The afternoon sped by, but he got a lot done. Once the arraignment tomorrow made everything official, they would be able to put the Taggart murder aside and concentrate on the bodies in the meadow and the ordinary crimes that continued unabated as long as the earth kept spinning. He didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but Fritz’s identification and capture had been easy, almost too easy, and he thought again that the entire thing seemed as though it had been staged.

Because he was able to get so much work accomplished, Brad called Patty and told her that he’d be able to pick the kids up at six if she wasn’t finished yet with her clients. She was indeed tied up, she whispered, and was going to be home later than she originally thought, her tone of voice letting him know that she was not going to have an easy time with this couple and that there might be other late nights.

“Don’t worry,” he told her. “The girls and I’ll pick up a pizza. We’ll save you a few slices.”

“No pepperoni,” she admonished. “You have that cholesterol test coming up.”

“Can’t hear you,” he joked. “Your phone’s cutting out.”

“Gotta go,” she whispered, her voice dropping. “Bye.”

“Bye.”

Jillian and Sue were at their friend Shannon’s house, so Brad drove home, parked in the driveway and walked down the block to pick them up. “Sorry for the inconvenience,” he said to Shannon’s mom when she greeted him at the door. “Patty and I really appreciate this.”

She waved away his apology. “No problem.”

“I hope they weren’t too much trouble.”

“Those two? They’re little angels.” She looked back over her shoulder. “Grab your stuff, girls!” she called. “Your father’s here!”

A moment later, they emerged wearing their school backpacks and carrying little pink plastic pigs. “Daddy!” they cried in unison.

“What are those?” he asked, pointing to the pigs.

“We got ’em at the bank,” Sue said. “Shannon’s mom took her there to put her money in, and the man said that if we came back later and did that, too, he’d give us a piggy bank.” She held it up for his inspection. “It already has a penny in it!”

“I opened a savings account for Shannon,” her mom explained. “I thought it might be fun for your girls if they came along, too.”

“We have to go back and open an account,” Jillian said seriously. “If we don’t, it’s stealing. Because they already gave us our piggy banks.”

“We’ll see,” he said.

“We have to!” the girls shouted in unison.

Shannon’s mom shot him an apologetic look over their heads.