Evidence

CHAPTER 41

There’s a sixth sense, a high-definition sensitivity to threat, experienced by soldiers in combat, veteran cops, and a certain class of cold-blooded psychopath.

Milo ’s approach to Lara Rieffen was subtle, faking good cheer as she exited her county car in the crypt lot. She went along with the chitchat, synched with his loose, slow gait, but I was reading her eyes, bet she had a different rhythm in mind.

Milo probably figured it out, but he kept up the performance as the three of us entered the northern half of the coroner’s complex. Where the wet-work gets done.

Once inside, he used the barest touch of thumb on arm to direct Rieffen toward the empty room Dave McClellan had provided. The trajectory took her toward her cubicle, no reason for her to resist or suspect but her mouth tightened and she pushed ahead of Milo. He caught up and when they reached the open door, took hold of her elbow and stopped the parade.

“I could use a few minutes of your time, Lara.”

Stiff smile. “For what, Lieutenant?”

“Go over the Borodi scene a bit. I need to nail down a few details before I finish my report.”

“You’ve closed the case?”

“I wish, just the opposite. It’s actually looking real bad for a close, but I’ve got a new assignment from the brass, need to move on.”

Blue eyes blinked. “Oh. That must be frustrating.”

“Part of the job. So just a few secs, okay?” Propelling her inside before she could answer.

Two chairs facing one, a table to the side where Milo ’s jacket was bunched up. Kathy Vanderveldt aka Lara Rieffen sat where she was supposed to.

No one-way for observation, no space or practical way to work Gayle Lindstrom in and Milo had informed the S.A.

Appetizer goes down smooth, you can share the entrée, Gayle.

I sat down next to Milo. Lara Rieffen watched me. More concerned with my presence than Milo ’s.

He said, “Doc’s along for the ride.” Snapping his attaché case open, he spent some time behind the lid, fumbling, like an inept magician scrounging for a prop.

Lara Rieffen wanted to look bored, but her body wouldn’t go along. She tried to will herself loose, ended up with something contrived and edgy, what a yoga novice might achieve the first few times on the mat.

Milo kept shuffling papers. Rieffen checked her watch. I said, “Busy day?”

“Always. Before I took the job, I had no idea.”

“Where’d you work before here?”

“Labs,” she said. “Nothing forensic, medical settings.”

“Always been into science, huh?”

“Always.”

Milo said, “Sorry, it’s a mess in here, bear with me.” He clicked his tongue. Lara Rieffen started to relax-the real deal. Put at ease by his incompetence.

“Take your time, Lieutenant. I want to be part of the solution, not the problem.”

“Thanks, Lara. I wish everyone felt that way.

“Okay, here we go.” Instead of drawing out papers, he snapped the case shut, placed it on the floor. Smiled at Rieffen and kept observing her with that lazy, hooded look he produces when the mood’s right.

Her lips turned up. More sickly confusion than anything related to glee.

“What do you need to know, Lieutenant?”

“Well, for starts, let’s talk about Monte.”

Lara Rieffen’s head retracted. Pretty blue eyes shot to the door. Milo crossed his legs and put his hands behind his head. Try to bolt, go ahead, you’re mine, I’m not worried.

Lara Rieffen said, “Monte?” as if trying out a foreign word. “As in Carlo. As in Scoppio.” No answer.

“As in Dwayne Parris.” Rieffen shook her head. “As in boom, Lara.”

Rieffen crossed her own legs. Smiled weakly and exhaled. “Thank God.”

“For what, Lara?”

“He terrifies me, says if I ever think about leaving him he’ll cut me up, dump the pieces where they’ll never be found.”

Milo winced. “That’s heavy-duty.”

“Super-heavy-duty, Lieutenant, but if you’re asking about him, you probably know that.”

Angling for info. When that didn’t work, she scrunched her eyes, worked at pushing out tears. Produced a couple of sorry-looking droplets.

Milo ’s big, thick fingers rested atop hers. “Finally,” she said. “Someone who can help me.”

“Protect and serve, Lara. Okay, let’s get the details so we can nail this bastard good.”

