Winters gave him a polite smile, the kind reserved for someone you don’t want to hurt who has told a bad joke. “This case will never get that far, Detective Pavone. The only charge Mr. Coyle faces is petty theft of a digital camera and even that charge is weak.”

Eve sighed. “We can prove he butchered a woman, two children, and their dog.”

“You wish you could. You’ve found nothing at the crime scene, at his home, in his car, or on his person that ties him to those murders. The fact is, all you can prove is that my client was in that family’s house twice, at their request, to fix plumbing problems. That’s a shameful basis for an arrest,” Winters said. “We’re giving you an opportunity today to redeem yourself before it’s too late.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Eve said.

Winters leaned across the table toward Eve, as if to confide in her. “You are the face of this investigation, Detective Ronin. You are the one who will be pilloried and ruined when I get this case thrown out due to an appalling lack of sufficient evidence. But if you drop the charges now, there’s a chance your career might survive the justified humiliation. You can blame your youth, inexperience, and overzealousness. You can blame the sheriff for exploiting your YouTube popularity as a salve for his scandals. Mr. Coyle might even be willing to publicly forgive you.”

Coyle smiled and winked at Eve. “Only if I can have that selfie with you.”

Eve knew the lawyer was right about what would happen to her if the case against Coyle cratered on Monday. But Winters overestimated how important Eve’s career was to her and how much she was willing to sacrifice for it. Eve was far more afraid of living with the guilt of letting a killer go free than she was about being humiliated and losing her job. She didn’t deserve to have the badge if she couldn’t keep Coyle in a cell.

“I have a better idea, Lionel,” Eve said. “You can tell us where to find the bodies and we’ll take the death penalty off the table.”

Coyle dropped his gaze to her chest. “You have sprinkles on your shirt.”

Eve looked down and, sure enough, there were some multicolored sugar sprinkles on her blouse from the donut she ate in the car. She wiped the sprinkles off, well aware that Coyle was using it as an excuse to stare at her breasts. It also meant she had his full attention and she was going to use it.

“I watched Planet of the Apes in bed last night.” She added the “in bed” to tantalize him. It worked. His breath caught and he looked her in the eye.

“Did you like it?”

“It’s cheesy fun, but I don’t see why you’re so wild about it.”