"Nice. That should benefit both of you if you can keep from quarreling."

Dolan had the good grace to laugh. "We don't quarrel. We disagree," he said. "What about things on your end? We felt bad you got stuck holding the proverbial bag. Did you manage to amuse yourself?"

"Funny you should ask." And then I told him about Pudgie's death, which we discussed in detail. In the midst of dissecting events, Dolan said, "Hang on a second. Stacey just came in. I want to tell him about this."

He put his hand across the mouthpiece to spare me the replay while he brought Stacey up to speed. Even in its muffled form, I could hear Stacey's expletives.

He took the handset from Dolan. "That's the last time I'm leaving you. What the hell's going on?"

"You know as much as I do."

He had his own set of questions about Pudgie, and then we chatted about Frankie. He said they'd do what they could to track him down and see if he could account for his whereabouts from Friday morning on. "Good news on this end. Charisse's dental chart is a match for Jane Doe's, so at least we nailed that down. Forensics is just about willing to swear the hairs we recovered belong to her as well. Now all we need is a match on that second set of prints and we may be in business. Have the McPhees gone in?"

"I assume so. I'll check tomorrow morning to make sure," I said. "When are you planning to drive back?"

"Soon as I can. I'll hit the road the minute things here are under control."

I heard Dolan rumbling in the background.

Stacey said, "Oh, right. Dolan left his gun in the trunk of his car. He wants to know if it's still there."

"I haven't had occasion to open the trunk, but I'll look when I can. What's he want me to do with it?"

Dolan said something to Stacey. "He says just make sure you get it back to him as soon as you get home."

"Of course." Dolan said something else to him that I couldn't make out. Stacey said, "Hang on a minute." And to Dolan, "Damn it! Would you quit talking to me when I'm on the phone with her?"

More mumbling from Dolan. "Horsepucky. You will not." Stacey returned. "Guy's driving me nuts. He says he'll do fine on his own, but he's full of shit. Minute my back is turned, he'll run out and buy himself a pack of cigarettes. They oughta lock him up."

I heard a door slam in the background. "Same to you, bub!" Stacey yelled. "Anyway, I'll call and let you know when I'm hitting the road. You can talk to the desk clerk and reserve a room."