“It feels like a loophole because it is. And don’t think the bad guys don’t know it. You can’t kill anyone fast anymore. But if you’ve got the patience, and the time, you can do it. Patience, time and silence.”

Langdon looked over at me. “That sounds like a quote.”

“Yes, well. It may have been said to me recently.”

“Which brings me to something I want to talk to you about,” Langdon began, and was interrupted as two Chicago uniformed officers came into the ICU with Katie Albert between them. She spotted the two of us, and broke away from the uniforms to run toward us. When she reached us she grabbed Langdon and started crying “Thank you thank you thank you thank you,” between sobs. Langdon smiled and hugged her back. Eventually Katie disengaged from Langdon, gave me a quick glance, and then went into the room to see her husband. The uniformed cops followed her in.

“You’re welcome,” I said, quietly.

Langdon smiled at me. “I think she might still be holding a grudge.”

“There’s no ‘think’ about it.”

“Maybe I’ll make the point to her that you really did help to save her husband’s life.”

“As long as she thinks it was me who got him involved in the first place, it’s not going to matter.”

“But you didn’t have anything to do with Jimmy Albert getting caught up with any of this.”

“No, I didn’t. I don’t think she will ever care.”

“Sorry about that.”

“It’s all right. Jimmy’s alive and I don’t really care who gets credit for that one. And I have other things to worry about than Katie Albert being angry with me for the rest of our lives.”

We looked into the room to see Katie holding her unconscious husband’s hand, crying into it.

“So you held out on me,” Langdon said, after a minute of this.

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“When we were at Wooldridge’s you talked about what really happened after Elaine Wooldridge died. How Wooldridge attacked Jimmy. You never bothered to share that tidbit with me.”

“It came to me late in the game.”

“I guess it did. Along with a note that told you that a video existed. Which you never really got around to telling me either. And of course, that whole being pushed down an elevator shaft for mysterious reasons.”

“It’s been an exciting day.”

“Yes, but for you more than me. So, let’s cut the shit, shall we, Valdez?”

“Okay.”

“You and I both know eighty-year-old decrepit Orval Wooldridge did not sneak into Jimmy Albert’s home, bludgeon him into submission, drag him to Kenosha and toss him into a basement playroom.”

“That’s pretty obvious, yes.”