Lara Rieffen’s technique was classic con: a mix of understatement, distraction, and outright lies. Painting Dwayne Parris/Monte Scoppio as ultimate evil, herself as submissive victim, all the while trying to pry out what Milo knew.

He fly-fished her, dangling error as bait then withdrawing, puncturing minor falsehoods with good nature while ignoring the whoppers.

Setting the hook.

“So… when exactly did you meet Monte?”

“Couple of years ago.”

“Really? Hmm.” Another mumbling foray into the attaché case. “Um, I could be wrong here, but I think I had a notation here… unfortunately, I can’t seem to find it… never mind.”

“What kind of notation, Lieutenant?”

“We’ve been talking to people about Monte. Doing background, you know? Someone claimed you and he knew each other way back-in high school.”

“Not really.”

“It’s not true?” More rummaging. “Ah, here it is Center High, class of-”

“Oh, that. Technically it’s true, but Center was huge, we hung in different crowds.”

“So you knew who he was-”

“Barely. We met up years later and even that was nothing intense.”

“Couple of years ago.”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“I was backpacking with some friends in Oregon. He was at the same campsite. I didn’t recognize him but he recognized me. He can be charming, I’d just broken up with a boyfriend, guess I was vulnerable.”

“Ah.” Scrawl. “Well that clears that up… Would you like something to drink, Lara?”

“So… it was Monte who ran into Des Backer and Doreen in Venice -I’m guessing a Sunday.”

“Definitely a Sunday, Lieutenant. Monte went to skate. He’s into that.”

“You’re not.”

“I bike. That’s what I was doing when he was skating the path and saw them.”

“What were Des and Doreen doing?”

“Monte never mentioned. He just came back and told me he’d met up with someone else from Center.”

“By that time, did you know he was violent?”

“Not really. I mean I knew he had a bad temper but he hadn’t touched me, not yet.”

“Later, that changed.”

“Oh, yeah.”

“Want another tissue, Lara?”

“I’m fine.”

“Okay… so Monte told you he’d run into Des and Doreen. How did he feel about that?”

“What do you mean?”

“Was he happy? Surprised? Upset?”

“Definitely upset. He blamed them for something but wouldn’t say what, I still don’t know. Something from his past, when he talked about it he’d get furious.”

“But he wouldn’t say why.”

“Monte’s an extremely closed person.”

“Something from his past… maybe something to do with messing up his law career?”

“He never got into it.”

“But does that make sense to you-law school?”

“I suppose.”

“We know he went to law school but was asked to leave. He ever explain that to you?”

“No and I knew better than to ask.”

“Well, here’s what folks have told us: Des and Doreen mighta done something that got Monte kicked out of law school. That would be something you’d carry a grudge on, don’t you think? He tells people he’s a lawyer when he’s not.”

“Makes sense.”

“By the way, when did he start calling himself Monte?”

“Back then.”

“Back when?

“High school. That’s what I heard. He liked to gamble.”

“ Monte Carlo.”

“He used fake I.D.’s to gamble at Indian casinos. At least that’s what people said.”

“Okay… one more thing, Lara. Folks have also said Des and Doreen mighta messed you up, too. Something about med school?” Silence. “Lara?”

“You must be mistaken.”

“You never attended med school? University of Idaho, class of-”

“I started there but changed my mind.”

“Because… “

“My primary interest isn’t making money, I prefer pure science.”

“Being in the lab.”

“Exactly.”

“So it had nothing to do with lynx hairs?”

Silence.

“Lara?”

Prolonged sigh. Sick smile. “Okay, I guess I’m going to have to get into that. I didn’t want to because, frankly, Lieutenant, it’s too painful and I just didn’t see the point.”

“I understand, Lara, but the point is I need you giving me anything I can use against Monte. So if Des and Doreen did do something underhanded to you, that makes it more likely they did something to him and I’d like to know about it. And from what the Forest Service told us, they were blatant snitches.”

“Lieutenant, it was a big misunderstanding. Obviously I don’t talk about it because jobs are hard to come by and I love mine. Also, afterward, I realized I was lucky.”

