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violation of the law, too. Isn’t it?”
    The local police had handed me over to these two in the morning. The cops were extremely excited about the gun I took from the security guard, but the FBI prevailed. How did they spend the evening? Hanrihan was in love with himself and Sampson acted like she hated him. At dinner they must have looked like a couple married too long: silent and distracted.
    â€œWe could arrest you right now, just for that. He was under your command. Major Hensel told us as much. That’s right. Your commanding officer threw you under the bus. Let’s talk about Frank Godwin. Why did you kill him?”
    â€œI don’t know. Why would I kill him?”
    â€œMaybe you thought he was behind the killing of your man in Montana and that’s why you rushed away. To get revenge.” He smiled with his mouth closed, and his breath blew noisily from his nose as if he had just exerted himself and was trying to hide it. My only job was to avoid saying anything until Major Hensel arrived. If I were in trouble for bringing along the sniper, it would be with him, not the FBI. Hanrihan went on. “Maybe you were trying to silence Frank Godwin. Maybe you were partners. You spent days conspiring with him just a short while ago. We know that. We have witnesses. Maybe you have a good reason. Maybe you were doing something for your country.”
    â€œMaybe we’re all on the same side,” I said. Hanrihan’s face lit up with the fake innocence of a thief who is asked to watch a suitcase at the airport.
    â€œYes. Exactly. So tell us what is going on so we can all pull in the same direction. That’s all we ask.”
    Hanrihan’s hostility was just part of the package, but I could not understand why they were spending so much effort on me. Sampson kept looking out the window. This might have been her first corner-office experience, too. “It’s sort of a long story,” I said.
    â€œWe have time. Tell it all. We’re on the same team.”
    â€œWell, I wasn’t a good kid. I admit that. And one time, there was this woman and she invited me over and well, y’know, she was kind of attractive, at least I thought so. Big hair, big breasts. You probably know the type. Perfume. And her husband was always out of town, so . . .”
    â€œThat’s Godwin? Godwin’s wife seduced you?”
    â€œNo. Was Godwin married? He didn’t strike me as a married guy.”
    Hanrihan was pissed off now. “If you don’t cooperate, I’ll arrest you. It’s that simple.”
    â€œIf I do cooperate you’ll arrest me.”
    His eyes widened and he sat forward and did the thing with his bangs. “Are you saying you’re guilty?”
    â€œOf what?”
    â€œYou just said you would incriminate yourself.” He spoke carefully, thinking he was reeling me in. Agent Sampson kept looking out the window.
    â€œNo, I said you’re a bust-the-one-you’re-with kind of guy.”
    Agent Sampson’s shoulders went up as she suppressed a laugh. She said, “What was in the grave?” She was still looking out the window when she spoke, but she turned to hear my answer.
    â€œHow many cars did you count?”
    â€œNone. How many are there?”
    â€œThere were forty-two out that window.”
    â€œWhat was in that grave?”
    Cops and child custody officials and officers and the master of all manipulators, Dan, had been questioning me my whole life, so I knew how to give answers that appeared to be born in ignorance. Sampson was on the right track, though Hanrihan regarded her questions as an intrusion.
    â€œA body?”
    â€œBut it didn’t belong to the guy whose name was on the grave,” Sampson said. “Any idea who it was? The widow said you told her there was a mix-up and that’s why you were digging up the grave. Is that correct?”
    â€œSounds like a mix-up to me. Unless you