“That,” he said. “All right, go on. Why do you suspect dark events at Xanadu?”

“A couple of years ago, I received a call from a man I believe to be Donny Rader, requesting help—”

“Why do you think it was him?”

“The way he spoke.”

“Like a moron.”

“Indistinctly,” I said.

“Okay, he needed a shrink for a brat, he’s an actor, big surprise. What else?”

“I set up an appointment that was canceled. I didn’t think much of it. But the death of one, maybe two child-care workers got me wondering about the family situation and I tried to learn as much as I could. That turned out to be next to nothing because the family’s basically gone underground. Moon and Rader used to be ultra-public figures. They peddled their fame. Now they’ve disappeared. No venturing out in public, no chatter on the Web, and right around the time I got that call they abruptly canceled a major film project due to ‘family issues.’ ”

“Maybe they didn’t like the script.”

The waiter returned. Platters were slammed down unceremoniously. The chief said, “So they’re miserable maladjusts. So what?”

“My experience is that extremely isolated families are often breeding grounds for psychopathology. Three people with connections to them are dead. Something’s going on there.”

“Sounds like you’ve got nothing, Doc.”

“Until recently, I would’ve agreed with you. Then I learned that Prema Moon purchased flesh-eating beetles and surgical tools. Right around the time the baby was born.”

“Show me the proof.”

I produced the form from JayMar, began explaining the purchasing process.

He cut me off. “They’ve got peons to wipe their asses for them, another big shock.” He put on glasses, read, frowned, slid the form into an inner jacket pocket.

Milo said, “Only thing missing, sir, is beeswax. If we can get access to the rest of their—”

The chief waved him quiet. “Beetles. Crazy bitch. How exactly did you get hold of the form, Doctor?”

“I called supply houses pretending to be someone from Apex, said I wanted to renew the order. Eventually, I found the right one.”

“Planning on billing the department for your time?”

“Hadn’t thought about it.”

“You just do this for fun, huh?”

“I’m a curious guy.”

“How long did it take you to find the right company?”

“A few hours.”

“You’re a persistent bastard, aren’t you?”

“I can be.”