“Lucky about what?”

“Leaving medicine, it worked out for the best. Medicine’s become nothing but a big business, my orientation’s research.”

“Working here you get to do research?”

“I hope to eventually. Meanwhile, I’m constantly learning and that satisfies the curious part of me. Eventually, I hope to go back to school, get a Ph.D.”

“Makes sense… so the lynx hair business…”

“Big misunderstanding, Lieutenant. Another of Monte’s brilliant ideas. But I admit, I was stupid to go along with it.”

“Okay… I appreciate your being straight with us, Lara. Even though we had a few false starts.”

“I’m sorry for those, Lieutenant. You caught me off-guard, I’m not always the greatest at multitasking. When I have to, I can do more than one thing at a time but it’s hard not to get sidetracked. It’s some sort of learning disability, my parents had me tested when I was a kid. The psychologist said I was gifted but had organizational and memory issues. So if I forget something, please don’t hold it against me.”

“Deal… okay, let’s talk about Monte’s weapons.”

“That I can tell you about. He’s got tons of them. Rifles, shotguns.”

“We’re primarily interested in handguns.”

“Those, too.”

“Which one did he use to shoot Des Backer?”

“I have no idea.”

“We recovered a.22-caliber slug from Des’s head. Does Monte have a.22?”

“That would be a smaller gun?”

“For the most part.”

“He has an entire box of small guns, Lieutenant. Keeps them all loaded, keeps the box on the floor of our bedroom closet. Right next to my shoes, I’ve had nightmares.”

“About…?”

“His temper, what if he goes crazy, it would be so easy for him to just-he also keeps one loaded in his nightstand. Sometimes I have literal nightmares-crazy dreams but they seem so real.”

“Tell me about them.”

“It’s the same dream, over and over. There’s a fire in the house and it spreads to the closet, the guns get ignited by the heat and start going crazy, shooting off randomly, there’s no escape. I wake up sweating, my heart’s pounding. One time I woke him up, wanting some comfort. He told me to shut the fuck up, go back to sleep.”

“Prince Charming.”

“I’ve gotten in so deep, Lieutenant. It’s like finding yourself in a hole with no way to climb out.”

“We’ll get you out-so Monte keeps a whole box of small loaded guns.”

“Yes, sir.”

“What about larger-caliber guns?”

“I’m sure. I’ve never taken a close look, don’t like firearms.”

“Don’t go to the range with Monte?”

“No, he goes by himself.”

“Reason I’m asking about a large-caliber gun is one was inserted in Doreen’s vagina. Before he strangled her.”

“Omigod, even for Monte that’s brutal.”

“Want another tissue, Lara?”

“Yes, please.”

“So… Monte never talked about what he did to Doreen. The big gun.”

“No, no, never.”

“What did he say about what happened up in that turret?”

“Nothing… he just came back home and told me he’d done it.”

“Done what?”

“Taken care of Des and Doreen-his words. ‘I took care of them.’ I was too terrified to talk about it.”

“You must’ve wondered why he’d do something like that.”

“Of course.”

“Did you come up with any theories?”

“There are no logical theories, Lieutenant. Nothing justifies murder.”

“Well, that’s true… what I’m getting at is, did you think about that old grudge? Lynx hairs? Could revenge have been Monte’s motive?”

“Doesn’t that seem out of proportion?”

“Like you said, murder always is. But did it occur to you?”

“Not really.”

“Not really… Okay, so we’re making good progress here, painting a picture. So to speak… there is a small problem, though, Lara. Nothing serious but you deserve to know.”

“Know what?”

“We’ve got Monte in custody and he tells a different story.”

“What does he claim?”

“That you planned the whole thing. That it was your grudge-Doreen and Des ratting you out on the lynx hairs and screwing up your medical career. That Doreen and Des split after they sold you out but you put it together because they were the only ones other than you and Monte who knew.”

“No, no way, it’s Monte’s grudge. I’d already changed my mind about medicine.”

