Helen followed his gaze. The mingled odor of gunpowder, blood, and urine made her want to vomit. She held a trembling hand over her nose and mouth and walked over to the table.

“What are you doing?” Werner asked sharply.

She pulled her cell phone from her bag. “Calling the police.”

“Don’t!” He leapt to his feet and pushed her hand down.

“Don’t?”

“We aren’t making any phone calls. To anybody.”

Perturbed, she shook her head and tapped the telephone icon with her thumb.

Werner gripped her wrist and wrenched the device from her hand. Slid it into his pocket.

“Hey! What—”

“Listen. Look at me. No police. The media will have a field day.”

“Media? It was a break-in! We could have been killed, both of us.”

“You aren’t thinking clearly, Helen.”

“It’s not our fault, is it?” She pointed at the lifeless body. Her voice cracked. “He was the one who came into our house with a gun!”

“Listen. That gun—” Werner’s breath caught. He ran his fingers through his hair. Paused for a moment. “That gun—belongs to me.” He looked down regretfully at the robber. “You killed that boy with our pistol. He came in here with a BB gun. I managed to get it off him upstairs. It was fake.”

She felt herself go cold. “You have a gun?”

He looked at her guiltily. Said nothing.

“We have a gun in the house, and you didn’t think to tell me? Have you lost your mind? There are three teenagers living here; this is absurd, you know—”

“Shh . . .” He held her arms and tried to pull her toward him.

She acquiesced briefly, before putting her hands on his chest and pushing away.

He kept hold of her. “I didn’t want an argument,” he whispered. “It was my decision, OK?”

“Somebody just died because of your decision.”

“But we’re still alive! Do you understand what I’m trying to say? We are still alive!”

She pursed her lips and stared at the man she had been married to for nearly eighteen years. Where had he gotten it into his head to buy a gun? More than once over the last few months he had told her that he was afraid of becoming a target. He had even implied he wanted to take countermeasures. But she had no idea it had gone so far.

Her voice sounded a good deal calmer than she felt. “Werner, we need to hand this over to the police.”