“That’s right. Paint, plaster, wood, cement, asbestos, glass. Typically, we find this sort of debris in burglary cases, often on the suspects’ clothing, in their cuffs, pockets, shoes, and so on.”

“What about on Eddie Heath’s clothes?”

“Some of this same debris was on his clothes.”

“And the paints? Tell me about them.”

“I found bits of paint from five different origins. Three of them are layered, meaning something was painted and repainted a number of times.”

“Are the origins vehicular or residential?” I inquired.

“Only one is vehicular, an acrylic lacquer typically used as a top coat in cars manufactured by General Motors.”

It could have come from the vehicle used to abduct Eddie Heath, I thought. And it could have come from anywhere.

“The color?” I inquired.

“Blue.”

“Layered?”

“No.”

“What about the debris from the area of pavement where the body was found? I asked Marino to get sweepings to you and he said he would.”

“Sand, dirt, bits of paving material, plus the miscellaneous debris you might expect around a Dumpster. Glass, paper, ash, pollen, rust, plant material.”

“That’s different from what you found adhering to the residue on his wrists?”

“Yes. It would appear to me that the tape was applied and removed from his wrists in a location where there’s debris from building materials and birds.”

“Birds?”

“On the third page of the report,” he said. “I found a lot of feather parts.”

Lucy was restless and rather irritable when I got home. Clearly, she had not had enough to occupy her during the day, for she had taken it upon herself to rearrange my study. The laser printer had been moved, as had the modem and all of my computer reference guides.

“Why did you do this?” I asked.

She was in my chair, her back to me, and she replied without turning around or slowing her finger; on the keyboard. “It makes more sense this way.”

“Lucy, you can’t just go into someone else’s office and move everything around. How would you feel ft I did that to you?”

“There would be no reason to rearrange anything of mine. It’s all arranged very sensibly.”

She stopped typing and swiveled around. “See, now you can reach the printer without getting up from the chair. Your books are right here within reach, and the modem is out of your way completely. You shouldn’t set books, coffee cups, and things on top of a modem.”

“Have you been in here all day?” I asked.

“Where else would I be? You took the car. I went Jogging around your neighborhood. Have you ever tried to run on snow?”

Pulling up a chair, I opened my briefcase and got out the paper bag Marino had given me. “You’re saying you need a car.”

“I feel stranded.”

“Where would you like to go?”

“To your club. I don’t know where else. I’d simply like the option. What’s in the bag?”

“Books and a poem Marino gave me.”

“Since when is he a member of the literati?” She got up and stretched. “I’m going to make a cup of herbal tea. Would you like some?”