Amie inhaled deeply. “Hallie had food she was bringing to her boyfriend’s place,” she said, “so let’s assume she went straight there after the park. It’s a five-minute walk from the park to our building, so she’d get there at four fifty-seven at the latest. How did she get in?”
David’s brow furrowed. “She had a key?”
Amie shook her head. “Nope. Hallie told me she didn’t. She’d say, ‘He’s such a commitment-phobe—I gave him a key to my place and keep dropping hints that he should give me a key to his. But so far he hasnottaken the hint.’ ”
“Is that a direct quote?”
Amie pointed to herself. “Time loop.”
“Right.”
“And why would he give her a key?” she continued. “I remember he’d said something about having close calls when Hallie almost discovered his cheating before. Giving her a key would just make it easier for her to surprise him. Without a key, she’d have had to buzz Benny’s apartment for him to let her in, which would have given him time to evacuate the other woman before Hallie arrived upstairs. So, again I ask: How did she get in undetected by Benny?”
“Someone was walking in or out of the building when she arrived?” David suggested.
“Very possible. The thing is, like I said, Hallie didn’t always leave the park at the same exact time. So what are the chances that every time she left the park, no matter the time, she managed to arrive at the same moment someone was coming in or out of our building?”
“You’re suggesting there were versions of the day when Halliedidn’tcatch Benny cheating on her.”
“Yes.” Amie folded her hands on the table. She began speaking slower, worried the thoughts that had made sense in her head wouldn’t make as much sense when put into words. “Like I said: I didn’t help Hallie find her ringeveryday.”
“Riiight.”
“After I’d gotten into the habit of helping her look for the ring, the first day Ididn’thelp her was on this day that I triednotdoing a bunch of stuff, just to see what would happen.”
“One of your wildest days,” David deadpanned.
“Sure,” Amie begrudged. “Anyway, I went to the park to watch Hallie, but didn’t help look for the ring. I just wanted to see if she could find it without me. And she did, but it took her more than twenty minutes. Brutal to watch, but it was nice to know that she wouldn’t leave the park without it if there was ever a day I didn’t go to help her.”
“Even though it was likely the day would just reset and none of that would matter anyway,” David pointed out.
“Yeah, whatever.So, on the days that Hallie had to find the ring herself, she would’ve gotten to our building around five fifteen.”
“Okay …”
“On Monday, the door to our building was propped open from five ten to five fifty-five.”
David’s eyebrows shot up. “Why?”
“Someone was moving in,” Amie said. “Movers were going back and forth for forty-five minutes. They made the stairs a nightmare, so I learned to avoid the main stairwell during that time. You didn’t know?”
“No.” David shook his head. “I would’ve been napping.”
“You didn’t hear the movers, or anything else?”
David thought for a moment, then shrugged. “Don’t think so.”
Amie corralled her thoughts again.
“So that’s how she got in,” David said before she could speak. “Movers had the door propped open.”
“Except the timing doesn’t work for the days I helped her,” Amie pointed out. “Remember? At the latest, she’d arrive at the building before five. The door would have still been closed.”
“Maybe she made another stop on the way,” David suggested.
Amie hesitated. “That’s possible,” she said, frowning. Her growing theory was seeming a lot less airtight.
Seeming to clock the doubt in her face, David offered, “There aren’t many places to stop at between the park and our building, though. It’s mostly residential. So that’s not very likely.”