“I’m just passing along what Monte’s saying, so you can give me something to work with… for example, he claims it wasn’t some chance meeting that got you together with Des and Doreen. They tracked you down, learned you were in L.A. from someone in Seattle, couldn’t find you under your own name but figured out you might be using your mom’s maiden name ’cause you’d done that before. You do have a Facebook page and Monte doesn’t.”

“I don’t know how they did it but it was Monte they contacted.”

“That Sunday in Venice.”

“Yes.”

“But maybe it wasn’t an accidental thing-Monte running into them.”

“Guess not.”

“Well, at least that matches with Monte’s story. Except he’s claiming you were there, arranged for him to meet up with them. Because you had experience with explosives as much as he did-all of you did-and Des and Doreen were trying to get hold of some help on a job.”

“I don’t know anything about any of that.”

“Monte also says the deal was for the four of you to split a hundred thousand.”

“No way.”

“You know about the fifty thousand Desi got paid. The half he was supposed to share but didn’t.”

“No, I don’t.”

“But you can figure out what I’m talking about.”

“Some kind of payoff?”

“For expertise and equipment-vegan Jell-O, for example.” Silence.

“You do know what that is?”

“I’ve heard of it. A long time ago.”

“Never used it.”

“No way!”

“Makes sense, why would you… I just need to sort out Monte’s story from yours, he’s the one with the violent streak, he’d obviously say anything to save his own skin.”

“The guns are his, I’ve never owned a gun.”

“I’m sure that’s true-”

“I can’t stand firearms. That’s why I’m C.I.’ing, not working in the ballistics lab.”

“Makes sense… let me check something… okay, here it is. Speaking of ballistics, here’s a report. We found Monte’s box exactly where you said it was, so I know you’ve been truthful about that and I appreciate it. Unlike Monte, who’s spinning a yarn about having no clue. Like we’re not going to find it.”

“He can be that way.”

“What way?”

“Mindless. Denying.”

“I’ll bet… anyway, we found the box and recovered the.22 that was used to shoot Des Backer. Unfortunately it’s your fingerprints that are on it, not Monte’s.”

Silence.

“Lara?”

“That makes absolutely no sense.”

“That’s what I told the lab, so they ran the prints again-yours are on file because when you got the job they printed you and we obtained Monte’s when we arrested him. His are all over the box. And some of the other guns. But not that one.”

“Oh, wow-I just figured it out. After Monte came back he gave me the gun to put away. I didn’t want to be an accessory, even after the fact, but you don’t defy him. He’d just murdered two people, for God’s sake.”

“So you stashed the gun.”

“Right back in the box. I’m sure you found it on top.”

“That’s exactly where we found it.”

“I wanted it to be obvious. So if someone ever searched, they’d see it.”

“You figured we’d search.”

“I was hoping. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking straight, didn’t glove up. Not that I could’ve gotten away with it, Monte was right there.”

“Monte stood there and ordered you to stash the gun.”

“He could’ve done it himself but he was into domination.”

“Ordering you around.”

“Constantly.”

“Must’ve been hard, Lara.”

“It was soul-eroding.”

“Same for carrying around the knowledge of what Monte did and not being able to tell anyone.”

“Everything I’ve done since the night he told me has been a form of self-defense, Lieutenant. When I met you, at the scene, I thought you might be someone who could help me but… taking that step… I should’ve done it sooner, I’m sorry. Thank God I finally did.”

“Let’s talk about that first time, Lara. How’d you come to work the Borodi scene?”

“I was up next. I’ve never been a big believer in coincidences but I’m starting to change my mind because lately my life’s full of them.”

“Like meeting up with Monte at the campsite.”

“Exactly. Like Monte bringing Des and Doreen into our lives. He must’ve been plotting revenge for years.”

“So you got called to the scene not knowing.”

“It was just another call, Lieutenant.”

“When Monte told you he murdered Des and Doreen, did he say where it happened?”

“I didn’t ask. Next morning, I take a call and it’s them. You can imagine. I nearly fainted.”

“When I met you, you seemed to be holding it together pretty well, Lara.”

“It took every ounce of energy to not start screaming, Lieutenant. The moment I was out of there I just fell apart.”

