He gulped until the juice was gone, kneeled and picked a few leaves out of the mondo grass that rims the pond rocks. Ground them to dust between his fingers before sitting down. “Malley and Cherish doing the nasty. Good old reliable human frailty.”

“It fits what Allison said about the Daneys not communicating well. With Cherish’s skepticism about the black truck. She was downplaying Barnett as a suspect.”

“Diverting attention from her boyfriend,” he said. “How do you think the two of them got together?”

“Had to be something related to Kristal.”

“They were on opposite sides of the aisle.”

“Love is strange,” I said.

“What, they passed each other in the hallway and clicked? From everything we’ve heard, Malley despised anyone on the defense team.”

“Apparently anyone but Cherish.”

He scratched his nose. “Think it’s been going on for eight years?”

“It’s not brand new,” I said. “They were comfortable with each other.”

“Good old Cherish, woman of the cloth. Meanwhile the cowboy’s cherishing her in some sleazy motel.”

“It was actually a pretty nice place,” I said. “AAA certification, swimming pool— ”

“Yeah, yeah, and water beds that bounce to the rhythm of misbegotten passion. What is it with these religious types, Alex?”

“There’re plenty of decent religious folk doing good works. Some people are attracted to religion because they’re struggling with forbidden impulses.”

“And others see it as a way to make a buck. How much does the county pay to take care of foster kids?”

“It used to be five, six hundred a month per ward.”

“Not a way to get rich,” he said.

“Five hundred times eight kids is four thousand a month,” I said. “Which wouldn’t be chump change to a divinity school dropout. Especially if it was supplemented by other income.”

“Daney’s other jobs. What’d he call them— nonprofits. He runs around to churches while wifey does some motel-schooling.”

“Plus, they might be getting supplementary fees. I’m not versed in the welfare regs, but there could be a homeschooling allowance. Or extra money to take care of kids with A.D.D.”

“So they could be raking in decent dough.” He rolled his jaw. “Okay, Cherish and Malley are a love connection. What does that say about the murders, if anything?”

“The only thing I can think of is that Troy had three visits before he was killed. One from his mother, two from the Daneys. Theoretically, Cherish could’ve made contact with Nestor Almedeira.”

He put down the bag of fish food. Loosened a shirt button, slipped his hand under the fabric, rubbed his chest.

“You okay?” I said.

He turned toward me. “Reverend Blondie acting as Malley’s emissary to arrange the hit? She poses as a thirteen-year-old’s spiritual support and sets him up to be cut like a hog? Jesus, that would make her a four-plus monster.”