“Trevor wasn’t here?”

“Not at first.”

A picture of what must have happened filled Joe’s brain. “He came home unexpectedly.”

“Yeah.”

“He caught you.”

Her earlier bluster vanished; she looked suddenly frail and smaller, embraced by the ratty chair. Even the cat returned, perhaps sensing a need to lend comfort.

“Yeah,” she repeated, barely audibly.

“You and Donny were an item,” Joe suggested.

“He was really nice.”

Something Robin Whiteman might agree with, Joe thought. “How long had you known each other that way?”

“Not long. A few months. He was sort of a bar buddy of Trevor’s.”

“Until that day.”

“Yeah.”

“What happened?”

She pointed at the couch against the wall. “We were there. He walked in.”

“And?”

She looked slightly surprised. “Not much. He was pissed, but it wasn’t that big a deal. He pulls the same shit on me all the time. I don’t care. I didn’t think he’d kill somebody over it.”

“You think that’s what happened?” Joe asked. “Trevor killed Don for what you and he did together?”

“I didn’t till now,” she answered vaguely. “Isn’t that what you’re saying?”

“Take me back,” Joe requested. “Trevor walks in and finds you two.”

“He yelled, we … rearranged ourselves. Then it was like no big whoop. I might as well’ve been his sister, for all he cared.”

“Trevor?”

“Yeah. Said something like, ‘If you’re doin’ her, you might as well have a beer, too,’ or somethin’. And he got Donny a beer.”

“Did you believe him?”

Melissa was genuinely doubtful. “I didn’t know. I woulda been happier if he’d stayed pissed. It made me feel like nothin’, you know? The way he was, it was like Donny’d borrowed his car without askin’.”

“And Don? How was he?”

“Nervous. I could see it in his eyes. Trevor’s a big guy, and he has a short fuse. It’s not like they were best pals or nothin’.”

Joe was remembering the squad’s theory about how this might have gone. “Go on,” he urged her. “What happened next?”

“I left. It was too weird. They were starting to tell jokes, talk like it was old times. I went into the bedroom. Next thing I knew, Trevor damned near kicked the door in, lookin’ for Donny.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’d gone. Donny had. And Trevor was really mad. Said he’d stolen stuff.”

“What?”

“His phone? I think that was it. And some money. Trevor always emptied his pockets when he got home. He did it this time. I guess he’d gone to the shitter and Donny’d ripped him off and ran. That’s how Trevor made it sound.”

“What did Trevor say he was going to do about it?”

Melissa regained a fraction of her old contemptuousness. “Well, he didn’t say he was gonna kill him, did he? He stormed out and left me alone. I don’t know what he did. Probably saw if he could find Donny and get his things back.”

“What then?” Joe asked. “A day or two later? How did Trevor seem?”