We left her standing in her doorway, new drink in her hand.

Milo drove away, muttering, “Sometimes my crazy family doesn’t seem so bad.”

I said, “Mom hates Barnett’s guts but she never considered that he might’ve murdered Lara.”

He said, “That woman’s so fragile I kept waiting to pick up shards. Wonder how she’ll cope if we find out Barnett’s a much badder guy than she imagined.”

He chose surface streets over the freeway, took Van Nuys Boulevard north and connected to Beverly Glen. As we curved through the canyon, he said, “Just like Malley’s neighborhood, huh? Except for gazillion-dollar houses, tennis courts, foreign cars, a lot more greenery, and no trailer parks.”

“Perfect match,” I said.

“Anything Balquin say illuminate Malley psychologically?”

“If she’s credible, he isolated Lara from her family, was closemouthed about his origins, used dope. We know the part about gun-hoarding is true. Toss in the way he reacted to us and there’s potential for ugly.”

“Don’t guys who isolate their wives also abuse them?”

“It’s a risk factor,” I said. “If Malley’s basic approach to life was us against the world, Kristal’s murder would’ve buttressed that.”

“The world’s a rotten, dangerous place so stay armed and vigilant.”

“And strike back. What interests me is Nina’s suspicion that Lara was negligent due to drugs. That’s a tough place to get to when it’s your own kid. No matter how much therapy you have.”

“There’s Barnett’s reason for blaming Lara. Even though he’s also a doper.”

“Lara was the mom,” I said. “Mothers always get blamed. After Troy and Rand were sent away, Lara and Barnett started examining their own lives. Here’s a couple who had trouble conceiving. Finally, they produce a child only to have her ripped away in the worst manner possible. Talk about stress on a relationship. Maybe tension escalated to unbearable, the wrong things got said. A history of isolation and drugs and abuse would’ve added more heat. Maybe Lara stopped putting up with the abuse.”

“Got too assertive with the cowboy.” He aimed a finger gun at the windshield. “Kapow.”

“Kapow, indeed.”

For most of the ride back to the city, Milo waded through LAPD bureaucracy in order to get hold of the complete file on Lara Malley’s suicide.

I let my mind run, ended up in some interesting places.

He pulled up in front of my house. “Thanks. Onward. Somewhere.”

“Are you in the mood for more speculation?”

“What?”

“Nina Balquist suspects Malley was involved in the dope trade. If that’s true, he’d be likely to know unpleasant people. The kind who’d be able to get something done behind bars.”

He twisted and faced me. “The hit on Troy Turner? Where’d that come from?”

“Free association.”

“Turner was written up as a gang thing. He assaulted a Vato Loco.”

“And maybe it even happened that way,” I said.

“Why wouldn’t it be righteous, Alex?”

“Why would a thirteen-year-old kid hang in a supply closet for an hour bleeding before anyone noticed?”

“Because C.Y.A.’s a mess.”

“Okay,” I said.

He shoved the seat back violently and stretched his legs. “Malley puts a hit on Turner a month into Turner’s sentence but waits eight years to take care of Rand?”

“That is problematic,” I said.

“Sure is.”

“I can offer an explanation but it would be broad conjecture.”

“As opposed to wild speculation?”

“Malley craved immediate vengeance for his daughter’s death. He saw Troy Turner as the primary killer so Troy paid quickly. After that satisfaction, Malley’s rage subsided. It’s possible he hadn’t even decided that Rand deserved the ultimate penalty. But the two of them got together and something went wrong.”

“Malley does own wife quickly but cuts Rand eight years of slack?”

“If he blamed Lara for Kristal’s death, that was a whole different level of rage.”

“You only kill the one you love? I don’t know, Alex. It’s a big jump.”

“Lara’s own mother’s still angry at her. There was a picture of Kristal in her house but none of Lara. Put yourself in Barnett’s place. All those years of infertility and she blows it big time.”

“I guess,” he said.

“There’d also be a practical reason not to hit Rand immediately after Troy. Both boys dying so close together would set off suspicions about revenge. Lara was different, there was no reason to assume her death was anything other than suicide.”

“Sue didn’t suspect. And she was a smart cop. Maybe…”

“If Malley did kill Lara and managed to fool the coroner and the cops, that implies cunning and planning. Which is consistent with an ability to delay gratification. So is Malley’s lifestyle- ascetic. Perhaps he mulled Rand’s fate for years, decided to check out the quality of Rand’s atonement.”

“You flunk you die,” he said. “Thirty-eight revolver. Cowboy gun… still, eight years is a helluva long time to wait.”

“Maybe the eight years were broken up by periodic contact- an extended testing period for Rand.”

“Malley visited Rand in prison? Spent face time with the punk who killed his kid?”

“Face time or letters or phone calls,” I said. “You’ve seen it, victims and offenders making contact after the disposition. The initiative could’ve come from Rand. He wanted to unload his guilt and made the first move.”

“You see Malley responding to that? We’re not talking Mr. Touchy-Feely.”

“Eight years changes people. And just because he hoards guns doesn’t mean he’s not hurting.”

“That sounds like a defense brief.” The police band burped. His hand shot out and switched it off. “Guess I’d be a putz not to check out Rand’s visitors’ list. Which, given the fact that C.Y.A.’s a big mess, isn’t gonna be simple. As long as I’m churning paper, I’ll also try to learn what I can about Turner’s death. And let’s not forget the joy of excavating Barnett Malley’s personal history.”

“Always happy to brighten your day.”

“Hey,” he said. “It’s more than I had before you started free associating.”

Five messages on my machine. Four junkers and Allison, sounding cheerful.

“I’m free! Seven a.m. flight tomorrow on JetBlue. I should arrive in Long Beach by ten-thirty.”

I reached her cell. “Got the good news.”

“Dropped a whole lot of guilt on cousin Wesley,” she said. “My Ph.D. put to practical use. He gets in from Boston tonight. I’m packed and ready to go.”

“How did Grandma take it?”

“There were a few genteel sniffs but she’s saying the right things.”

“Seven a.m. flight in New York means a drive in the dark from Connecticut.”

“Got a car picking me up at three-thirty,” she said. “Does that tell you how motivated I am? The day after I arrive I’ve got patients, but if you have time tomorrow, we could have some fun.”

“Fun is good,” I said. “I’ll pick you up.”

“I booked a car in Long Beach, too.”

“Unbook it.”

“Ooh,” she said. “Tough guy.”

At nine p.m., my service called. I’d downed a sandwich and a beer, was ready to kick back with some journals.

“It’s a Clarice Daney, Doctor,” said the operator.

“Cherish Daney?”

“Pardon?”

“I know a Cherish Daney.”

“Oh, could be, this is Loretta’s handwriting- yeah, that could be it, Doctor. You want me to hold her number or give it to you? She said it was no emergency.”