“It could have been prearranged.” Duncan told Gerard and Kong about her insomnia, her habit of going downstairs for milk. “Trotter may have been about to leave the goods, as instructed-”

“But she popped him first,” DeeDee said. “Maybe he was firing his pistol in self-defense, not her.”

“Maybe,” Duncan said, tugging thoughtfully on his lip. “But if that’s the way it went down, where are the goods? Supposing he had an envelope with him, what did she do with it?”

“Lots of places to hide it in that study,” DeeDee said. “She could have stuck it between two law books before the judge got downstairs. Or in a credenza drawer. It could have looked innocuous enough. She went back for it later.”

“I guess.”

“If Trotter was coming through with the promised goods, why’d she shoot him?” Kong asked.

“To tie up a loose end. This is one cold gal,” DeeDee replied.

“Funny,” Duncan said, “Tony Esteban described her as hot.”

“I guess it depends on your point of view.”

“I guess it does,” Duncan said, matching the bite in DeeDee’s voice.

Gerard said, “The key to all this is Napoli. If he sent Trotter to the Lairds’ house, and Mrs. Laird was expecting him, we’ve got ourselves a case of premeditated murder.”

“Or,” Duncan countered, “it was a burglary gone bad and a matter of self-defense as she claimed.” Or, he thought, there was another scenario. The one in which Elise was supposed to die, not Trotter. But he had only her say-so for that, and after his conversation with Esteban, it seemed even more unbelievable than it had before.

“What about ballistics on the two weapons?” Gerard asked.

“I got the report this afternoon,” DeeDee said. “Both clean as a whistle. The judge purchased his seven years ago.”

“Long before he’d even met Elise,” Duncan remarked.

“Trotter’s has never been attached to a crime,” DeeDee said. “Dead end.”

Addressing Kong, Bill Gerard said, “ Napoli needs to be found.”

“I’ve got every cop on the force with his eyes peeled and an ear to the ground. Right now, looks like he’s pulled a Jimmy Hoffa.”

Then the captain turned to Duncan. “What’s your next move?”

He thought about it for a moment. “I suppose I go back to Mrs. Laird and tell her that Esteban categorically denied being Coleman Greer’s lover. See what she says.”

“She’ll say he’s lying.” That from DeeDee.

Gerard spat into his cup. “You’re frowning, Dunk. What’s on your mind? Something tells me you’re not convinced.”

He stood up, walked over to the window, and gazed out thoughtfully. A horse-drawn carriage loaded with tourists was clop-ping past. The tour guide was pointing out the architectural features of the Barracks, giving them its history.

“Convinced?” Duncan said. “Good word, Bill. Because I’ve been wondering if maybe Esteban was trying to convince me that he’s heterosexual. Everything he said, his posturing, it was almost overkill. His Barbie-doll fiancée with an engagement ring bigger and heavier than an anchor. Her jumbo-sized breasts, which he paid for. Eyeballs through his dick.”

“Excuse me?”

He turned back into the room and smiled at Kong. “You had to be there. The point is, he wanted there to be no doubt in my mind that he was a superstud, a man who liked women.”

“He’s that way all the time,” Gerard said. “You ever see him when he wasn’t strutting his stuff?”

“He’s cocky as hell,” Kong agreed.

“Yeah, the swagger and boasting may just be elements of his personality.” Duncan returned to his chair, but didn’t sit down. He braced his arms against the back of it. “But let’s say, for the sake of argument, that Esteban and Coleman Greer were lovers. Who’s the one person in the world who might know about it and could expose it?”

Gerard supplied the answer. “Coleman’s longtime friend and confidante, Elise Laird.”

“Right. When the concierge of Esteban’s building announced me, I said I was there to talk to him about Coleman Greer’s friend Elise Laird. Maybe he panicked. Maybe he thought right then and there that the jig was up, that his homosexuality was about to be exposed. So everything he said and did was calculated to contradict anything she might have told me about his relationship with his teammate.”

“Or maybe her lie was payback for him dumping her, just like he said,” DeeDee argued.

“He’s an egomaniac. That whole story about her coming on to him could have been a lie.”

She made a snorting sound. “You just don’t want her to be guilty of murder.”

“And you do,” he fired back.

“No,” she said slowly. “But just because she’s got a doll face and a figure to match doesn’t mean she’s innocent.”

“It doesn’t mean she’s guilty, either.”

“Why don’t you push her the way you do other suspects?”

“Up till today she hasn’t been a suspect.”

“Only because you didn’t want to think so,” DeeDee retorted angrily.

“Hey!” Bill Gerard interrupted the heated exchange. “What’s with you two?”

“ Duncan goes calf-eyed every time he sees Elise Laird.”

“You’re pissing me off, DeeDee.” He spoke quietly, his lips barely moving to form the words. “Name one thing I’ve failed to do.” She continued to stare at him without speaking. “Name one thing I’ve failed to do,” he repeated angrily.

She looked across at Bill Gerard and sighed with resignation. “He hasn’t failed to do anything. He’s conducted a thorough investigation.”

“Thank you,” Duncan said stiffly. “Have I been cautious? More tentative than normal? You’re goddamn right I have. Because we’re about to go after a superior court judge’s wife. Before we do, I think we should explore every possibility. Because if we’re wrong on this, we’re gonna be butt-fucked and then we’re gonna be unemployed.”

A long, tense silence ensued. Kong broke it by saying, “Ouch.”

Everyone relaxed, chuckled. But Duncan wasn’t quite ready to forgive DeeDee, and when he looked at her, he didn’t smile.

“It comes down to this, Dunk,” Gerard said. “One of them is playing you. Either Mrs. Laird or Tony Esteban. Who do you think it is?”

That’s the question he’d asked himself a thousand times since leaving Esteban’s penthouse. Did he believe the cocky baseball player or the woman who had killed a man last week?

Quietly he said, “Elise Laird.” He glanced at DeeDee, then addressed his captain. “Too many things about that shooting just don’t add up, Bill. It doesn’t feel right. I think we should get her in here tomorrow, put her in an interrogation room with a court reporter, make it official. Hammer her pretty hard. See if we can shake something loose.”

Gerard nodded, but he looked unhappy. “Shit’s gonna fly. I’ll notify Chief Taylor tonight, because I’m sure he’ll get an earful from Judge Laird tomorrow.” No one disputed that. “Kong, let them know soon as you get anything on Napoli.”

“Will do.”

DeeDee was the only one in the room who looked happy. She stood up and dropped her empty soda can in the wastebasket, saying to Duncan, “I’ll be at my desk, if you want to go over the plan for tomorrow.”

“Fine.”

On his way out, Kong nudged Duncan and said in an undertone, “I still want to hear about that eyeball thing.”

Duncan was left alone with Gerard, who was using his necktie to polish his reading glasses. “What your partner said, is it true? Do you go moony over this lady?”

“I’d have to be a eunuch not to notice her, Bill. And so would you.”

“I’ve seen her. I understand. So I gotta know. Can you put blinders on and be objective?”

“She’s married.”

“Not what I asked, Dunk.”

“She’s a principal in an investigation.”

“Again.”

“We’ve got no solid evidence on which to build a murder case against her. Yet. But upon my recommendation we’re moving forward on the investigation, and if we find that needed evidence, I’ll get an indictment.”

Gerard replaced his eyeglasses and reached for a stack of paperwork on his desk. “All I needed to hear.”