The woman smiling from the TV screen wore a bikini and a gold chain around her hips, and pointed at a line-drawing of a phallus the size of a small car. The organ was filled with ducts and channels (“the love canal,” “the pleasure trough”) that had eluded the anatomy texts.

She said, “Guys, make us happy. Get in touch with your hugeness.”

Patrolwoman Sheila Entell clamped a hand over her mouth and began making little gagging noises. She’d turned a bad color. Her gunhand dangled, 9mm arcing wider and wider.

Placing one hand on her wrist, Milo used the other to gently uncurl her fingers and take the weapon. Turning away from the corpse, she began breathing rapidly.

Milo said, “Got your radio with you, Officer?”

Dull nod.

“Call Sergeant Gonzales.”

Entell reached under her motorcycle jacket. Her eyes drifted back to the corpse on the sofa. “That’s him?”

“That was Mr. Corey.”

“Oh, God! I watched him but I’ve never actually seen him? How could it happen when I was right here?”

“It probably didn’t,” said Milo. “From the looks of it, he’s been here awhile.”

“But how?” she repeated.

I said, “The next-door neighbor. What did he look like?”

CHAPTER

36

Sheila Entell had been concentrating on Richard Corey, hadn’t paid much attention to the visitor when he exited and drove away.

But her sketchy description was sufficient: tall and thin, probably not an old guy. And oh, yeah, wearing glasses, you could see the shine. Milo said, “When exactly did he leave?”

“Like an hour, hour and a quarter before you got here. I’m sorry, I can’t tell you an exact time, maybe it was forty-five minutes. Give or take. I don’t know, sir. He was the neighbor.”

More assumptions blown to bits.

That was the point.

Milo said, “Tell me about his departure, Officer.”

“He came out and got in his car and just drove away.”

“You saw him at the wheel?”

Entell bit her lip. “He went over to the driver’s side, sir—did I totally screw up by not paying more attention?”

“You didn’t, Officer, I’m just trying to get some facts and I’m going to ask you questions and if you don’t know the answers, that’s okay. How was he dressed?”

Blank stare from Entell. “I think he was wearing a jacket—I honestly can’t be sure.”

“Color of anything he had on?” said Milo. “For purposes of an APB.”

Entell shook her head.

“Anything stand out about him?”