I said, "Where did they go just now? Are they leaving town?"

Lily laughed aloud. The blonde had turned the mixing bowl upside down on her husband's head. She showed him. A few bars of the show's dizzy theme song played and the station cut away to the commercial. I reached over and pressed the volume button, extinguishing the sound. In silence, a dog skidded across the linoleum with a can of chopped liver in pursuit.

"Hey," I said, "Leonard's in trouble. Are you going to help him or not?"

She glanced over at me, and I saw her lips move. I leaned closer.

"Excuse me. What?"

The strain was showing in her face and her eyes seemed unfocused. She watched me with all the concentration of a drunk, dependent and out of control. "Leonard never hurt anyone," she said. "He had no idea what she was doing 'til it was too late."

I thought about Mike's report of Leonard's passion for his wife. I didn't see him as an innocent victim in all of this, but I kept my big mouth shut. "As long as he knows anything, he's in danger. If you'll tell me where they're going, I can get him out of it."

She spoke in a whisper. "Just to Los Angeles 'til the new passport for Marty comes through, and then they're flying to South America." Her eyes filled with tears. "I might never see him again," she said. "And we were always so close. I can't turn him in. I can't betray him, don't you see?"

"You're trying to do what's best for him, Lily. He'll understand."

"It's been awful. It's been a nightmare. When you showed up, I thought he'd die of fright. He nearly had a heart attack and that's when she came back. She thinks you took Elaine's passport and she's furious at the delay. He's afraid of her. He's always been frightened by the fits she throws."

"Of course he has. I'm afraid of her myself. She's nuts. Do they have the bags in the car with them?"

She was breaking down now, caving in. The notion of Leonard's desertion caused too much pain and the image of packed suitcases cracked her heart. It was all too much. What difference did any of it make now that he was leaving her? "They've gone off to pack," she said. Her voice came out in a gasp and her nose had started to run. "That's were they went. The motel out by the pass and then the house. They fought about it, but she wouldn't leave it behind, because it was evidence."

"Leave what?"

"The... uh... you know..."

"The murder weapon?"

Lily nodded and nodded again. I didn't think she could stop. It was as if the cords in her neck had come loose and her head was destined to wag indefinitely. She looked like one of those bobble-head dogs people have perched up in the back windows of their cars.