Russell squatted on the floor in the middle of the living room, rubbing a section of the floor with a damp rag. “For good reason, as it turned out.”

“When I picked her up after work, she argued about getting into the car. She knew something was up. She asked where you boys were, didn’t want to be alone with me. She said, ‘Please, Benny, can we be together some other time? I need to go home.’ But I had some OxyContin, and I said she could have it if she got in the car.”

“Anyone see you?”

Thackrey shrugged. “Doubt it. Nothing to see. Just a guy giving his girl a ride. By the way, what’s that doing to the wood grain?”

“It’s not recommended for hardwoods, if that’s what you mean.”

“Smells like hell.”

“Oxygen bleach. Only thing that makes blood traces invisible even if the police use luminol. I cleaned the blood off the coffee table. Is that where she cut her head?”

“Hmmm. Made an awful sound.”

“The problem is cleaning out the seams between the wood planks. If the cops remove the planks, they’ll find traces. You’re lucky the area wasn’t larger.”

“Yeah, lucky.” The larger of the two mastiffs ran inside with the tennis ball. Thackrey threw it again.

“Where’d you pick her up, office or home?” Russell asked.

“Office. But out on the street, not in the parking garage. The garage has a security camera.”

Victor joined the others, a large plastic trash bag in one hand. “It would help if we knew exactly where she was in here Monday night. I found her stuff in the guest bedroom and bathroom.”

“She was everywhere,” Thackrey said. “She was always everywhere. But the drugs made it particularly bad Monday night.”

The other dog ran through the open door with the ball in its mouth and slid into Victor, who kicked the dog away with his foot. “Can’t you keep these things outside?”

Thackrey took the ball and threw it out to the lawn again.

“The Oxy didn’t calm her down?” Russell asked.

“She was too impatient to wait for it. In the car on the way home, I saw her swallow something else. She was supposed to be taking Depakote, but when she couldn’t find it, she grabbed whatever was in the bottom of her purse.”

Victor knotted the top of the plastic trash bag. “Speaking of medications, Ben, how’re you and your Adderall getting along? Your pupils dilate any more, you’ll qualify as an anime character.”

Russell laughed. “Yeah, buddy, you know your right leg hasn’t stopped twitching for the last twenty minutes? And I heard you throw up in the john this morning.”

Thackrey turned to face the other two men.