There was a faint thread of hope in Keric’s voice. Decker hated to dash it asunder, but it was what it was. “Not quite yet. If you can bear with me a little longer, I think we can wrap this up one way or the other.”

“Wrap up…what is to wrap up?”

“I can tell you that just as soon as I do a small test with my kit.”

“What is kit? You make powder on the walls.”

“No, no.” Decker had left the apartment and was bounding down the stairs. “I’m just going to swab a few areas with a Q-tip.”

“What swab?” Keric was having trouble keeping up with him, so Decker slowed. “What do you mean, swab?”

Decker reached the lobby and went out to his car. From the glove compartment he retrieved a small cellophane package. “I found a few small stains between the shoe moldings and the floor in the living room and kitchen. This little packet is a presumptive blood test kit. It’ll tell me whether the stains are blood or not.”

Keric’s ashen face turned grayer. “Why would there be blood?”

“I’m not saying there is.” Keric was panting, and since Decker’s CPR skills hadn’t been tested for a long time, he walked at a more leisurely pace. The two men made it back up the stairs. By that time, Baker Culbertson had emerged from his warren and was lurking in the hallway.

“Is everything all right?”

Decker smiled and nodded. “I’m just about done.”

“He tests for blood,” Keric told the artist.

“Blood?” Culbertson was aghast. “Why would there be blood?”

“I’m not saying there is. Let’s not draw any conclusions.” Decker paused. “You didn’t hear anything funny coming from Banks’s apartment Friday night, did you?”

“No, everything was quiet,” Culbertson insisted. “Not that I was home all of Friday evening. I have a life.”

Decker gave him a hard smile. “It’s probably best if you keep quiet about this. I wouldn’t want to start a panic in the building.” He turned to Keric. “That wouldn’t be good for you.”

“You here isn’t good for me.”

Decker kept his face flat. “Excuse me…” He went into Banks’s place, squatted and swabbed a small blotch on the baseboard of the kitchen. The Q-tip turned blue.

“What is that?” Keric asked.

“It means that it’s likely that the sample I took is blood.” He stood up. “It could be human blood, but it also could be from raw chicken or a piece of meat. Or it could be horseradish or potatoes. They’ll change the color as well.”

“So why you do it?”