“No no no,” she shrieked, making a frantic try for survival. “He’s a liar, Walt. He’s covering for himself,” and with the flashlight pointing to the man on the floor, “I swear to you, Walt, I don’t know that man. Got no idea who he is. And if you’ll listen to me, if you’ll only listen—”

“All right,” Grogan said quietly, mildly. “I’m listening.”

Lita’s green eyes narrowed with cunning. And then, saying it matter-of-factly, “What happened was, I went out to look for Anna. She’s been sneaking out late at night, and I’m thinking maybe she’s out there turning tricks or climbing in windows and stealing. Who knows? Well anyway, I couldn’t find her and I came back here and parked the car and just as I reached for the key to open the front door, I thought I saw something inside the house. Like a tiny light. I went back to the car and got the flashlight. Then when I walked into the house, there they were, the two of them, and they were using matches—”

“Matches?” Grogan murmured, his eyebrows raised just a trifle.

“So they could see what they were doing.” Lita nodded emphatically. “They were looking for something in the fireplace.”

Grogan turned and looked down at the fireplace. He said softly, “There ain’t no burnt matches on the floor.”

“But that’s what they were using.”

“Convince me,” Grogan said. “Show me some burnt matches.”

Lita opened her mouth to say something. A gagging noise came out. Then she shut her eyes tightly and made another gagging noise.

Grogan pointed to the man on the floor and said to Corey, “Put a tag on him.”

“Name’s Kingsley.”

“Connect him with her.”

“They work together,” Corey said. “They been together a long time.”

“No no no,” Lita wailed. She gagged on it. “Don’t believe him, Walt. Please don’t believe him.”

Grogan motioned her to be quiet. He said to Corey, “Making a statement ain’t enough. You’ll hafta back it up. Can you back it up?”

Corey nodded slowly. He said, “It’s a house number. It’s 431 Harold Street. You go there, you’ll see for yourself. Because it ain’t no ordinary crib. It’s mob headquarters, and you’ll see two members of the mob. That is you’ll see their bodies. Another thing you’ll see, some personal items belonging to her.”

Lita let out an anguished cry and then pivoted fast and made a frenzied attempt to flee. She lunged toward the front door, but as she neared the vestibule she stumbled and fell to her knees. Grogan went to her and helped her to her feet. She sagged in his arms, her legs dragging as he pulled her to the sofa. She collapsed on the sofa, her head far back, her arms limp, her face milk-white and her mouth quivering.