I don’t wait for him to answer. Instead, I walk over to the small wooden table in the corner of the kitchen. It’s pushed against the wall on two sides, but that allows for two chairs. I take one of them, and Gabriel follows suit.

“Did you stay inside after the funeral?” he asks.

He’s still worried about Donald Chesterman. They haven’t been able to find him, as the man evidently left prison and the grid simultaneously. I’ve already told Gabriel several times that I couldn’t live with police protection, and that I’d be safe without it, but I appreciate his concern nonetheless.

“Yes. I came right home after the funeral. But don’t you think we can relax about Donald Chesterman? He has no connection to Papamichael.”

“I know, but stolen guns go through a lot of hands. It’d be a hell of a coincidence if a felon got hold of a police detective’s gun, but stranger things have happened.”

“But if he’s the killer, that would be the second pretty big coincidence. He’d also have to have known that Lauren would be in the park that night.”

“That I’m less troubled by. He could have been stalking her, waiting for a time when she was alone. When she left the apartment, he could simply have followed her into the park.”

I disagree, but there’s no reason to debate the issue. I’d much rather focus on whether the evidence supports Lauren obtaining the gun from Papamichael, which would tighten the noose around Richard’s neck.

“Did you find out whether Lauren and Papamichael ever worked a case together?” I ask.

“He had a bunch of cases with Special Vics. A few with you, actually, and some others in the unit. But he also had cases with virtually every other ADA. So I’m not sure it’s a real connection to Richard.”

“But any case with the unit means access to Lauren. She was pretty hands-on.”

“Since when do you hate Richard Trofino so much?”

“Since he killed his wife. But the better question is: since when are you such a Richard Trofino defender?”

The two types of people Gabriel despises most are millionaires and politicians. I suppose criminals would be a close third. Richard fits the first two bills, and quite possibly the third too—even before the murder.

Gabriel shrugs. “I’m just trying to keep an open mind, that’s all. Besides, the two doormen on duty that night both say that they remember Lauren leaving at around one a.m., and they never saw Richard. And he doesn’t show up on any of the security cameras in the building either.”

“I’ve lived in doorman buildings, Gabriel. There are always exits that don’t bring you past the doormen. And I’m sure there are ways of avoiding the cameras.”

“I know. That’s what Dana said too.”