“Too scared to tell me what you knew.”

“I’m sorry, it’s obvious I should have, I was so freaked out, and then, later, when I thought about it, I figured I’d get in trouble for not coming forward right away, I was… I felt totally stuck.”

“I can understand that.”

“It’s obstruction, isn’t it?”

“Frankly, it could be, Lara. Whether or not John Nguyen-he’s the deputy D.A. in charge-decides to pursue that is up to him. If you continue to help, I have no trouble talking to John on your behalf.”

“I’d appreciate that.”

“Sure… coincidences-yeah, I’ve seen that in my own life. What some folks might call fate, karma, or just plain luck. What do psychologists call it, Dr. Delaware?”

“Yet another mystery of life.”

“Heh heh-okay, let’s move on. You show up at the scene, find out who the vics are, try to maintain.”

“My insides were churning.”

“Freaky coincidence… there is one sticking point. You made a special effort to take that call. We found out because we weren’t thinking in terms of coincidence and wondered how you came to work a scene with vics you knew. So we checked the work schedules here at the crypt. Confirmed it with Dave McClellan. You asked to switch with another C.I., Dan Paillard. Dan verifies it.”

Silence.

“Lara?”

“I know what it looks like but that had nothing to do with what happened. Absolutely nothing, I was eager for more experience. This is an intense place, being new, I felt I needed to catch up.”

“You traded with Dan but never collected on your half of the bargain.”

“What do you mean?”

“You never asked him to cover for you in return.”

“Guess I didn’t… I forgot he owed me anything, like I told you, Lieutenant, I’ve got memory issues.”

“I guess that could also explain forgetting you traded with Dan in the first place.”

“Sometimes I forget where I put my shoes.”

“That I can tell you, Lara. They were right where you said, near the box of guns.”

“I… I was speaking rhetorically. But… sure.”

“So you traded with Dan to get experience.”

“Exactly.”

“Okay… looks like you’ve explained away each of the question marks I had when I came in. The problem is, each one makes sense but when you put them all together, John Nguyen doesn’t like what he sees. I know because he told me. John’s basically a good guy, but he’s also a highly suspicious guy. I had a case I didn’t want to file because I felt the evidence didn’t justify it but John bulldozed ahead anyway. And got a conviction. He’s aggressive, smart, and really good at convincing juries.”

Silence.

“Lara?”

“So what do we do, Lieutenant?”

“What we do is maybe you can explain something away as more than coincidence or memory lapse. Anything that breaks up this… big database of coincidence.”

“I already admitted I knew Carlo back in high school. I just didn’t know you meant Knew with a capital K.”

“Understood. But I can tell you for a fact that John is not going to buy the part about switching with Dan Paillard as self-education. He’s convinced you were part of the murder and were aiming to control the situation. That means premeditation and that’s like a big martini for a guy like John.”

“But-”

“Hear me out, Lara-you okay? Here’s another tissue. It’s important that you see it from a prosecutor’s perspective: What you’re asking John to believe is that you had no idea what Monte was up to when he left the house, that he came home and told you he’d murdered someone, that you stashed the murder weapon for him and didn’t report anything because you were scared. John’s seen plenty of women in domestic situations, that much he can probably buy. But then you want him to believe that you just happened to work the scene for self-education. John is not going to accept that. And, to be honest, in my opinion neither is a jury. They watch too much TV, want everything to make sense by the third commercial. Combine that with your prints on the murder weapon and you can-”

“I did have an idea.”

“About what?”

“About the call. I guess you’d call it a premonition. But I didn’t know for sure. I wasn’t even certain he’d actually killed them, he’s been talking about it for so long I kind of brushed the whole issue off. Then, when I got to the crypt and a Westside call came in, I got a really sick feeling and asked to trade with Dan.”

“Because…”

“Just what you said, I was feeling out of control, just wanted to get a handle on it. I guess part of me was hoping it wouldn’t turn out to be them. That Monte really had lied and the nightmare would end. I’d decided to leave him, anyway.”

