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muffler to do any damage, given the other ventilation. But as it is, he was blasting almost pure carbon monoxide right into his face throughout his flight. The surprise isn’t that he died, it’s that he managed to complete the flight and bring the aircraft down for a landing
before
he died, instead of plunging it down in a residential neighborhood or into one of those high-rises on the Strip.”
    â€œThat is a plus,” Riley said. “Thanks, I think we get it now. If you could go back to the office and wait—without discussing this with the others, or starting the LOP versus ROP wars going—we’d appreciate it.”
    â€œGlad I could help,” Jamal said. “Don’t worry, I wouldn’t dare bring that old chestnut up tonight. I will miss old Jesse, though.” He nodded his big head and ambled off toward the building.
    â€œGood work, Riley,” Greg said. “I think we have a cause of death
and
a murder weapon now.”
    â€œCarbon monoxide poisoning and a rigged muffler.”
    â€œExactly.”
    Officer Morston strode across the tarmac toward them, as energetic as if his shift had been just beginning. He was a tall, burly guy with a dark complexion and a preternaturally cheerful mood, especially for a patrol officer on the graveyard shift.
    â€œSo all we have left to do,” Greg continued, “is to figure out who did the rigging.”
    â€œWhich means we’re really just getting started.”
    Greg gestured to the uniform. “Officer Morston, we’ve got a lot more work to do on this airplane. I need to have it towed into its hangar, and I’m going to need you to make sure no one disturbs it until that happens.”
    â€œGot it,” Officer Morston said. “Anything else?”
    â€œNo, I think that’ll be plenty,” Greg said. “We’ll dig into it as soon as it’s safe inside.”
    Greg was reaching for his phone to call for a tow when they heard Catherine’s voice over his radio.
    Catherine
, Riley thought.
    Every time it looked like their shift might get a little easier.…

5
    C ATHERINE RADIOED G REG because she had known him longer than she had Riley. Gil might have been more systematic, would maybe have called Riley because he had called Greg the last time. Or perhaps he still would have chosen Greg simply because he had seniority over Riley. Catherine didn’t pretend there was anything to her decision but familiarity, though—she chose Greg because he had been part of her lab family longer than Riley. In the long run, it didn’t make much difference, and as she got to know Riley better, she was sure that would change.
    â€œWhat’s up?” Greg asked.
    â€œHow’s it going out there?”
    â€œWe’re making some progress. This is definitely a homicide. Someone rigged the victim’s airplane muffler to fill his cockpit with carbon monoxide. We still have to process the plane, because that’s our crime scene. But it’ll be a big job.”
    â€œIs it secure?” Catherine asked.
    â€œIt will be in a little while. We’re going to park it in a hangar here. There’s a uniform who’s going to stay with it until it’s safely inside, and then we’ll work it.”
    â€œTell the uni to stay with it a while longer, Greg. I need you to go somewhere else.”
    â€œReally? Where?” She thought she heard a sigh in his voice. She could hardly blame him, but she couldn’t go out on another call herself yet. She had brought all the collected evidence—the hairs, fibers, lifted fingerprints, and so on—from the motel room scene back to the lab to get its analysis started. Because there was a dead body in the room and a woman missing—the address shown on Antoinette O’Brady’s driver’s license didn’t exist, and the document itself was now in the Questioned Documents unit to determine if it was real or