"This one has a real bad odor."

"Everything in New Jersey has a bad odor. It's one of the few things a person can count on."

Gazarra lowered his voice. "When a cop gets charged with murder, it's serious shit. Everybody gets touchy. And this murder was especially ugly because the physical evidence was so strong against Morelli. He was apprehended at the scene with the gun still warm in his hand. He claimed Ziggy was armed, but there was no weapon found, no bullet discharged into the opposite wall or floor or ceiling, no powder residue on Ziggy's hand or shirt. The grand jury had no choice but to indict Morelli. And then if things aren't bad enough . . . Morelli goes Failure To Appear. This is a black eye to the department and fucking embarrassing. You mention Morelli in the halls and everybody suddenly remembers they've got something to do. Nobody's going to be happy about you sticking your nose in this. You go after Morelli and you're gonna be swinging on a broken branch, high off the gound, all alone."

"If I bring him in, I get $10,000."

"Buy lottery tickets. Your chances will be better."

"It's my understanding that Morelli went to see Carmen Sanchez, but that Sanchez wasn't there when he arrived."

"Not only wasn't she on the scene, but she's disappeared off the face of the earth."

"Still?"

"Still. And don't think we haven't looked for her."

"What about the guy Morelli says was in the apartment with Ziggy. The mystery witness?"

"Vanished."

I felt my nose wrinkle in disbelief. "Do you think this is odd?"

"I think it's odder than odd."

"Maybe Morelli went bad."

I could feel Gazarra shrug over the phone line. "All I know is my cop intuition tells me something doesn't add up."

"You think Morelli'll join the Foreign Legion?"

"I think he'll stick around and work to improve his odds on longevity . . . or die trying."

I was relieved to hear my opinion reinforced. "You have any suggestions?"

"None you want to hear."

"Come on, Eddie. I need help."

Another sigh. "You're not going to find him hiding out with a relative or a friend. He's smarter than that. The only thing I can think of is to look for Carmen Sanchez and the guy Morelli said was in the apartment with Ziggy. If I was Morelli, I'd want to get those two missing persons, either to prove my innocence, or to make sure they couldn't prove my guilt. I haven't a clue how you do this. We can't find them and chances are you can't find them either."

I thanked Gazarra and hung up. Looking for the witnesses sounded like a good idea. I didn't necessarily care that it was an impossible mission. What I cared about was that if I started running down leads on Carmen Sanchez, I might be following the same route as Morelli and maybe our paths would cross again.