“What a tiger,” I said aloud in bitter mockery. “What a fucking useless waste of time you are. You ought to go back to serving subpoenas. At least that’s something you know how to do. Although you’d probably trip over your feet and break your neck going upstairs.”

“You always talk that loud to yourself, Warshawski? No wonder the neighbors complain about you.” Conrad Rawlings appeared in the doorway.

I had jumped out of bed when I first heard a voice, looking wildly around my bedroom for a defensive weapon. When I saw who it was, my cheeks burned. I grabbed a sweatshirt and a pair of shorts at random from the floor and pulled them on.

“You always walk unannounced into people’s bedrooms? If my gun didn’t need cleaning, you might be dead. I should haul your ass into court.”

Rawlings laughed and handed me a cup of coffee. “Officer of the law serving and protecting, Ms. W. Although after the way you failed to cooperate last night, I shouldn’t bother.”

“Failed to cooperate? I give you guys a story on a platter and all you do is harass me over a stupid broken window.… You spend the night here, or just let yourself in first thing in the morning?”

He sat on the end of the bed. “We finished up here around seven. I saw you had a set of spare keys; I was going to borrow them so I could lock up behind me. Then your old boy downstairs intercepted me on my way out. He cross-examined me pretty hard, and when he made up his mind I wasn’t a punk he gave me his version of the facts. We decided I should come back in. I slept on the couch. Wasn’t too uncomfortable, really. Besides, I already got four or five hours before the Finch woke me up. You can thank me later for picking up the papers and washing your dishes.”

I curled my legs up under me on the bed. “I’ll put an extra five in your pay envelope. I take it your boys didn’t find much of anything?”

He pulled a wry face. “Whoever came in was wearing gloves and size ten Reeboks—they found a print in the dust by the window. Maybe there’s something to be said for bad housekeeping.”

I gave a tight smile. “I don’t need the commentary, Sergeant. What about the neighbors? They must have seen someone on a ladder.”

He shook his head. “Whoever did it took a risk, but not too big a one. You left here when? Ten last night? So, after ten and before four. This is a quiet block. Anyway, that side isn’t very visible from the street—there’re trees that screen you from the north, and the fake front shields you if someone’s walking right by. What were they looking for, Vic?”