Marge smiled. “Should we go back to the station and file for a full-blown MP case? Then we could come back and check out the neighbors. Find out what they’ve heard over the past couple of days. Or over the past couple of years. Maybe the neighbors, unlike Orit, were aware of something fishy. They pick up on things like that.” She paused. “Except the ones that thought the serial killer was a nice, quiet guy.”

“Just a regular Joe except for the vats of hydrochloric acid kept in the basement.” Decker turned the unmarked onto Devonshire, headed toward the station house. “We have enough of a case to ask Davidson for time to canvass the area, check out the parents’ workplaces.”

Marge clapped her hands. “Let’s do it.”

Dispatcher’s static was beaming through the squawk box. Decker tuned out the noise automatically except if the crime happened to go down near his location. Funny how the ear adjusts to what’s important.

Marge said, “The school’s on the way back to the station. Want to stop by first?”

“Sure, why not?”

They rode a few minutes in silence.

“I’ll do the talking with the administration there,” Marge said. “That’s okay, right?”

“It’s your case.”

“You really see it that way?”

“That’s the way Davidson saw it.”

“Davidson was giving me busywork.”

Decker said, “He may have been giving you bullshit, but if it turns into something big, he won’t take it away from you.”

“You don’t think so?”

“Nope. Why risk a discrimination suit?”

“And if he does take it away from me?”

“Go to Strapp. I’ll support you.”

Marge grinned. “Really?”

Decker was insulted. “What the hell do you think? Marge, you’re letting your imagination drag you down. Stop thinking worst-case scenarios and let’s concentrate on the present. How old are the Yalom boys again?”

Marge paged through her notes, pleased by Decker’s support. Okay, so she was getting on his nerves. So what? They were partners.

She paused.

Partners. Just like Yalom and Gold.

Decker was irked by Marge’s silence. “The case, Marge?”

“Yeah, sorry.” Quickly, she sifted through her notes. “The boys…are…fifteen and sixteen. Gil’s the oldest. Dov is in the class with Sharoni. How about if I take the administrators and the records, and you talk to the girl. You’re better with teenagers, having raised one yourself.”

“Fine.”

“How’s Cindy doing? Is she still interested in police work after the Bellson/Roberts affair?”

Decker felt his jaw tense and willed it to relax. “’Fraid so.”

“She’d make a good cop.”

“Bite your tongue, Dunn.”

Marge shrugged. “We could use bright and brave women like her on the force.”

“She’s too smart to be a cop.”

Marge glared at him. “Thanks for the compliment, Deck.”