“Kathy dies because she defied him, and he bashes in Deirdre’s brain in order to kiss up to the boss?”

“His real motive is he enjoys stalking and destroying and defying authority. Which leads us all the way back to Richard Corey: an even richer man in need of a favor. Earl Cohen just told us he hated Ursula. The girls said the same to Laura Smith. Psychopaths are gifted at sniffing out need so that it wouldn’t have escaped Jens Williams’s attention, sitting in all those negotiation meetings, taking notes. Richard might as well have been spraying pheromones in Williams’s vicinity.”

“Who do you think made the first move?”

I said, “Definitely Williams. People like him are good at creating needs their clients didn’t know existed.”

“He convinced Corey?”

“More like insinuated himself into Corey’s consciousness. Maybe on a day when Richard looked particularly troubled. He was the perfect client with the perfect alibi. And no reason to connect him to Williams.”

“Corey begins his new life and Williams gets to do what he loves most.”

I said, “Williams has no criminal record, and who’d suspect someone working for Ursula’s lawyer? On top of that, Williams belonged in the building and Ursula knew and trusted him. He escorts her to the elevator, keeps going—maybe making up a story about having to run an errand in his own car. Or the conversation just kept flowing and Ursula thought nothing of it. Williams walks with her, then positions himself behind her, calls out her name, and either he pops her or Frankie emerges and does it. Back to the office, wait until the cops arrive, feign shock.”

Milo thought for a long time. “How do I find this bastard, seeing as his own boss has no idea where he lives?”

“For a start, I’d put the watch back on cousin Sullivan, in case she’s sheltering him, wittingly or otherwise.”

“Pleather Flo,” he said. “She’s who got Frankie to the building. Maybe I’ll luck out and they’re kissing cousins.”

He phoned Reed and Binchy, informed them of the change of plans, then turned to me.

“Kathy Hennepin got snagged the same way. Doing a damn delivery.”

“Maybe her involvement wasn’t quite so random,” I said. “Williams worked as a chef in New York, we have to consider that he might’ve known Kleffer.”

“Oh, man, what you said right at the beginning—Kleffer got a buddy to do Kathy.”

“Or Williams hated Kleffer and targeted Kathy because of it. The restaurant scene is competitive. What if Williams and Kleffer vied for the same job and Williams lost out? Or Williams developed a grudge against Kleffer for another reason—he was arrested for battering another kitchen worker. Either way, he seduced Kathy as revenge.”

“And she just happens to deliver to his building?”