“Got it…I guess. What’d you do with Berardo?”

“Sent him with two other officers.”

We pull up in front of the precinct office on East 21st Street. Quinn opens the door for me and walks me inside. Garrison gets my bag out of the trunk and turns it in at the front desk.

“Coffee? Water?” Quinn offers.

How ’bout a cocktail?

“Ah, water’s fine, thanks.”

“Come with me.” I follow him over to the watercooler and then down the hall to a private…interrogation room?

“Have a seat, MacGhee. My partner will be here momentarily.”

I take a seat and Quinn sits down on the other side of the table. This room has no windows, bare walls, a table, and four chairs. Just like the interrogation rooms you see on TV.

Two knocks on the door and Garrison joins us without waiting for a response.

“Detective Scott Garrison, 21st Precinct.” A formal introduction again, and this time he presents his badged credentials to me.

Quinn sets his Samsung smartphone on the table, taps one of the apps and then taps it again.

“I’m going to record our conversation, MacGhee. Understand?” He slides the phone toward me, so it’s in the middle of the three of us.

“Okay, sure…”

“Okay, let’s get down to basics.” Here it comes. “There’s been three murders connected to the Marterelli and Partners agency, where you’ve worked for more than five years, this time around, and earlier, for some sixteen months when you first started with them back in 2004. By all indications, you are the main man there, the one with the best connections to and relationships with just about everybody there.”

“Well, sure, you know, five years is long enough…” but I’m interrupted.

“Correct. And of course that includes Bonnie Jo Hopkins.”

My gut tightens.

“What exactly is your relationship with Bonnie Jo Hopkins?”

“You know this, Detective. I’ve worked with her ever since I got there, most recently, and she was already there back when I started with Paul right out of the Marines. She’s the key, hands-on creative in the agency, so she’s involved in virtually every aspect of our advertising, from writing, to production, and including new business pitches. So I work with her all the time.”

“Right. What about after work hours?”

“Well, sure, we have long days, a lot of times. Sometimes some of us unwind together at a local pub or something. In fact a bunch of us went to hear Chris Berardo’s band just, what? Monday night.”

“What else?”

“I’m not sure what you mean, Detective.”

“What else does your relationship with Bonnie Jo Hopkins involve?”

“Nothing, really. I mean, sure, we’re close. We share a lot of things, professional and even personal.…”

“Have you ever been to her apartment?”

My tightening gut twists its way up to my throat, which I have to clear.

“No, no. Well, wait. There was this one time when I helped her get a bunch of art bags home for an out-of-town client trip she was taking the next morning, but…”