“Yes, sir, it did. Only saw her six times, actually. But man was she a tiger.”

Decker thought, Six receipts from the motel. Six times. Made sense. He said, “And you haven’t seen Linda since?”

“No, sir,” Grains said. “Like I told you, lost her and her business when the affair ended.”

“She give you any explanation why the affair ended?”

“Nope,” Grains said. “That was the hardest thing to get over. She just said it was time to move on. Like I was nothing but a piece of cattle. Pissed me off. I asked her what she meant by that, and she didn’t answer me. Just left the motel and I never saw her again.”

“Did you try to contact her?”

“Hell, no,” Grains said. “She paid for the motel room and for her gas, but I was giving her a ton of freebies—tires, oil, transmission and steering fluid, spare parts, belts that I think her husband was using on his machinery. A free spare gas tank filled with super unleaded gas. Man, she was costing me plenty. I guess at the time I thought it was worth it. I don’t think so anymore today…like that matters now that she’s…goldam, that’s bad. Good goldam!”

Decker flipped his notebook closed and placed it in his suit pocket. He stood up. “Thank you, Mr. Grains.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“You ain’t gonna tell my wife, are you?”

“Don’t see why I should have to,” Decker said. “Unless, of course, you had something to do with Linda Darcy’s demise.”

“Shit no!” Grains said. “I don’t know a goldam thing about it.”

Decker said, “Just stick around for a while.”

“I’ll do anything you say,” Grains said. “Just keep it from my wife.”

Decker said he’d do the best he could.

“The good news is you got an envelope from Manfred,” Hollander said to Decker as he entered the squad room.

“What’s the bad news?” Decker asked.

“Your ex is on line two,” Hollander said.

Decker scanned the room for a private corner. Nothing. He depressed the blinking light and said to Jan, “Can I call you back? I want to find a private phone.”

“Private phone?” Jan answered. “This sounds ominous.”

“Are you at home?”

“Yes.”

Decker hung up. “Be back in a minute.”

“Where’re you going?” asked Marge.

“Upstairs,” Decker said. “I need some space.”

He was in luck. The locker-room phone was vacant, the place practically empty. The change of shift was still three hours away. Two uniforms—Hunter and Bailey—were bitching to each other, quieting when they saw Decker.

“Just came to use the phone,” Decker said.

Hunter smiled widely. He was a strapping man of 6'2" with thick, swollen lips. His grin was conspiratorial.

Decker felt defensive. “Calling my ex, okay?”

“Whatever you say, Sergeant,” Hunter said.

“Can I have a little privacy?” Decker said.