“Were they mentioned in the local papers?” Decker asked.

“I checked the Greenbury Tattler from the 1970s to present day and found nothing. I’ll go back further if you want.”

“Occam’s razor,” Decker said. “What’s the most expedient way to find out about the panels?”

“Somebody who knew about them blabbed.”

“And who knew about their existence?”

“This is very Socratic. Great preparation for law school.”

“I’m this close to throwing you out of the car.”

The kid smiled. “Who knew about the panels? Uh, the caretakers of the cemetery, maybe a few locals, and of course, the family.”

“Bingo. The theft was either ordered by a family member or someone in the family yakked to the wrong person. We need to go back to New York.”

“When?”

“Maybe tomorrow, maybe the day after tomorrow. I’m going to tell my wife to stay put. Let her enjoy the kids a little longer.” A pause. “The murders have just given us ammunition to start asking the family very serious questions.”

“You keep using first person plural. Is annoying little me tagging along?”

“You’re not tagging along, McAdams. You’re discharging your duties as a sworn officer of Greenbury Police.”

“Between you and me, I never swore any kind of an oath.”

“You can take notes on your iPad.”

“That I can do.”

“Do you have a place to stay?”

McAdams laughed. “I have several places to stay, all on the Upper East Side, FYI.”

“Hence, my reason for taking you to the Big Apple. Your upper-crust upbringing and connections will come in handy. Unless you have loyalties to your East Side homies.”

“No loyalties whatsoever.” When Decker laughed, he said, “Blunt but true.”

“Then I could use your insider perspective.”

“I can certainly talk the talk.”

“Tyler, all you need to do is walk the walk.” Decker smiled. “Let me handle the talking.”

Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

FOUR FIFTY-THREE IN the afternoon and a mile away from the station, Decker said, “Go home and get some rest, McAdams. If all goes as planned, I’d like to leave for Manhattan by seven tomorrow morning. That should put us into the city by ten.”

“Are you going home?” McAdams asked.

“Not yet. I’ve got to talk to Angeline’s parents and catch up on forensics.”

“How long will that last?”

“I suppose it depends on what the parents have to say and if CSI came up with anything significant.”

“Drop me off at the colleges and I’ll start looking up antique books.”

“You’re not tired?”

“I’m beyond tired and into delirious. I probably won’t get much out of anything, but I’ll be damned if I quit before you do.”

“This isn’t a competition.”

“With me, it’s always a competition. How about if we meet up for dinner when you’re done and we can swap notes?”