"Like what?"

I told him about my visit with Pena and I could see him getting angry. Blood rushed into his face and there was a slight tremor along his left jawline. "Look, you guys closed the case," I said. "There is nothing wrong with me talking to Pena. Besides, you or Scalari or somebody missed something. The car was out of his sight for more than half a minute while he was calling it in., :,So fucking what?"

"You guys were only concerned with the time prior to his seeing the car. Five seconds, so nobody could've run away. Case closed, suicide. But Pena told me the windows were fogged. They had to have been for someone to have written the note. Pena didn't look in the back, onto the floor. Then he leaves for at least thirty seconds. Somebody could've been lying down in the back, got out while he was making the calls and run into the woods. It could have happened easily."

"Are you fucked in the head? What about the note? What about the GSR on the glove?"

"Anybody could have written on the windshield. And the glove with the residue could have been worn by the Then he took it off and put it on Sean. Thirty seconds is a long time. It might've been longer. It probably was longer.

He made two calls, Wex."

"It's too iffy. The killer would be relying too much on Pena taking that much time."

"Maybe not. Maybe he figured he'd either have enough time or he'd just take out Pena. The way you guys handled this thing, you would have just said Sean killed him and then himself"

"That's bullshit, Jack. I loved your brother like he was my own fucking brother. You think I want to believe he swallowed the goddamn bullet?"

"Let me ask you something. Where were you when you found out about Sean?"

"Right here at the desk. Why?"

"Who told you? You get a call?"

"Yeah, I got a call. It was the captain. Parks called the watch captain. He called our captain."

"What did he tell you? His exact words."

Wexler hesitated a moment as he remembered.

"I don't remember. He just said that Mac was dead."

"He said it like that or did he say Mac had killed himself"

"I don't know what he said. He might've. What's the point?"

"The ranger out there who called it in said Sean shot himself That started the whole thing rolling. You all went out there expecting a suicide and that's what you found.

The parts of the puzzle fit into the picture you brought with you. Everybody around here knew what the Lofton case was doing to him. You see what I'm saying? You were all predisposed to believe it. You even got me believing it on the ride out to Boulder that night."

"That's all bullshit, Jack. And I don't have the time.

There's no proof of what you're saying and I don't have time for theories from somebody who can't face the facts."