“The box we found in your room?”

“The same.”

“And what was in there again?”

“You know, the watch that I pawned. And then the stuff you found, that computer screen and the gun. There were a couple other screens that I passed out to some friends in exchange for gabbling onto their Internet, because my connection is, like, nonexistent. I thought we was supposed to be getting it free, that’s what the mayor said, but I got nothing.”

“We’ll be sure to let him know,” said Ramirez.

“Why didn’t you pawn the cuff link when you pawned the watch?” said Henderson.

“Cuff link? What cuff link? I don’t wear no cuff link.”

“The cuff link you still had on you. There were two, but you lost the one, right?”

“What are you talking about cuff links for?”

“No cuff links?”

“Nah, man. What would I be doing with something beat like that?” “Maybe one of your other jobs.”

“I told you, I don’t do no jobs. And if I did do jobs, I wouldn’t be stealing no cuff link.”

“So then let’s talk about the gun. You use the gun?”

“Nah, man, that crap scares the piss out of me.”

“So why didn’t you pawn it with the watch?”

“I don’t know.”

“Is that your best answer, that you don’t know?”

“I don’t know.”

“You were going to use it against that Danny character with the potato nose, weren’t you?” said Ramirez, as her chair slapped down on its front legs with a crack.

“Nah, I don’t know. Protection, maybe.”

“Use it on him like you used it on the old man,” said Ramirez, who stood and started walking toward Lamar.

“What old man?”

“Don’t be cute, baby,” she said. “You know just what old man I’m talking about. How are we going to help you if you don’t help us?”

“I’m trying to help.”

“You didn’t mean to shoot him, we know that,” said Ramirez, leaning forward now with her knuckles on the table so that she was peering down at Lamar with angry eyes. “The door was open, you slipped in, saw all that stuff, and started filling a box. Then the old man appeared. You panicked, you drew the gun, pointed it, the thing went off. It happens, and it was an accident, and we can help you get past it.”

“That’s not what happened.”

“Then you better tell us what happened, and you better tell us quick, before we take a dimmer view of things.”

“I found the box.”

“Lamar,” said Ramirez, her voice loud now, and fast. “Baby. You keep playing it like that, we’re going to have no choice but to figure you did it on purpose.”

“But I didn’t.”

“That you went in there intending to shoot that man.”

“I didn’t go there to shoot nobody.”

“Bang you down for first degree. Twenty years. Or more. Is that what you want?”

“No.”

“Help us help you.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“Yes, you do. We told you already. It was an accident, you didn’t mean it. That’s what you need to tell us. That’s the only way out for you. Other than that, it’s a needle in the arm, boy.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Oh, come on, baby, you know what I’m talking about. It’s why you’re lying to us.”

“I’m not.”

“Another one right there. Right there, you pathetic loser.”

“Take a minute, Lamar,” said Henderson, who stood now and stepped between the cowering Lamar and Ramirez, whose fists were balled.

Henderson faced Ramirez and stared for a moment, before she spun on her heels and stormed out the door. Then he turned to Lamar and put a hand on Lamar’s shoulder. He could feel the bones beneath his fingers shaking.

“Did it happen like that, Lamar?” said Henderson. “Did the gun go off like she said?”

“I told you. I found the box.”

“That’s a little hard to believe, son. And if we don’t believe it, and we want to help you, how’s a jury going to believe it? Stay here for a bit and think on it. We’ll be back.”

From the other side of the mirror, Henderson and Ramirez stood next to each other and watched the boy. Lamar wiped his eyes with his palm, his nose with the back of his hand. The shaking was worse now, the fear had clutched tight at his heart, and all pretense of faking it was gone. As Ramirez stared through the glass, she could see the ghost of her own reflection in the mirror superimposed on the boy’s scared face. Her face was twisted with a strange and ugly expression that she didn’t recognize and didn’t like.

“Another ten minutes and it would have been done,” said Ramirez. “He would have signed Mein Kampf if I put it in front of him.”

“He just might have.”

“Why’d you stop me?”

“Because I didn’t want that kid saying something he’d spend the rest of his life regretting.”

“That’s our job, isn’t it?”

“Not if we spend the rest of our lives regretting it, too.”

“He already pretty much said he didn’t mean to kill Toth, that it was an accident.”

“He came close.”

“What do you think?”

“I think he found a box.”

They stood side by side and stared at Lamar as the kid tried again to drink from the soda. The stuff was flying from the can before it was halfway to his lips.

“That would mean our killer was clever enough to stage the crime scene,” said Ramirez, “and then place the gun and the watch and the computer screens in a box on some deserted lot so that some chump would find them, hock something, and take the fall.”

“Seems a bit far-fetched, doesn’t it?”

“It would also mean that this isn’t just a simple killing but probably something tied to the fire, to that file cabinet in Byrne’s basement, and maybe to the questionable circumstances of Liam Byrne’s death.”

“It’s enough to give me a damn headache,” said Henderson.

“What would your boy Occam say about all that?”