“So you intentionally traded to work the scene.”

“I know it was wrong-not saying anything to you. If they want to charge me with obstruction, I can’t stop them. But given what Monte’s done compared with what I’ve done, I don’t think there’s any question who you’ll want to believe.”

“We sure do, Lara.”

“Pardon?”

“Want to believe you.” He opened the case; closed it. “Um, I just glanced at my notes and there’s another problem, let’s resolve that, too. I’m talking the date.”

“Of what?”

“When you asked Dan to trade. It wasn’t the morning of the murder, it was the day before. So if you traded specifically to get control… you can see what I’m getting at.”

“Who told you that date?”

“Dan did.”

“Then he’d have to be wrong.”

“Normally I’d say that’s possible, no one’s memory is perfect, especially for small stuff like that. But Dan changed the log right after, dated, signed his name to the change. He may be wrong but to John Nguyen-and a jury-that’s evidence.”

Silence.

“Lara?”

“I don’t know what to say, Lieutenant.”

“Let’s put it aside for the moment, maybe you’ll figure out a solution-”

“Wow. My brain feels kind of scrambled. The psychologist who tested me said it happens under stress. I’m sure you’ve seen that, Dr. Delaware?”

“Of course.”

“What are you scrambled about, Lara?”

“The sequence. The reason I traded Dan-the first reason, wanting more experience-was the right one.”

“Not the part about psychological control?”

“That’s also true but it came later-an afterthought, you know? When the call came in, I couldn’t be sure it was going to be them but I was scared. Because they lived on the Westside-both of them, in Santa Monica -”

“Des on California. Where did Doreen live? We still haven’t found out.”

“Somewhere on the Westside, she never said. So it made sense the Westside was where they’d-where Monte would do it.”

“Close to home.”

“Don’t geographical profilers say that? Crimes occur in comfort zones?”

“That refers to the killer’s comfort zone.”

“Monte lives on the Westside, too, it made total sense. I just had to see for myself. So there’s really no contradiction. I wanted more experience plus I wanted psychological control.”

“Did you learn anything at the scene to help you up your control level?”

“I learned Monte was even worse than I imagined. He claimed he was just getting even, but then I saw that she’d been strangled, up close and personal. Saw that semen stain and knew he’d done something twisted.”

“You suspected the stain was Monte’s.”

“Des uses condoms and that kind of thing fits Monte-dominant, cruel. That’s why I pointed it out to you, Lieutenant. I was too scared to come out and tell you but I hoped you’d follow the trail.”

“Aiding and abetting me, huh?”

“Right from the beginning.”

“So you figured out the semen was Monte’s, not Des’s? Okay… um, how do you know Des used condoms, Lara?”

Silence.

“Lara?”

“Must be something I heard. Back in high school. Des was a huge player, everyone talked about it, how he’d jump anything with a pulse. How he carried condoms in his wallet.”

“We didn’t find any condoms at the scene.”

“I figured Monte took them.”

“Why would he do that?”

“He’s evil-maybe for a trophy, some kind of sick male dominance. Just like ejaculating on Doreen’s leg.”

“You’re sure it wasn’t Des’s semen?”

“I can’t be sure of anything. I just figured Monte was capable of something twisted like that. Killing Doreen, then demeaning her. When I pointed it out, I was hoping you’d analyze it, find out it was Monte’s, and that would tell you had something more than a simple murder.”

“One thing this case hasn’t been, Lara, is simple. Something John Nguyen reminds me every day. Now it looks like it’s not gonna close anytime in the future. Especially with that semen stain gone. What do you think caused that?”

“Someone here screwed up. It happens more often than you think.”

“A screwup as opposed to something deliberate.”

“Who would do that deliberately?”

“That’s what Bobby Escobar wanted to know.”

“Who?”

“Bobby Escobar, C.I., used to work here-the position you filled-before he went back to school to get a master’s. Well liked, so they let him come in after hours, work on his data.”

“He told you about the stain?”

“Basically.”

“Okay… good, so someone will look into it and hopefully they’ll tighten up procedures. For the chain of evidence, I mean.”

