This was the “sexy” part of the case — the stuff that sells papers and ad space as well. I gave an answer that was short enough to keep things moving along but detailed enough to keep them from spending the next hour hounding me about how it feels to come face-to-face with a cold-blooded killer.

“So, would you say that Agent Siegel saved your life?” someone followed up.

Siegel leaned into his mike. “That’s right,” he said. “Nobody takes this guy out but me.” They gave him a good laugh for that one.

“Seriously, though,” he went on, “we may have had our bumps in the road, but this investigation is a perfect example of how federal and local authorities can work together in the face of a major threat. I’m proud of what Detective Cross and I accomplished here, and I hope the city’s proud of us, too.”

Apparently even Siegel’s good side had a huge ego. But I was in no mood to be picky or small. If he wanted the face time, he could have it.

I held back for the next several questions, until inevitably someone asked, “What about motive? Can you tell us definitively at this point that Talley and Hennessey were operating on their own? And for what reason?”

“We’re looking into all possibilities,” I said right away. “What I can tell you is that the two gunmen responsible for the Patriot sniper killings are now deceased. The city should go back to normal. As to any open aspects of the investigation, we have no comment at this time.”

Siegel looked at me but kept his mouth shut, and we moved right along with our dog and pony show.

The full truth, which we would never share with the press, was that we had plenty of reasons to believe Talley and Hennessey had been following someone else’s game plan. Maybe we’d find out whose, and maybe we wouldn’t. If I’d had to guess that morning, I would have said this case was as closed as it was going to get.

It happens. A lot of police work is about skimming the bottom layers off things without ever getting to the top. In fact, that’s exactly what the people at the top count on. The ones who work for them — the guns for hire, the thugs, the street criminals — those are the ones who absorb most of the risk, and all too often they’re the only ones who take the fall.

Something about “foxes in the henhouse” comes to mind.

Chapter 108

AFTER TWO MORE DAYS of boring and exhausting paperwork, I took a long weekend and spent some time playing what the kids like to call Ketchup. Mostly it’s just me turning off my cell and hanging out with them as much as possible, although Bree and I did sneak away for a few blessed hours on Sunday afternoon.