“A clinic,” he said. “They met at a damned fertility clinic?”

“Weider said Cherish had ‘finally’ given up on having her own children. That implies she had tried to conceive for a while. That had to include medical treatment.”

“Chatting in the waiting room, the old misery loves company bit.”

“Until Drew and Lara took the friendship a step further,” I said. “The two spouses who just happened to be fertile. It’s possible neither of them knew that and Lara’s pregnancy caught them by surprise. Drew had to figure she’d terminate because of the repercussions with Barnett. But she refused. Having a baby meant more to her than her marriage.”

“All of a sudden the Malleys are having a baby and the Daneys aren’t.”

“Leaving Cherish with a whole lot of frustration and anguish. Three guesses who she’d vent to.”

“She gets on Drew’s case, pushes for more fertility treatment.”

“Which would be expensive and a monumental hassle for something Drew didn’t want in the first place. Either he agreed and it didn’t work, or he refused. In either case, Cherish switched her goal to adoption. Became obsessed with it.”

“Idiot thinks he’s the cleverest guy in the world and all of a sudden his life’s getting knotted up because of a problem he helped create. Talk about insult added to injury.”

“So he decided to eliminate the source of the insult,” I said. “Turned Kristal into an object lesson for Cherish. ‘See the joy babies bring, hon?’ At the same time, he was able to play out his God fantasy and free himself of any future demands from Lara. And as long as he was cleaning house, why not get a movie deal out of it?”

He hunched and scowled and gripped the wheel, as relaxed as a student driver. Salt air blew through the car’s open windows. Charming neighborhood. How long before Sydney Weider imploded?

Milo said, “Cleaning house permanently. Kristal, then Troy because he killed Kristal, then Nestor because he killed Troy. And Lara either because she wanted to get serious with him or she had figured out he had something to do with Kristal’s death.”

“Jane Hannabee, too, because Daney couldn’t be certain Troy hadn’t said something to his mother.”

“And now Rand . . . think Drew did any of them himself or were they contract deals?”

“Whoever did Lara did Rand. My money’s on Daney for those. Hannabee could’ve gone either way.”

“Six bodies,” he said. “And there’s something I neglected to mention. I checked for any Mirandas on Daney’s foster list. Nothing close.”

“Why would Daney take in a ward and not bill the state?”

“Why, indeed.”

“Oh,” I said.

“Now how the hell am I going to prove any of it with no evidentiary connections?”

I had no answer.

“Yeah,” he grumbled. “I was afraid you’d say that.”

* * *