“Well” I said, and that was all I could really say for the moment.

I could feel the eyes on me and the clock ticking, but I couldn't think of anything more cogent to say. It was nice finally to know who Alex Doncevic was; it's always good to know the names of people who stab your family members.

But whoever else he might be, Alex Doncevic was not the name on the list Deborah and I had been investigating. She had knocked on that door to find someone named Brandon Weiss, and been stabbed by someone else altogether, who had panicked into flight and attempted murder at the mere sight of her badge?

Dexter does not demand that life must always unfold in a reasonable manner. After all, I live here, and I know that logic does not.

But this made no sense at all, unless I accepted the idea that if you knock on doors at random in Miami, one out of three people who answer are prepared to kill you. While this idea had its own very great charm, it did not really seem terribly likely.

On top of that, at the moment, why he did it was not as important as the fact that Doncevic had stabbed Deborah. But why that should cause a gathering of this magnitude, I had no idea. Matthews, Cappuccio, Salguero —these people did not get together for coffee every day.

So, I knew that something unpleasant was happening, and that whatever I said was going to affect it, but since I didn't know what “it” was I didn't know what to say to make things better.

There was just too much information that did not add up to anything, and even my giant brain could not quite cope. I cleared my throat, hoping it would give me a little time, but it was over in just a few seconds and they were all still looking at me.

“Well” I said again. “Um, the beginning? You mean, um ...”

“You went to interview Mr Doncevic” Cappuccio said.

“No, um —not really”

“Not really” said Simeon, as if to clarify what the words meant.

“What does that mean, not really?”

“We went to interview someone named Brandon Weiss” I said.

“Doncevic answered the door.” Cappuccio nodded. “What did he say when Sergeant Morgan identified herself?”

I don't know” I said.

Simeon glanced at Cappuccio and said, “Stonewalling” in a very loud whisper. She waved it off.

“Mr Morgan” she said, and glanced down at the file in front of her. “Dexter.” She gave me a very small facial twitch that she probably thought was a warm smile. “You're not under oath here, and you're not in any kind of trouble. We just need to know what happened, leading up to the stabbing.” I understand” I said. “But I was in the car.” Simeon sat up almost at attention. “In the car,” he said. “Not at the door with Sergeant Morgan.”

“That's right.”