“No, I think you’d like to send me off chasing my tail with this Spada to throw me off your client’s scent. I’ve got him for the break-in. Maybe Darby saw him, too? Maybe Byson’s not only a thief but a killer, which is why he’s on the run.” I thought about Tim’s painting in Jung’s apartment, and my own suspicions that he might be a killer. However, until I knew for sure what was going on, I had no other choice but to stick with him.

“You’re being ridiculous. You’ve met Jung. Would he have the sense to run?” It was a good question, one I’d asked myself a million times since leaving his apartment. “He could be hiding. The question is, why’s he hiding from me?”

“Because he knows he’s been had,” Marta said. “Now let’s go. You’re going to run through this whole thing again, step-by-step, telling me everything you know.”

“Oh, come on. I don’t have time for that. You heard me. My client may have dug himself deep into a hidey-hole.”

“You’re a witness in a homicide.”

I shook my head. “I’m the innocent recipient of the worst gift ever, that’s all. And if you’d taken me seriously when I told you Tim’s death wasn’t accidental, we wouldn’t even be here right now.”

“This got anything to do with your car getting torched?”

I wasn’t surprised she’d heard about it. Marta was good, thorough. “Darby couldn’t have done that from the box. He looks, and smells, like he’s been dead for some time.”

Marta reached for the doorknob, frowned. “I’m done with this buggy bathroom. Your office. Now. And if you even think about getting cute and leaving out one tiny detail of this twisted sister of a story, I’ll lock the cuffs on you myself.”

My car burned to a molten lump. Jung missing. Darby dead in a box. Someone was sending me a message, and I didn’t like it. Doesn’t anybody send Western Union anymore?

Chapter 33

Chapter 33

My small office was packed with cops, some uniformed, most plainclothes. Everybody wanted to know what I knew. I slid an aggrieved look toward Marta. This was a circus, and she was enjoying dragging me around the center ring. Suddenly a solitary trip to the police station didn’t seem all that bad. I looked for Turk and found him across the hall in a huddle of detectives. He looked angry. Someone had disrespected his building, and he wasn’t okay with it.

Marta clapped her hands to get everyone’s attention. “All right, everybody, clear out. We need the space. Reingold with me. DeLancie, you’re on the ME, and let me know the minute you get something from the techs.”