“Oliver? If Radar approves, he’ll stay with us as well. It’s a three-bedroom house. He’s no threat to you, Tyler. He’s an old guy just like me.”

The kid was still sulking. “When you talk to Gold, I want to be there. It was my idea to call him.”

“You cannot be there in person, McAdams, but we’ll Skype you in. You’ll have the codebook in front of you and you can ask as many questions as you want.”

“How long is this interloper going to be here?”

“Until we get a solve. It won’t be permanent.”

“I can’t believe you called my parents against my wishes.”

“We’re crossing the same road, Harvard.”

He blew out air. “Are they coming in?”

“Of course, they’re coming in. They were very concerned.”

“Right. Let me guess. My father started screaming—his default way of communicating. First, he started swearing at me, calling me an incompetent moron, and then he probably turned his wrath on you, saying that you were also an incompetent moron and everything that happened was your fault.” When Decker didn’t answer, the kid said, “How am I doing?”

“He called me an idiot not a moron.”

The kid managed a smile. “My mother probably listened for a moment, and then she put you through to her secretary for the details.”

“You know the first thing out of their mouths?” Decker said. “They asked me if you were okay.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“They care, Tyler.” Decker stood up. “I have to call Radar. He wants to come down here when you make your statement.”

“I already told you everything.”

“I was supposed to call him when you woke up and started talking. But I didn’t. If you could, pretend that you just woke up and you’re telling your story to both of us for the first time.”

“You wanted to hear everything from me first.”

“Yes.”

“So you’re asking me to lie to protect your ass.”

“It would be nice.”

“What’s Mike doing now?”

“He’s directing forensics. You were shot with a .32-caliber bullet, probably a revolver because so far CID didn’t find any casings. Too bad the asshole didn’t drop the murder weapon when I shot him.”

“Maybe he picked the casings up.”

“I think I surprised him when Rina and I crashed through your door. He wouldn’t have had time to pick it up. But we did find two stray bullets in the closet.”

“Any prints?”

“I don’t know.” Decker waited a few seconds. “How do you feel, Harvard?”

“Like a truck ran over me.”

“Do you want me to call in a nurse for more pain medication?”

“No.” He shook his head. “No.”

“You’re sure?”

“I’m sure. I fucking hurt. But it’s good to feel something real for a change.”