We stood there for a time, staring at each other, pretty much there and then deciding without uttering a word between us that we’d passed GO. Weber broke off first, eyeing the rental.

“Where’s your car?”

I pulled myself off the Cruze. “Out of commission.”

“For how long?”

“I’m thinking indefinitely. Fatal flaw. I’ll need to replace it.”

“Not so fast. What’s wrong with it? I know a great mechanic. He’ll give you the policeman’s discount and everything. Is it the transmission?”

Yes, it was the transmission. It was also the tires, the engine, the seats, the mats, the steering wheel. There was no reason to lie to the man. “Cocktail.”

Weber’s brows knit together. “‘Cocktail’?”

“Molotov. My car went up like a Roman candle.”

His eyes widened. “Say what?”

I walked around to the driver’s side, slipped the bulky rental key into the lock. “It’s water under the bridge now . . . easily handled. And in case you’re thinking this was me making my move, it wasn’t. It was also not a date.” I smiled, my eyes narrowed. “But we’re making good progress.”

I drove away and left Weber standing there.

* * *

I buzzed Jung’s bell, but got no answer, so I jimmied the vestibule door, headed up to his apartment, and jimmied that lock, too. If I found Jung asleep in his bed, I was going to kill him. If I found Jung dead in his bed, I was going to kill him again.

I stepped gingerly into his apartment into a sea of disorder, nearly bowled over by the stink of dirty socks and hippie dude. For a moment, I thought the room had been tossed, but on closer inspection, it became clear that Jung was just a piggish man-baby who needed to settle down and get his life together. There were dirty plates and glasses stacked everywhere, clothes flung over every piece of prefab furniture, shoes, sandals, empty pizza boxes strewn around the floor. But no Jung. I padded back to the bedroom, peeked inside. No bed. It figured. Jung had anchored a hemplike hammock to the wall, and it hung diagonally across the small room. No furniture, just books stacked high everywhere, and more clothes on the floor. I looked up to find strings of Christmas lights crisscrossing the ceiling. Curious, I flicked the light switch and the bulbs came to life. Some of the bulbs were multicolored; the others were white and blinked on and off. What the hell?