“Never. We never saw any visitors, period.”

Jack said, “The only thing was once in a while she’d come home late. Real late, like early morning. I could hear footsteps.”

“More than one set?”

“Nah, just her. I can look out from our bedroom, sometimes I’d look and see her. You think some kind of boyfriend did it?”

Milo said, “It’s too early to think anything.”

“I sure as hell hope that’s not it. Some lunatic knowing where we live.” He puffed out his chest. “I own firearms but I’d prefer not to have to use them.”

Eileen said, “You just keep them in the safe, I hate those things.”

Jack said, “Frankie had a gun, she might still be alive.”

Eileen turned to Milo. “Are we in danger, Lieutenant? Please tell him not to play Rambo.”

“This kind of crime is generally directed against a specific victim.”

“See, Jack?”

“He has his opinion, I have mine.”

Milo said, “What else can you tell us about Frankie?”

Eileen said, “She was always timely with her rent.”

“How much did she pay.”

“Thousand a month,” said Jack. “And lucky to get it.”

“How long has she been your tenant?”

“Nine months.”

Eileen said, “And we probably spoke fifty words in all that time.”

I said, “Not a single visitor?”

“Not that we saw but nowadays we’re always traveling, so I can’t say never.”

“Did she have a lease?”

“Nope, month-to-month,” said Jack. “Leases are useless. If someone’s shifty, try recovering a dime, and if they’re honest you don’t need a lease. Month-to-month is smart, they give problems, you give ’em the gate. You think this had something to do with her lifestyle?”

“What lifestyle is that, Mr. Forbisher?”

“The holes she put in herself. That crazy stuff she collected.”

“That’s prejudice,” said Eileen.

“I don’t think prejudice is her problem now,” said Jack.

Eileen said, “May I ask when you’ll be finished?”

Milo said, “Soon as we can.”

“And you’ll be cleaning the back house, I assume.”

Milo crossed his legs. “Strictly speaking, ma’am, we don’t clean up crime scenes.”

“What?” she said. “You expect me to get down on my hands and knees and scour all that … that horror?”

“There are services that specialize, Mrs. Forbisher. I can give you their—”

“All the taxes we pay and we have to pay more? That’s outrageous, Lieutenant!”

Jack said, “All for the better, Eileen. Something like this, you’d sure as hell want a specialist, not some cop pretending to be one.” To Milo: “Give me at least two outfits, I always comparison-shop.”

Milo passed along cards from three cleaning services.

Forbisher entered the information in an address book, writing in laboriously precise block lettering.

Eileen stood. “I can’t take the stench, need a bath. If you need anything else, Mr. Sharpshooter will tell you.”