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demonstrated his gratitude for the rescue by tugging at his wispy goatee, evidently a nervous habit. His wiser associate had previously demonstrated his instinct for survival by his rapid exit from the building and was probably already on a plane back to Anchorage, leaving his hapless superior to try to talk his way out of what Kate thought was most likely his own ineptitude. "I'm sorry, Chief," the little ADA said in a voice perilously close to a whine, "I tried—"
     
    "Yeah, you tried all right," Kenny said in a growl that had the ADA trying to back through the wall again. "It's the best case we've ever had on Deem, and you blew it. Right now he's down at the Seven Come Eleven, knocking 'em back and bragging on how he got away with murder. Again. And probably picking his next victim out of the adoring crowd. You little shyster, I oughtta—"
     
    The judge caught Kenny's elbow in a firm grip and said to the ADA, "Mr. Carter, you should leave. Now."
     
    The ADA didn't need telling twice; he ducked between judge and police chief and scuttled out the door. Mutt sent him on his way with a passing nip to his calf, which startled a scream out of him and left a hole in his double-knit pants.
     
    "Good girl," the judge said in a much warmer voice, snapping her fingers. Exhibiting a rarely seen streak of diplomacy, Mutt trotted over, sniffed the judge's extended hand, and endured having her ears scratched by an unknown female.
     
    "What happened?" Jim said. "I would have bet—" He caught Kate's eye and changed that to "I thought you had it all sewn up. What went wrong?"
     
    "It was the fucking tire tracks," Kenny said, still steaming. "I took impressions of tire tracks found at the scene. There were three clear sets, more than what you might expect at Heartbreak Point, given all the juvies rodding in and out of there with their girlfriends. I traced one to Deem's truck, which put him where we found Mary." He jerked his head at Kate. "She found the other two drivers for me. One was there before Deem and one was there after, and this firms up the time frame nicely, and I'm thinking this prick has finally done something that's going to stick to him."
     
    "And?"
     
    Hazen snorted. "First Rickard put the other two drivers up on the stand and cross-questioned them about how many times they'd driven out there to make out with which girlfriend and got them all confused about the timeline, which got the jury all confused about the timeline, which that little prick"—a hooked thumb indicated the direction of the fleeing ADA—"doesn't do anything to clear up. Then Rickard puts up a truck tire expert who contradicted all the crime lab's findings, and then to top it off, there was a long-haul trucker on the goddamn jury!" The judge winced, and Kenny moderated his tone. "What the hell do we have discovery for if not so we don't have jurors standing up in the fucking jury box their own fucking selves contradicting fucking sworn testimony!"
     
    "I've got some Scotch in my chambers," the judge said.
     
    It was probably the only thing that could have stemmed the flow, and it did the trick. They adjourned to the judge's chambers. Kenny knocked back a double in one long swallow and held out his glass for a refill.
     
    "We'll get him next time, Kenny," the judge said.
     
    "That'd be fine, Robbie, except by next time another girl will be dead."
     
    The door to the judge's chambers opened without invitation, and Auntie Vi marched into the charged silence following this incontrovertible statement. She looked around and found Kate. "You come," she said flatly. She marched out again.
     
    Kate hesitated, and then rose and followed, Mutt at her heels.
     
    It was enough to startle everyone into silence. After a moment Kenny Hazen said respectfully, "A heretofore immovable object manipulated by an irresistible force."
     
    "A violation of all the known laws of physics," the judge said, nodding.
     
    Jim didn't say anything at all.
     
    Auntie Vi