“The story is all wrong.” The words tumbled out faster than his brain could order them. “Someone put her up to this. They’re leaning on her hard. Which means they’re scared. If we push back, they’ll bail. It’s a distraction.”

“Slow down. And hold off on the grand conspiracies. Just give me a simple story that I can sell.”

“My bet? The Russians did Richie. The slick one practically admitted it the first time I met him. On the steps after the foreclosure auctions. Richie was following the paper trail on those stolen properties, and he ran into Corona Partners. And they killed him.”

Mervyn shook his big head sadly. “Petronelli isn’t going to buy that without proof.”

Ted had a thought. Pieces of this puzzle fell into place. “They might already have the proof. Let me ask Detective Duran a couple of questions.”

“You should let me do the asking.”

That wouldn’t work. The detective would never open up to a defense attorney. “No. Duran’s all right. I can talk to him. Two minutes. Alone.”

“You are paying me for my advice. You should take it.”

Ted nodded in agreement but plunged ahead anyway. “I need an ally in their camp or I’m done. I know it’s a risk, but it’s my choice.”

“This is not how I learned this in law school,” Mervyn said. But he stood and went out the door.

Minutes passed and then the door opened again. It was Duran.

“Make it quick, Mr. Molloy. Nobody out there is happy about this.” He took Petronelli’s seat directly across the table from Ted.

“I’ve got a couple of questions for you,” Ted said.

“I don’t know if I can answer. You have now officially graduated from person of interest to suspect.”

Again. Ted didn’t feel as if he’d been promoted. “You told me you were working an alternative theory of the case. Is this it?”

“You know I can’t tell you that,” Duran said.

“I’ll take that as a no. Cheryl didn’t come up with this story until today.”

“No comment. Any other questions?”

“This is an easy one. Where’d you find Richie’s body?”

“Douglaston.” Duran bit the word out. He wasn’t happy about sharing info with the suspect.

“I mean, was he lying on the street? Tossed in a dumpster?”

There was a long pause before he answered. Ted could see him wrestling with his own sense of caution, and finally, Ted saw the detective make his decision. “He was behind a restaurant down by Alley Pond. Lying in the reeds at the back of the lot. Some doctor from Great Neck was parking his Mercedes where it wouldn’t get scraped. He saw the body and made the call.”

“Thanks.” Ted felt embarrassed that he had never even thought to ask the question before.