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was sorry that you left the police department. You were a good cop.”
    â€œNot good enough, clearly. But that’s in the past now.” Lila’s tone was clipped. She hoped he hadn’t brought her here to talk about the Star Island case, because she sure as hell didn’t want to talk about it.
    â€œDo you ever think about him?” Teddy asked, turning toward Lila.
    â€œWho?”
    â€œThe Star Island killer, of course.”
    Lila stood up from her chair so fast she almost knocked it over. She didn’t know what game he was playing, but she didn’t need the mistakes of her past thrown in her face. “I should get going,” she said, heading toward the door only to realize that she had no idea where she was and no way to get home.
    â€œNot yet,” Teddy said. “You haven’t given me a chance to tell you why I’ve brought you here.”
    â€œWhatever it is, I’m not interested. And whatever you’re searching for, you’re not going to find it by keeping tabs on me. So call Conrad off, okay?”
    â€œI watched you because I had to make sure you were the right person for the job,” Teddy said, rising from his seat and walking slowly toward Lila. “Turns out you are.”
    â€œThe right person for what job?”
    â€œCatching the Star Island killer.”

CHAPTER 5
    I MPOSSIBLE .” L ILA ’ S VOICE was dangerously flat. “Trust me. I spent years of my life searching for the killer. And I got nowhere.” The words stuck in her throat. Her failure to solve the case was a wound that wouldn’t heal. And here was Teddy, picking at the scabs.
    â€œPlease, Detective,” he implored. “Hear me out. If you aren’t interested in my offer, I’ll understand. Conrad will drive you home. You’ll never hear from me again. Just five minutes, I promise.”
    Her curiosity getting the better of her as usual, Lila sat back down. But this time she curled her legs up in the chair, giving her quicker access to her gun, just in case.
    â€œFirst,” Teddy said, turning to face her, “how much do you know about the Janus Society?”
    O N THAT FATEFUL New Year’s Day when the Star Island killer struck, the world lost more than the twelve wealthy and influential individuals who were found dead in Chase Haverford’s wine cellar. Though it was unknown at the time, the world had also been robbed of its greatest philanthropic organization—the Janus Society.
    Founded in the infancy of the twentieth century, the Janus Society was an international charitable organization whose works were so admired that it had come to be known as the world’s fairy godmother. Thanks to its donations, famines had been stopped, polio nearly eradicated, the ancient libraries of Timbuktu preserved, the Bolshoi Ballet saved from bankruptcy, oil spills contained, children educated, faltering economies salvaged, dying languages preserved, and on and on.
    Every year on January 1, the society announced the recipient of its annual $100 million donation. Charities and environmental organizations worldwide often spent their New Year’s Eve praying, hoping, that this would be their year. It was not unusual to hear of people waiting on their knees by the phone, begging for a call from the Janus Society. It had been named for a Roman god, the god of beginnings, and it provided countless opportunities for millions in need across the globe.
    But the Janus Society had one extremely controversial feature: complete and utter secrecy. Not once in the hundred years the charity had been in operation was the identity of a single member exposed. Thus, people said, its donations were truly unbiased. No one could lobby the society to be picked, because no one had any idea who was even in the society, or where it was headquartered, or how many members it had.
    So, when the Janus Society failed to announce the recipients of its annual donation on