“That’s a crime scene photo, Helga. Check the date. He doesn’t look like much, does he? You killed him.”

Helga gaped. Whispered, “No.”

“On the contrary, Helga. Yes. A big fat yes. Mr. Rutger had the misfortune to be enjoying a quiet moment in the turret of that monstrosity when you came in and set your fuses and your timers and your plugs of Jell-O. He didn’t hear you because you were careful and quiet and he was an old man and being all the way up there on the third floor muted the sound. He was sipping wine as you stood on the sidewalk and enjoyed your act of cleansing, but maybe you already know that.”

“No!”

“He didn’t hear you, Helga, but you’re young, your ears work just fine, so my bet is you heard him. But you didn’t care, what’s another piece of human scheiss?”

Helga let go of the photo as if it were toxic. It slid to the floor. She stared at it, eyes wide with horror.

First time she’d shown anything close to appropriate emotion. I liked her better for it. But not much.

“Oh, God,” she said.

No atheists on the hot seat.

“Your twigs became a pyre for a human being, Helga. That we call felony homicide. Loss of a life during the commission of any major crime, even without prior intention. That’s not a fine, Helga.”

“I never knew,” she said, in a small, thin voice. “You must believe me.”

“I must?”

“It is true! I did not know!”

“You haven’t been listening, Helga. Whether or not you knew, it’s still felony homicide.”

“But that… makes no sense.”

“I don’t write the rules, Helga.”

She studied him. “You are lying. That is special effects. Anyone can stamp a date. You try to confuse me so I will confess to Des and Doreen but I will not because I did not.”

“You did a whole lot, Helga. Trust me, Mr. Rutger’s real. Was. Want me to show you his autopsy report? You fried him to a crisp.”

“I do not kill.”

Milo shook his head. “Unfortunately, you do. You’ve already admitted the arson, admitted planning it. A man died in the process, you’re facing a long prison sentence. The only way I can see you extricating yourself from this mess is by explaining yourself. Tell me why you decided to eliminate Des and Doreen. I can see a motive right off the bat: They were trying to blackmail you. If they were, that’s a good explanation, people can understand that, it’s kind of self-defense.”

She shook her head.

He said, “And if this guy in the hood did the actual killing and you didn’t really know what was going to happen and you tell me who he is, that will also help you.”