“Just wondering. That stuff is against the law, right? Bugging someone’s apartment? If it’s a crime, shouldn’t it be reported?”

“Yes and no. Should be, maybe. But in most cases there’s no legal requirement to report a criminal act, unless the failure could be interpreted as impeding an ongoing investigation.”

She stared at him, waiting.

“In this situation, if I were the investigating officer, I’d want everything left as is.”

“Why?”

“It’s a potential asset. A working bug that the bugger doesn’t know has been blown can give you a resource later for trapping him.”

“How?”

“By letting him listen to a setup conversation that would then make him do something that would identify or incriminate himself. So it could be useful. But that might not be the way Schiff or other detectives in the Syracuse PD would see it. They might just stomp in and blow the whole thing. Once I tell Schiff, it’s out of my control, and right now I’d like to hang on to every little plus I can.”

She nodded and sampled her chowder. “It’s good. Try it before it gets cold.”

He took his first spoonful and agreed it was very good indeed.

She broke off a chunk of garlic bread. “While you were napping, I read that thing you left on the coffee table by the couch, with your questions about the case.”

“I wanted you to.”

“You’re sure that the murders aren’t about what everyone thinks they’re about?”

“Sure enough.”

“You’re coming at the case like it was brand-new?”

“A brand-new case that just happens to be ten years old.”

She studied her spoon. “If you’re starting back at square one, I guess the most basic question would be, why do people murder other people?”

“Apart from sacred-mission delusions, the main motives are sex, money, power, and revenge.”

“Which do you think it is?”

“Given the range of victims, it’s hard to imagine it being sex.”

“I bet it’s about money,” said Madeleine. “A lot of money.”

“Why?”

She gave a little shrug. “Luxury cars, expensive guns, rich victims—just seems like that’s what it’s all about.”

“But not about hating it? Hating the power of money? Or eliminating greed?”

“Oh, gosh, no. Probably just the opposite.”

Gurney smiled. He had the feeling that Madeleine might be onto something.

“Finish your chowder,” she said. “You don’t want to miss the first episode of The Orphans of Murder.”

They didn’t have a television, but they did have a computer, and RAM News, in addition to putting the program on its cable channels, had advertised a simultaneous webcast.