Angela had lived up to her name and been the most tolerant of angels, but two weeks after Becca’s failed attempt to return to work, she began to drop hints about her new boyfriend Elliot spending the night. So, on a crisp, early autumn afternoon, nearly two months after the rape and murder, Becca answered Angela’s halfhearted protestations with reassurances she’d be all right, gave Angela a big hug for agreeing to take care of Cecil until she settled back into her apartment, and waited for her father with her suitcases on the row home’s front steps. Before moving home, she would spend a couple of weeks with her parents while her apartment was properly secured and the blood-stained carpet and sofa were replaced. The pearl-white Buick pulled to the curb in front of Angela’s building, where she exchanged pleasantries with her dad while they loaded her suitcases into the trunk. Once strapped inside the car, they threaded their way through city traffic and took the Schuylkill Expressway toward Lower Merion.
