“And what about Sam’s finances? Was he a big spender?”

“No. The only thing Sam really splurges on is guitars. He plays music.” I thought of all the time I’d spent in the acoustic lounge of the Guitar Center on Halsted, while Sam tried out every Martin or Gibson they carried.

“Was the wedding costing you a lot of money?”

“Yes, although my mother was helping us out with a few things.”

“Did you and Sam have joint bank accounts?”

Maggie leaned forward a little. “Ms. McNeil’s finances aren’t in question here.”

“They’re not in question per se,” Andi said. “But if they’ve got joint accounts and there’s been a big deposit lately…”

I looked at Maggie, who gave me a look that said, It’s up to you.

“Sam and I do not have a joint account. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“We planned to do that after we get married.” I glanced at my engagement ring, thinking of the platinum band sprinkled with tiny diamonds that was supposed to go under that ring.

“Where does Sam bank?”

I had to think about that. “Um…I think Chase?”

“You think?”

“Sam received his bank statements at his apartment. We’d talked generally about how much money we had, but I never asked to see his statements.”

“Did he have any debt?”

“A student loan from his MBA.”

“How much?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Cars?”

“He has a Volvo that’s five years old. I think it’s paid off.”

“But you’re not certain?”

“I’m pretty sure it is.”

“Credit-card debt?”

“No.”

“Where do you do your banking?”

“That’s not pertinent,” Maggie said.

“Do you have any debt?” Andi asked.

Maggie held up a hand. “Her financial status is not in question here. Not in any way. I’m going to advise her not to answer that.”

“It’s okay-” I said.

Maggie looked at me pointedly and shook her head, then turned back to Andi. “I’m going to advise her not to answer any questions about her financial status. If you have other questions, fine, but let’s move on.”

Andi regarded me.

“I have a small student loan,” I said quickly, before Maggie could stop me. I knew that she was thinking it was an invasion of my privacy, a completely unnecessary one, to answer questions about my finances, but I didn’t care. I had nothing to hide. “And I’ve got three grand to pay off on my credit cards,” I continued. “I got in a little trouble with a store on Damen that won’t stop selling me clothes.”

“Did Sam ever talk to you about Panama?”

“No. We talked about a few places in South America when we were planning the honeymoon, but we never discussed Panama. I don’t know anything about it.”

“An interesting country,” Andi said. I got the feeling she knew more about Panama than from just working on Sam’s case. “They’ve made it very attractive for expatriates to buy there. Affordable luxury housing, low taxes on all levels.”

“Explain something to me,” I said. “How is it possible that someone can just take possession of your luxury property and sell it? I mean, that’s what you’re accusing Sam of, right?”

“We’re not accusing anyone of anything right now.”

“Fine, but how does this Panamanian-property thing work? Are people just snatching people’s shares and running around selling them?”

Andi shook her head. “It’s not as simplistic as it seems. Many people there buy property like we do here, with a title that’s transferred to the buyer’s name.”

“But it’s different if a corporation owns the property?”

“Right.” She paused. “You’re a lawyer, you know how it goes.”

“I’m an entertainment lawyer. If you’re a cabaret singer on the side and you want me to negotiate your recording contract, let me know. But this stuff?” I shook my head.

“Well, look, I don’t necessarily have to share this with you, but here’s how it works. If the title is in the name of a corporation, there is no transfer of title, only a transfer of shares of the corporation.”

“So whoever has the shares can sell the corporation and essentially the property.”

Andi nodded. “The buyer can then keep the same officers of the corporation or appoint new ones.”

“Aren’t there safeguards against the wrong people selling the shares?”

“If you can provide legal documentation that you own the corporation, and not someone else, you can put a lien on the property, eventually have your shares reissued and the others voided, but that takes time. So if the person who has the shares acts quickly, they can essentially do what they want with them.”

“But there’s no evidence at this point that Sam has sold the shares, right?”

“I can’t really say.” Andi eyed Maggie, then me. “We’re just trying to figure out why your fiancé would steal the shares. Do you have any answers for us?”

“I don’t.”

Andi pulled her pad of paper closer to her. “We’d like to compile a list of the people Sam was closest to. People he would turn to if he needed help.”

“He would turn to me,” I said without thinking.

There was silence in the room. Obviously, I was wrong about that.

“R.T.,” I said. “R. T. Rubinoff. They’re friends from MBA school at U of C. But he says he hasn’t heard from Sam.”

“Who else?”

I mentioned Tom and Don, Sam’s rugby friends.

“Tom’s last name?” Andi asked.

“Uh…” I could see Tom’s ruddy face. Over beers one night, I’d talked to him about his mom who’d recently passed away. But what was his last name? Sam had been handling the gathering of names and addresses for the wedding invitations, and so I had never really asked.

“Don’s last name?” Andi said.

“I can’t say. Cavanaugh or something like that?”

She gave me a face, one that was expressionless, at least to the observer, but I knew there was something different behind it. Her face turned back to her notes.

“If there’s nothing else…” Maggie checked her watch.

“Look,” I said. “Can you tell me what you know? About Sam being gone or about Forester’s death?”

“I’ve already told you what I know about the Panamanian shares.” She paused.

I inched forward in the seat of my chair so that I was now a foot closer to her. “Do you know something else?”

“I’m sorry…”

My eyes bored into hers. “If you know anything else. Anything.”

She shook her head. “Ms. McNeil, seriously, I don’t know anything more than you do at this point. We’re at the very early stages of our investigation. And we’re doing everything we normally do at the beginning of an investigation.” She put the top back on her pen.

Silence in the room.

Finally, Andi exhaled loudly. “Look, I will say something. Sam sounds like an okay guy. At least what you know of him sounds great, right? But from what we can tell, he’s stolen a heck of a lot of money. And when we see that, it tells us that Sam is probably involved in some bad stuff. Or mixed up with some bad people.”

“Like who?” I said incredulously.

“We don’t know at this point. But I’ve seen this kind of thing before. Too many times. And the wives and the mothers are the worst. They can never believe something bad about the guy. And they’re always the ones who pay the most. Then there’s the fact that an investigation like this, and any resulting litigation, will take years and years to complete. So seriously…” She nodded fast like she was very certain about what she was saying. “If I were you, Ms. McNeil-” more nodding “-I’d move on with my life.”

We stepped outside the FBI building. Across the street, a gray Honda sat at a light. The light turned green, but the car didn’t move. Maggie stood, staring at it. “That car,” she said.

As if it had heard her, the Honda finally hit the gas and sped through the light.

The minute we got into a cab, Maggie turned to me. “Have you noticed anything…well, off the last few days?”

“Aside from the fact that my fiancé is MIA with a small fortune and people think he might have killed Forester?”