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read her a story. It had become an evening ritual when he was over. After she had fallen asleep we sat side-by-side on the sofa and I poured us each another glass of wine.
      “Somebody hit Randy on the back of the head before he went down the hill in that mud slide.” Jakes said.
      “Really? Are they sure he didn’t fall and hit his head on something. I mean, how do they know he was hit on purpose?”
      “They found some metal bits in the wound, made by something like a wrench. Definitely not an accident. He was hit with the cliché ‘blunt instrument’”.
      “So it’s definitely a murder investigation.”
      “Yes.”
      “And your friend, Rockland? He’s in charge?”
      “Not my friend,” Jakes said. “He’s new to the squad, but he’s a fast tracker. On his way up. And yeah, he’s in charge.” He gave me a look. “And he’s kind of an asshole.”
      “Jakes,” I said, “I know what you’re thinking. I am not getting involved.” He was still giving me that look. “I mean it. I’m going to let the professionals handle this.”
      He still looked skeptical.
      “Okay, so maybe I’ll just get a little involved.” I added.
      “How little?” He sighed.
      “Well, I already am involved, because of Patti. I swear she has a connection with Randy. I can feel it.”
      “You can ‘feel it’, huh?” He put his arm around me. “What am I going to do with you? I know there’s nothing I can say to convince you to really let the professionals handle it.”
      I turned to him and kissed him. I looked into his dreamy brown eyes. “I haven’t done so badly before, have I?”
      “Besides almost ending up dead a few times? I guess not.”
      “Seriously.” I kissed him again. “I’m just going to get a little involved.”
       “You know that officially, I can’t work the case. It’s Rockland’s case.”
      “What if he asked you for help?”
      “He won’t ask. He knows my connection to you and besides, he already has a partner. There’s no way he’s going to ask me for help. We just don’t like each other.”
      “What about Patti?” I asked. “What was she doing at Police Headquarters?”
      “Rockland wasn’t talking.”
      “Not the friendly, sharing type, huh?”
      “Not when he figures he’ll be my boss within a year or two.”
      “So we don’t know if she was there to talk to him?”
      “No,” he said, “but she was there. I talked to some people who saw her.”
      “Where?”
      “In the building.”
      “In an interrogation room?”
      “Maybe.”
      “That’s not very helpful.”
      “I know it.”
      We finished our wine, put the glasses down on the table. I sat back.
      “I’ll have to talk to her,” I said.
      “She’s does your make-up, right?”
      “Right.”
      “You could just start a conversation,” he said reluctantly. “Talk about her phone conversation, or tell her you saw her at the Police Administration Building today.”
      “I was thinking the same thing.”
      “Still don’t remember if she knew Randy?”
      “She never met him through me. That much I know.”
      “Alex, do you know anybody who’d want to kill Randy?” he asked.
      “Besides me? No.”
      “What about the other people he swindled?”
      “They all got their money back from their insurance company, remember?” I asked. “He was careful about who he robbed.”
      “Except for you.”
      “Yeah.”
      “Okay, so they got their money back,” he said. “But maybe one of them was still mad enough to do it. Do you know any of them?” he asked.
      “I met some of them, over the years.” I answered. “It might be interesting to track them down and ask a few questions. You know, just for curiosity’s sake.”
      “Does that still get categorized as a ‘little involved?’” he asked.
      I hesitated. “Probably not.”
      “Then I guess I’ll have to get a little involved, too,” he said,