“Who aren’t we releasing?” my chief of staff says, and his blue eyes look a little bleary, maybe from hard cider.

He has on tight stovepipe jeans, a T-shirt and lots of Goth jewelry, spunking himself up for the Feds. Bryce loves to flirt, and the more it’s not appreciated the better.

“Molly Hinders,” I inform him. “Her manner of death will be undetermined pending further investigation. I need you to let Doctor Wier know.” Then I ask Bryce if there’s anything new on his marijuana-tattoo mystery. “I don’t suppose we’ve figured out how that detail ended up in a nine-one-one call.” I put it to him bluntly.

“Sure. Ethan and me got to the bottom of it,” he says too flippantly as his boyish face turns red. “The weirdo next door? You know our jerk-off neighbor? It had to be him paying me back.”

“How’d he know what’s going on inside your own house?” Georgia pipes up, and obviously she’s familiar with the tattoo story.

Bryce probably couldn’t wait to tell her.

“Paying you back for what?” I ask him.

“Well …”

“Bryce? Your face is beet red. Obviously you know. Tell me how your neighbor found out about your fake tattoo.”

“Well it seems I got a little drunker than I thought on margaritas made with that to-die-for tequila your sister gave us? And apparently after our friends left I went to take the trash out, and I heard this same really weird noise and saw a strange light again. So of course I tripped on something and fell down, and then there he was trying to help me up. Only in that crazy moment it wasn’t a he. It was this thing, and I really thought it had happened this time.”

“What the hell?” Georgia has stopped typing, staring bug-eyed at him. “What are you talking about?”

“I really thought I was being abducted by aliens for some research project they must be doing.”

“Jeeees-us.” She starts shaking her head. “You sure do waste my time.”

“I’m dead serious. I’ve been seeing weird lights in the sky at night.”

“They’re called stars and airplanes.” Georgia just keeps shaking her head.

“Am I to assume it was your neighbor who showed up while you were out with the trash?” I ask.

“Donald the Nasty. I don’t remember what happened but Ethan does because I guess he came out to look for me and heard the ugly things I apparently said. Ethan was upset, telling me to thank Donald for coming to my aid, can you imagine? And of course in my confusion I yelled, How the frick do we know he’s not the one who pushed me down?”

“And he knew about your tattoo how?” I again ask.