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meet tomorrow?”
    “Sure. Give me the time and place, and I’ll be there.”
     
    8.
    “Do you recognize these DVDs?” Miranda asked after spreading the DVDs found in Hackett’s house on the desk. They were in a room in a cheap motel twenty miles south of Boston, which didn’t require its guests to provide a credit card or ID. Jeff had rented the room yesterday and intended to stay here one more night.   
    Hackett picked up of the DVDs and scrutinized its cover. “Orgy Boys,” he murmured the DVD’s title. He opened the box and looked at the disc inside it. Then he cracked a smile and said, “It’s a gay porn movie.”
    “That’s correct.”
    “No, I don't recognize them.”
    “You can be completely honest with me, Jeff. If you’re gay, you don’t have to hide it from me.”
    “Why are you saying this to me?”
    “We found these DVDs in your house.”
    “So you think these are mine?” Hackett laughed. “No, I’m not gay and I’ve never owned a gay porn DVD in my life. I don’t want to sound like a homophobe, but this,” he waved at the DVD, “looks... Well, it’s not my cup of tea, let me put it this way.”
    “So that’s your final answer?”
    “Yes. You do know I have a girlfriend, right? Of course you do—you talked to her.”
    “I had a hunch the DVDs weren’t yours. They didn’t have your fingerprints on them. Actually, there were no fingerprints on them at all; both the boxes and the discs were wiped clean. Do you have any ideas about how these DVDs found themselves in your house?”
    “No clue.”
    “Does Gabi have keys to your place?”
    “No, she doesn’t.”
    “Could she have brought these DVDs to your house?”
    “Why would she?”
    “I had to ask just in case.”
    “Maybe they belong to the killer.”
    “I think so, too. I suspect the killer left them in your house.”
    “Why do you think he did that?”
    “He probably tried to send us down the wrong trail. He made it look as if the killer was a gay guy or some bloodthirsty homophobe. The interesting thing is that Flynn had anal sex shortly before his death.”
    “Did the killer rape him?” Hackett frowned.
    “Maybe he did. Or maybe he simply shoved a dildo up his ass after he shot him. I’ll ask him about it when I catch him.”
    Then Miranda showed Hackett Mister Paranoid’s photos—with the beard and moustache and without them.
    “Do you know him?”
    Hackett spent half a minute studying the picture and said, “No, I don’t.”
    Miranda told him about the meeting with Mister Paranoid and the events preceding it. “He knows you, although not very well,” she said.
    Hackett looked at the pictures once again and shook his head. “No, I’ve never seen this guy.”
    Miranda slipped the photos back into her jacket pocket and asked, “Do you have any thoughts on why someone would want to kill you?”
    “No. I spent the whole night racking my brain over this, but nothing came to mind.”
    “Let's start with the motive. Could it be revenge? Some people will kill you just for looking at them the wrong way.”
    “I doubt I have enemies that would go that far to get even with me. I try not to step on any toes.”
    “Jealousy?”
    “I don’t think so.”
    “What about money? That’s the last biggie left.”
    “Yes, it probably has to do with money. But I can’t imagine who would benefit from my death. I’ve never owed or lent to anybody more than a thousand bucks. And I have no fortune that could be inherited.”
    “Were you a witness to any crime before Flynn got murdered?”
    “No. If I witnessed something, I didn’t know it was a crime.”
    “Did you blackmail anybody? I don’t mean to offend you, Jeff. I have to ask this question.”
    “Absolutely not. I believe in karma, Miranda. I don’t engage in that type of stuff.”
    “Okay. Good to know.” Miranda glanced at her notepad. “Have you warned your girlfriend to keep silent about you showing up?”
    “Yes, I have. I hope you’re not