“Six thirty homicide, back in place two and a half hours later,” I said.

“Talk about gall.”

“Big black luxury car boosted and returned,” I said.

He frowned. “That, too.”

“Sean follow through on the Bentley?”

“All Heubel authorized was a swab of the stain, no fancy tech stuff. Sean got a kit and did it himself. Human blood, type O-positive. But we’re a long way from tying the Bentley into this mess. And no cracks about thousand-to-one odds.”

“God forbid.”

“I do the forbidding when He’s busy. Want to have a look at this scene?”

“Sure.”

“See you in twenty.”

Ella Mancusi’s body had been taken to the crypt. What remained was blood-drenched brick and syrupy lawn.

Harder to make out patterns on the uneven surface and I’m no expert, but I’d seen enough over the years to guess at arterial spatter and slow leakage.

The old woman’s body shutting down as blood volume dropped and her heart stopped and her soul washed away.

Milo, standing straighter than I’d seen in a long time, was talking to Sean Binchy. Black strands of hair blew into his face and he slapped them away without success. A hurricane would’ve been required to budge Sean’s cropped, gelled do.

I left the blood and walked over to them.

Sean looked pale. “An old lady. A teacher.”

Milo said, “The Benz is on its way to the auto lab. Sean will talk to Mr. Heubel about voluntarily relinquishing the Bentley for further analysis. If Heubel doesn’t agree, we’re out of luck, according to the hardest-ass A.D.A. I know.”

Sean said, “Maybe if I tell him about this, he’ll be cool. He seemed like a nice guy.”

“Or just the opposite.”

“What do you mean?”

“Rich folk avoid messes.” Milo started to walk away.

“Um, Loot, I’m still officially on GTA.”

“Want me to talk to someone?”

Sean chewed his lip. “I’m not sure Lieutenant Escudo would be thrilled and I’ll need him for my performance rating.”

Milo’s eyes narrowed. “What are you saying, Sean?”

Sean looked back at the blood. “Whatever I can do to help I will.”

I waited for Milo to bark at him but he said, “See how far you can get with Heubel, then we’ll talk.”

Sean saluted and marched away.

I said, “When does he get his bedtime extended?”

“When his grades improve.” Milo turned and faced the little green house. “Any spontaneous insights?”

“Elderly victim, same for the murderer, all that overkill, it’s probably personal. I’d check out boyfriends, ex-husbands, romantic entanglements gone bad.”

“Geritol lover’s spat? My witness says she was a widow and the only visitor he ever saw is a guy in his forties he assumed was her son. Techies are inside. When they’re finished, I’ll start digging through her personal effects.”