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tell me coincidence. I don’t buy coincidence. I know people get shook up when they trip over a body, but what red-blooded New Yorker gives up a rent-controlled apartment because a guy got stabbed downstairs?”
    â€œWe’ll be lookin’ into it.” Defino tapped his pen on the desk. “Anything you want to tell us? Anything make you feel antsy, besides the guy on the top floor that came from the west?”
    â€œEverything made me feel antsy. If it wasn’t the ex-wife and it wasn’t the landlord, and it wasn’t another tenant, and it wasn’t someone at work, then who? And why didn’t the perp rob him?”
    â€œMaybe Mrs. Best heard the scuffle and called out. Maybe her cat started making noise and the perp thought it would wake up the tenants.” Jane threw out the most obvious reasons.
    â€œShe swore she didn’t hear anything. OK, maybe she heard and said something through the door and didn’t want to get involved any more than that. So she can’t admit she heard something and didn’t make a call.”
    â€œYou got names and addresses pulled together or do we go through the file?”
    â€œDo I have names and addresses.” Bracken leafed through his papers. “I’ll get them copied. Sit back and enjoy your coffee.”
    â€œDoesn’t take much to grab a wallet,” Jane said when he was gone.
    â€œWho knows? Could’ve been a first-timer, got cold feet.”
    â€œA perp in training. That was good that Bracken talked to tenants in other buildings. Sounds like he did a first-rate investigation.”
    Bracken was coming back, carrying more papers. “There you go. All the names and addresses in one place, landlord, super, tenants—but like you said, they’re not there anymore—people at work, ex-wife. You don’t for any reason want to interview her yourselves, give me a call. Sexy perfume that woman wears.” He looked down at the sheets in his hand. “And some others. It’s all here. Save you some time.”
    Jane took it and ran her eyes over the names on the list. Nothing stood out. “Thanks. This’ll help a lot.”
    â€œThink Otis Wright could add anything?” Defino asked.
    â€œAh shit, poor Otis. He didn’t retire. He’s on medical extend leave. I can tell you he’s not coming back. Emphysema. Just a matter of time. I’ll give you his number but I wouldn’t bother him at this point.” He took back the top sheet and scribbled something. Then he gave each of them his card. “Call me anytime. If you turn anything up, I’d like to know. Any reason they picked this case?”
    â€œNot a clue,” Defino said. He stood and offered his hand to Bracken, who shook it, then shook Jane’s.
    â€œYou got your work cut out.”
    That was no exaggeration, Jane thought as they walked down the stairs to the main floor.

4
    THEY WERE BACK at Centre Street before noon. “We could have lunch,” Defino said, “or we could go upstairs and ask MacHovec if he wants to have lunch with us.”
    Defino wasn’t a very subtle man. “Let’s have lunch.”
    There were plenty of places in the area where you could eat quickly and comparatively cheaply. All the courts were on or near Centre Street, and jurors never went very far to eat. For what they were paid, they could hardly afford a sandwich. Lawyers and cops were also regulars, everyone in a hurry, everyone trying to beat the clock.
    They grabbed a table for two before the crowd got there. Defino ordered a hamburger and fries and started drinking coffee right away. Jane ordered a salad and a diet Coke.
    â€œThat fill you up?”
    â€œAlmost.”
    â€œI guess that’s the point.”
    â€œRight.”
    â€œAlways looks like more work than it’s worth.”
    â€œThat’s the point, too.”
    Defino smiled. “If my wife ever divorces me, it’ll