The view from the restaurant terrace was one of the most beautiful in Boston. At least, that's how Ashlyn saw it. The trees reaching the banks of the Charles River were reflected in the water, and in the background of the pink and purple sunset-tinted firmament, they rose into the Boston evening sky. Despite the rapidly approaching fall, the weather was still highly mild for this time of year and day. Ashlyn had ordered a wine and tonic each for herself and Micaela, whom she met at 7:30 in the evening. The cold, refreshing drink was, in her opinion, the best alternative to the Aperol spritz that dominated all the cafes.

Micaela arrived less than three minutes later, and suddenly, Ashlyn felt better, happier, and even a little excited. It was incredible, she thought, the effect some people have and how it directly affected her well-being. Or was it not just Micaela but their combined energy? Before she could finish the thought, she had already stood up and hugged ADA in greeting.

She smells so damn good, she thought, and a smile spread across her lips. "Good to see you," she managed to say, and Micaela hugged her tighter.

"You too, Ash, you too," the brunette said and sat down. 'Cool table, I like it. With a view of the Charles River. Not bad.' She nodded encouragingly at the blonde, picked up the glass before her, inspected it briefly, raised it to Ashlyn, and then took a big gulp. 'Delicious,' she beamed. "What is it?"

"Guess," Ashlyn replied, looking at Micaela with glee.

"Hmm," she replied, joining in the game. "Definitely tonic, right?"

Ashlyn nodded.

"And then... but not sparkling wine or Prosecco?"

Ashlyn shook her head in confirmation.

"Hard. But it has alcohol in it?"

Ashlyn nodded again.

Micaela now held the glass up to her eyes and scrutinized it. "It doesn't taste like gin or vodka either. So I say it must be white wine. The solution is white wine and tonic."

Ashlyn applauded softly and then raised her glass. "Well guessed, Sherlock," she said, smiling at Micaela with a look that was difficult to interpret.

Over the next ten minutes, the two women chatted about all sorts of things on their minds. It felt good, familiar, like old times.

But then, after glancing at her watch, Micaela brought up the topic of work. "So," she began, "how are things going for you?"

Ashlyn put down her glass and gave the ADA an overview of the latest events, explaining that all the tracks had led nowhere so far. She also shared her assessment that Cantu's campaign event was not specific enough to be linked to Booker's last evening, especially since they assumed that Cantu had hired a killer anyway. Its proximity to Booker's local bar was no proof of anything.

At that moment, Micaela, who had been listening attentively but essentially motionless, looked up for the first time. "We also discovered Cantu had a gig not far from Booker's local bar that evening. However, that doesn't tell us anything more. He was there without a break from seven in the evening until just after midnight. In our estimation, this doesn't make him a candidate for the crime that evening. Which leaves the Darknet and the hitman as the only conceivable option. According to our research, this also fits with Booker leaving the bar shortly after ten o'clock in the evening. Cantu himself was taken straight home by his driver after the event."

This new information didn't surprise Ashlyn, but she would tell Dominic about it later so he would save time on it.

The blonde then reported on his appointment at the state archive and the mysterious disappearance of the files overnight.

"Excuse me?" Micaela now blurted out. 'Files disappeared from one moment to the next? And those probably of great importance to Cantu and the youth welfare office?"

Ashlyn nodded slowly. 'Tough stuff, isn't it?"

"That can't be right. Who on earth can make files disappear?" Micaela continued.

Now, it was Ashlyn's turn to look at Micaela with raised eyebrows. "You're not serious, are you?" she asked, trying to make her tone sound skeptical but not too critical. "Every year in the U.S., several pounds of drugs are lost from the evidence rooms. And not only that. Do you remember Houston, where hundreds of weapons went missing last year? A few paper files from a cabinet that all employees can access is a smaller challenge, don't you think?"

Micaela made a face but then had to admit that Ashlyn was right. "You're right. I asked the question wrong. Who would benefit from the missing files, and who would have the opportunity to do so? And we both know the answer to that."

Ashlyn nodded slowly. "And what have you been able to find out?"

"We're still treading water a bit. Saunters is undecided about how much we really need to press charges. I assume, however, that we can do it. Our IT pros are still reading the data from Cantus MacBook, and if we find the darknet traces, we've got him."

