug on me somewhere. My shoes maybe. Probably my cell phone.” It was the only thing that made sense. They found the body, maybe checked Rick Collins’s cell phone or whatever, found out his ex-wife was in town, put a tap on her phone, saw that she called me, held me up at the airport long enough to put on a bug and start surveillance. That was why I had been so forthcoming with Berleand—he already knew all these answers. I’d been hoping to win his trust. “Your cell phone,” he answered. “We replaced the battery with a listening device that holds the same charge. It’s very new technology, quite cutting edge.” “So you know Terese thought her ex was missing.” He tilted his head back and forth. “We know that’s what she told you.” “Come on, Berleand. You heard her tone. She was genuinely distraught.” “She seemed to be,” he agreed.