“That would be useful… but here we go again, Lara, with another annoying problem. Bobby reported to Dave McClellan that a couple of days after Des and Doreen’s bodies came in, he was here working late, happened to step out of his office, which is right across from the fridge-closet, at the exact same time you walked out of the fridge. That ring a bell?”

“Short Latin guy? Big mustache?”

“That’s Bobby. He went into the fridge, found one of the bodies looked like the plastic wrap had been messed with. Doreen’s. Dave didn’t think much of it, you were staff, maybe you were clearing a serial number for your paperwork. But now that we know about the stain, you can see what it looks like.”

“That’s all it was, I was checking numbers.”

“But someone else got in there and removed the stain?”

“Or it got washed away by accident, Lieutenant. That kind of thing happens around here, believe me.”

“I can hear John Nguyen groaning.”

“What do you mean?”

“See it from John’s perspective, Lara. You’re seen entering the fridge, the plastic’s disturbed, a piece of evidence is missing.”

“Maybe he did it.”

“Who?”

“That guy Bobby, maybe he wanted his job back, so he tried to cast suspicion on me.”

“Bobby’s busy with school and a part-time job.”

“He might’ve changed his mind.”

“Anything’s possible, Lara, but I wouldn’t even try to offer that to John Nguyen-hold on, let me shoot another one at you. A problem, I mean: Bobby was murdered.”

Silence.

“Lara?”

“Oh, that.”

“That?”

“I heard a C.I. was shot off the premises. I didn’t know it was him.”

“It was, Lara. He was shot in the head, same as Des Backer. With a.22, same as Des, no shell casings left behind, same as Des. Which makes sense, because the gun-the one with your prints on it-is a revolver, that little Smith and Wesson 650 we found in the box in the closet. So obviously we ran comparisons and unfortunately, the striations from the bullet in Bobby’s head match those from the bullet in Des’s head. I say unfortunately, because now we’ve got your prints on a weapon of multiple destruction. So to speak. Monte has an explanation for that-one that doesn’t depend on coincidence. Want to guess what he says?”

“Something that incriminates me. But he’s a sociopath and a liar.”

“Be that as it may, Lara, John Nguyen likes what Monte has to say. Which is that you were the one who ambushed Bobby. Monte admits to following Bobby when he left the crypt and to waiting until Bobby caught a red light then jacking him, pulling him out of his car, and dragging him over to where he says you shot Bobby. He even admits to putting Bobby back in the car. All you did, according to his version, is pull the trigger. John likes that story because it doesn’t depend on coincidence.”

Silence.

“This is ridiculous, Lieutenant.”

“So is sticking lynx hair on trees where it doesn’t belong. Which, when you think about it, isn’t that different from wiping away a stain. A stain Monte was too macho to get rid of at the scene-like you said, he’s a gambler, likes to take risks. Probably told you no way would they even analyze the stain. Two people are found in a sexual pose, there’s semen, why even suspect someone else contributed? I’m willing to believe he intimidated you that night, Lara, that’s why you couldn’t get rid of the stain right then and there. You both had guns but Monte’s was bigger. Size mattering and all that. You were training your little gun on Doreen while Monte did his big-gun thing, weren’t you? Then he strangled her, came on her leg.”

Silence.

“Lara?”

Silence.

“Lynx hairs, stains, it’s always about playing with evidence, Lara.”

Silence.

“Now you’re getting kind of closed up, Lara, the way you say Monte tends to be. That is not in your best interest, John Nguyen will not appreciate that.”

Silence.

“Lara, I’ve been open to your explanations, will continue to be open. But you’ve got to meet me halfway. Like that trip to Port Angeles to get the money. We’ve got Monte on video taking those suitcases, but both your names on the passenger list to Seattle. On a day you were off-shift.”

Silence.

“Tell me what really happened, Lara. Start at the beginning, it’s in your best interest.”

“We’re over.”

“Pardon?”

“Over. Finished. I need to have an attorney.”

“You’re saying you absolutely want an attorney.”

“Finished.”

“Suit yourself, Lara. You always do.”