Bittner tossed the pen onto his desk. “That’s your job, isn’t it? But since you’re asking me, I’d say she was afraid of someone who was smarter than her other boyfriends, someone who was trying to exert his will over her.”

(ii)

(WEDNESDAY, 8:30 P.M.)

They sat on matching Adirondack chairs on the deck behind Thackrey’s house facing the lawn. Light from the windows behind them shone across the lawn all the way to the meadow. The dogs slept together at the end of the deck.

“‘Night,’” Thackrey said, “‘making all things dimly beautiful.’ Elise taught me that line.”

Russell handed a joint to Victor. “Is that from Cyrano? Little late in the game to be quoting the neoromantics, isn’t it?”

Victor took a deep hit from the joint and let it out. “Also a little late to think that night can make all things dimly beautiful. It’s time for Russ and me to leave before the law gets here.”

Thackrey leaned back in his chair. “This thing’s all so boring and second rate. I don’t want a cop intruding in my life, poking around my house.”

“Unavoidable now, I’m afraid,” Victor said. “We’ve cleaned up what we can. Turned all the binary choices from ones to zeros. Paid back all the debts you said we owed. But we’re improvising. It’s sloppy, spur-of-the-moment stuff. We’re bound to make a mistake.”

Russell nodded. “And your friend wasn’t exactly the model of discretion. Probably left a trail that leads back to you.”

Thackrey turned to face his friends. “You know what I hate? People who solve mysteries, figure out puzzles. It’s derivative. The real creativity is making the mystery, not solving it.”

Victor studied the burning end of the joint. “Can’t dispute your logic, Benjamin. On the other hand, you did kill a young woman. Actually, two, if we’re keeping count—Girlfriend One and Girlfriend Two. Society tends to frown on that. One of the ancient boundaries.”

“What’re you saying?”

“Matter of time. Local coppers’ll be out here in a couple days, three at the outside. You might want to contact Armand, see if he can recommend a good criminal attorney.”

“I don’t want Armand involved in this. He’s got his fingers in my business as it is.”

“I should point out, we’re all in this together,” Russell said. “For Vic and me, it’s called principal liability. Same penalty under California law.”

Thackrey poured pills from a small container onto his left armrest, picked up two, and swallowed them dry. “Don’t get ahead of yourselves.”

Russell played with the touchscreen on his iPad. “Let’s see what the keystroke logger has on the VCI investigation.”