“I understand, Lara, but the point is I need you giving me anything I can use against Monte. So if Des and Doreen did do something underhanded to you, that makes it more likely they did something to him and I’d like to know about it. And from what the Forest Service told us, they were blatant snitches.”

“Lieutenant, it was a big misunderstanding. Obviously I don’t talk about it because jobs are hard to come by and I love mine. Also, afterward, I realized I was lucky.”

“Lucky about what?”

“Leaving medicine, it worked out for the best. Medicine’s become nothing but a big business, my orientation’s research.”

“Working here you get to do research?”

“I hope to eventually. Meanwhile, I’m constantly learning and that satisfies the curious part of me. Eventually, I hope to go back to school, get a Ph.D.”

“Makes sense… so the lynx hair business …”

“Big misunderstanding, Lieutenant. Another of Monte’s brilliant ideas. But I admit, I was stupid to go along with it.”

“Okay … I appreciate your being straight with us, Lara. Even though we had a few false starts.”

“I’m sorry for those, Lieutenant. You caught me off-guard, I’m not always the greatest at multitasking. When I have to, I can do more than one thing at a time but it’s hard not to get sidetracked. It’s some sort of learning disability, my parents had me tested when I was a kid. The psychologist said I was gifted but had organizational and memory issues. So if I forget something, please don’t hold it against me.”

“Deal … okay, let’s talk about Monte’s weapons.”

“That I can tell you about. He’s got tons of them. Rifles, shotguns.”

“We’re primarily interested in handguns.”

“Those, too.”

“Which one did he use to shoot Des Backer?”

“I have no idea.”

“We recovered a .22-caliber slug from Des’s head. Does Monte have a .22?”

“That would be a smaller gun?”

“For the most part.”

“He has an entire box of small guns, Lieutenant. Keeps them all loaded, keeps the box on the floor of our bedroom closet. Right next to my shoes, I’ve had nightmares.”

“About…?”

“His temper, what if he goes crazy, it would be so easy for him to just—he also keeps one loaded in his nightstand. Sometimes I have literal nightmares—crazy dreams but they seem so real.”

“Tell me about them.”

“It’s the same dream, over and over. There’s a fire in the house and it spreads to the closet, the guns get ignited by the heat and start going crazy, shooting off randomly, there’s no escape. I wake up sweating, my heart’s pounding. One time I woke him up, wanting some comfort. He told me to shut the fuck up, go back to sleep.”

“Prince Charming.”