"That's a lot of circumstantial evidence," Ashlyn agreed. 'But is it enough for a conviction? What about witnesses? Has anything come of that?'

"Nothing. All the leads have gone cold. In both the Booker case and the incident at the bus stop with Garner, we still haven't found any witnesses who have seen anything concrete. In Booker's case, he was in the bar with someone the last time. The waitress remembered that. And that it was a man. But she couldn't say anything about what he looked like. It would be too good if she had happened to take a picture of our Darknet killer." Micaela took a sip of her drink before she finished her report. "No one saw it or who pushed Garner in front of the bus either. And to be honest, I'm not sure if we'll be able to get much more out of that. The only thing we could do was send Garner back to his old life and have him watch for a longer period. To find out if there's anyone who wants to kill him."

"Garner as a decoy?" Ashlyn interrupted the ADA. 'No way!"

Micaela raised her hands in appeasement. 'Of course, that's not really an option, apart from the fact that Garner would probably never go along. We can't take that risk. It was just a theoretical possibility. And as you know, we must consider everything in such a case."

"Okay, then we'll wait for the results of the computer analysis and see what happens next, all right?" Ashlyn asked, frowning.

"Yes, that, and then we'll keep checking all the information we have to find any files from back then and see if we can find any further clues in the Booker case. Saunters has called a meeting to make a decision on whether or not to press charges. We have to do that, too, because so far, the extent of the investigation is known only to a tiny circle. As far as we know, Cantu doesn't even know that yet. But we both know that this can't go on much longer."

Ashlyn nodded and looked Micaela in the eye.

Enough work for today, she thought. The evening was too beautiful not to enjoy.

Obviously, Micaela thought so, too.

They ordered two more drinks and sat in silence for a while.

Then Micaela took a heart and reached for Ashlyn's hand across the table. For a moment, she thought the blonde flinched. But then Ashlyn looked into her eyes. The ADA thought she saw a mixture of curiosity, fear, and familiarity in her gaze. And wasn't there also a little bit of longing? Micaela thought that now would be the perfect moment to kiss Ashlyn. She would immediately see from the blonde's reaction whether she still had feelings for her. Micaela was almost sure that Ashlyn wanted to be with her, too. But somehow, Micaela dared to let go of Ashlyn's hand.

xxx

Ashlyn's mind was racing. Although she and Micaela had missed the moment, as they had done in the past, they still had a great time and sat together for a long time. They never ran out of things to discuss and laughed a lot about old and new times. For Ashlyn, the evening could have gone on forever, but at some point, Micaela mentioned that she would have a long and busy day tomorrow. That settled the matter, and the two women said goodbye.

Now Ashlyn was lying in bed next to her girlfriend Kim, looking up at the ceiling as if she would find the answer to the questions going through her mind there.

Should she get involved with Micaela?

Was that even an option, and did the brunette really want that?

How would Kim react if she found out she was right about Micaela?

Ashlyn felt a deep insecurity inside. Then, as always, she pushed all these questions aside and fell into a restless sleep.

xxx

After a hearty breakfast with Elizabeth, Maggie grabbed the latest edition of the Boston Observer and spread it out on the dining room table. She turned directly to the third article by Tracy Payne, which, under the headline 'Missing Responsibility,' again took up a full double page. In addition to various examples from the past few years in which the authorities had not exactly shown their best side when it came to supporting the abused children's requests for access to files and compensation, a new trend among progressive officials was also evident. Monica Johnston, the head of one of the youth welfare offices, had to do everything she could to help clear up the matter and ensure that the victims were compensated generously and unbureaucratically.

Maggie read the article carefully and was pleased to see that it was not only exceptionally well-researched and reproduced information with references but did not stray into speculation or blame. The message was clear: an injustice that must not be repeated had been done at the time. To prevent this from happening again, it was just as important to thoroughly investigate the events as implementing appropriate processes. The editor believed that the most important thing was to make amends to the victims as far as possible.

After Maggie had put the newspaper back in the basket with the other magazines, she went into the house's large garden. There, between the old trees, she was able to reflect best. And then an idea occurred to her that, if she was honest with herself, she had been carrying around for quite some time. And which could shed further light on this unusual case. This time, however, from a completely different angle.