Three weeks later, the investigation slowed. Without a body or a sign of foul play, there was nothing to charge him with. The police called it an “open case.” They had more urgent crimes to deal with. For Richard, it was a nightmare without an ending.
The incident affected him in other ways, too. Neighbors stopped waving. Colleagues avoided him. He couldn’t walk into a grocery store without someone whispering. The question was everywhere—in headlines, in whispers, and in his own head: What did you do to her?