"So you were cheating on your wife, just not with Esther?"

"Yes," he said.

"You were with this woman all night?"

"I was at her place until four or five in the morning. Then I went to the docks to wait for Saul to bring the boat in."

"Are you still seeing this woman?"

He shook his head. "I got tired of her. You know how it is." And the lowlife actually grinned a man-to-man grin at me, showing his big teeth. Still grinning, his eyes drifted, passing over Greta as if she weren't there, and came to rest on Michael's face. Michael did not smile back. Instead, he eyed Davidson with such cold menace that the smile melted off Davidson's face like ice cream in an oven.

I could guess what was going through Michael's mind. Probably something similar to what was going through mine. He had lost his wife like I had lost mine, and he'd probably do anything to get her back—just as I would have done anything to be reunited with my Deborah. And here was this lucky moron with a loving wife and three children with a fourth on the way, and it wasn't enough for him. He was willing to risk it all for a thrill. Not only that, but he was actually gloating about how little he cared for his lover. No wonder Michael looked on the verge of beating him up again.

"Michael," I said, and when his eyes turned my way, I could tell he got my message. Calm down. Don't go crazy now.

Michael nodded and dropped his cigarette to the floor, crushing it with his foot. Then he jerked his eyes to Greta, sending her an apologetic look for dirtying her floor.

"I need this woman's name," I said.

"What for?" Davidson asked.

"So I can talk to her, see if she corroborates your story."

"It was ten years ago."

"Still. Tell me her name."

He hesitated. "I'd rather not. She's married, you see."

"It's okay for you to sleep with a married woman, but it's not okay for me to talk to her?" I leaned forward, making sure I didn't wince when my stomach twinged where he'd kicked me. "Listen to me now and listen good. Give me that woman's name or I go to the police and tell them you lied about your alibi and that maybe you weren't defending yourself when you cut that man. Your choice. What's it going to be?"

The hatred in his eyes was as hot as a bonfire.

He said, "How do I know you won't go to the police anyway?"

"You don't. I can give you my word and that's it. I won't tell the police Saul Mercer lied for you, and what happened here tonight will stay between us four. Unless you're the killer and unless you try to harm me or anyone I know. But you need to make your choice now."