He put the phone back in his pocket and turned to me. “Your lucky day, Warshki. My—boss says if you swallowed the evidence I can’t hold you, although I’d like to bring you in and choke it out of you. You can go home. You—Holcumb, is it? Uncuff her and let her go.”

While the officer undid the lock, she whispered that her mother was an upholsterer, that she’d bring her over in the morning and get her to repair my couch, no charge. I was too tired and too angry to do anything but nod my sore neck. I leaned against the wall, my arms crossed, until the last of the battalion had left. I barricaded the door from the inside and sat on the couch. The mess in the room was now so unbearable I couldn’t imagine ever being able to work in this space again.

Chapter 22: Night Crawlers

22 Night Crawlers

Mr. Contreras roused me from my stupor, calling on my office phone, his voice rough with anxiety: at four–thirty I’d said I’d be back in an hour for dinner, and here it was almost eight. When I told him what had happened he insisted on flagging a cab and coming to the office. Nothing I said could dissuade him, and in my fragmented state I didn’t try too hard. When he knocked on the door fifteen minutes later, I shocked both of us by bursting into tears.

“This is terrible, doll, this is terrible. Who could’ve done such a thing? That cop, that creep that wanted to arrest you last week? And he hit you? You can’t take that. You gotta tell someone. Call the lieutenant. Call Detective Finchley.”

I blew my nose. “Yeah. Maybe. What I’d like is to get some kind of padlock for the doors. Whoever broke in bypassed the code on the front door. They can break down padlocks too, but they’ll be more obvious from the street if they’re doing that.”

One of the chains had opened a big all–night home supply store not too far from my building. The old man rode over with me and helped pick out locks and tools. When we got back I was still so jumpy that I insisted on inspecting both my office and Tessa’s studio to make sure no one had arrived in my absence.