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be able to do to help him now. A few seconds passed. When he came back out, his face was white.
    “What the hell happened?” He wasn’t facing anyone. He was staring out into the middle distance and it looked like he was trying hard to swallow.
    “My God,” he said. “My God, what the hell—”
    Then he stopped dead.
    “Where’s my wife?” he said. “Has anybody seen my wife?”
    There were three more city cops on the scene now. Another car was pulling up, with two state cars close behind. The whole street was fast becoming a riot of red and blue flashing lights.
    “Where’s my wife, God damn it! Somebody find her right now!”
    “Chief,” I said, grabbing him by the shoulders, “take it easy. You said she might be at the hospital. Remember?”
    He pushed past me again and went into the house. I heard him running up the stairs.
    “Call the hospital,” I said to the young cop, the same first cop who’d responded, and who was experiencing a hell of a first major crime scene. “I think she volunteers there or something.”
    “Where is she?” Maven, careening back down the stairs. Halfway down he almost fell and broke his neck. “Somebody find her!”
    He ran around the house into the backyard. Finally, the young cop heard back on the radio that they’d located his wife at the hospital. She’d been sitting next to an old woman’s bed, reading to her. The other cops had to practically tackle Maven to convince him that his wife was safe. When he finally sat down on the front steps, he was breathing hard and rubbing his hands up and down his thighs. He looked totally undone, something I’d never even imagine seeing from him.
    “Tell me,” he said to me when he finally got his wind back. “Give me an explanation for why Raz is lying there in my kitchen like that? Huh? Can you tell me, please?”
    I didn’t have an answer for him. I just sat there next to him on the cold steps while the madness went on all around us.
    I had no idea this was just the beginning.

 
     
    PART TWO

 
     
    And we’re rolling …
     
    … Establishing shot. Nice and wide. Here it is. This is where our story begins.
     
    … See the normal-looking neighborhood? There are trees and a sidewalk and a blue mailbox on the corner.
     
    … Here’s a house, here’s a house, here’s a house.
     
    … HERE’S HELL!
     
    … Here’s a house, here’s a house, here’s a house.
     
    … Here’s that blue mailbox again.
     
    … End of the street.
     
    And cut.
     

 
     
    CHAPTER SIX
     
    It was after nine o’clock at night when they finally interviewed me. I had no idea why I had to wait so long. I sat in that little interview room in the City-County Building, the very same interview room where Chief Maven himself had once tried to give me a good workout. Back when we first found out how much fun it was to have the other as a mortal enemy.
    Now the circumstances were a little different. I mean, we weren’t going to be picking out china patterns together anytime soon, but at least we seemed to be on the same side for once. We were both trying to help out his old friend Raz, and now we both wanted to know why he ended up slaughtered in Maven’s kitchen.
    But I didn’t see the chief anywhere. That was the first strange thing. Then there was the fact that they had been making me wait around for more than six hours. They were perfectly nice about it. They even brought me some dinner from Frank’s Place, one of the better restaurants in town. They apologized a hundred times for keeping me there, but nobody would give me a reason.
    Finally, the door opened and a woman came in. She was wearing a dark blue business suit and I could tell in about two seconds she was a serious player. Not from around here, that was for sure. She had a cup of coffee in each hand. She nudged the door shut behind her with her foot, put both cups down on the table, and then reached out her right hand.
    “I’m Agent Janet Long,” she said. “From the