Here are some of the things I did not find: A human being, living or dead. An attaché case, Ultrasuede or Naugahyde or otherwise. Any jewelry beyond some mismatched cufflinks and a couple of tie clips. Any money beyond a handful of change which I found-and left-on a bedside table. Any paintings by Grabow or anyone else. Any artwork except for the Oceanic pieces over the bed.

Here’s what I did find: Two pieces of meticulously engraved copper plate, roughly two and a half by six inches, mounted on blocks of three-quarter-inch pine. A key of the type likely to fit a safe-deposit box. A desk-top pencil holder, covered in richly embossed red leather, containing not pencils but various implements of the finest surgical steel, each fitted with a hexagonal handle.

When I left Walter Grabow’s loft I took nothing with me that had not been on my person when I came. I did move one or two of his possessions from their accustomed places to other parts of the loft, and I did place several crisp new twenty-dollar bills here and there.

But I didn’t steal anything. There was a moment, I’ll admit, when I had the urge to fit one of those masks over my face, snatch the shield and a spear from the wall, and race through the streets of SoHo emitting wild Oceanic war whoops. The impulse was easily mastered, and I left masks and spears and shield where they hung. They were nice, and undeniably valuable, but when you’ve just stolen somewhere in the neighborhood of a quarter of a mill in cash, lesser larceny does seem anticlimactic.

Just as my cab pulled up in front of Jillian’s building I spotted the blue-and-white cruiser next to the hydrant. “Keep going,” I said. “I’ll take the corner.”

“I already threw the flag,” my driver complained. “I’m risking a ticket.”

“What’s life without taking chances?”

“Yeah, you can say that, friend. You’re not the one who’s taking ’em.”

Indeed. His tip was not all it might have been and I watched him drive off grumbling. I walked back to Jillian’s, staying close to the buildings and keeping an eye open for other police vehicles, marked or unmarked. I didn’t see any, nor did I notice any coplike creatures lurking in the shadows. I lurked in the shadows myself, and after a ten-minute lurk a pair of familiar shapes emerged from Jillian’s doorway. They were Todras and Nyswander, not too surprisingly, and it was nice to see them still on the job after so many hours. I was happy to note that their schedule was as arduous as my own.

When they drove off I stayed right where I was for five full minutes in case they were going to be cute and circle the block. When this didn’t happen I considered calling from the booth on the corner to make sure the coast was clear. I didn’t feel like bothering. I buzzed Jillian from the vestibule.

All the distortion of the intercom couldn’t hide the anxiety in her voice. She said, “Yes? Who is it?”

“Bernie.”

“Oh. I don’t-”

“Are you alone, Jillian?”

“The police were just here.”

“I know. I waited until they left.”

“They say you killed Crystal. They say you’re dangerous. You never went to the boxing matches. You were in her apartment, you killed her-”

All this over the intercom, yet. “Can I come up, Jillian?”

“I don’t know.”

I’ll pick the fucking lock, I thought, and I’ll huff and I’ll puff and I’ll kick your door in. But I said, “I’ve made a lot of progress tonight, Jillian. I know who killed her. Let me up and I’ll explain the whole business.”

She didn’t say anything, and for a moment I wondered if she’d heard me. Perhaps she had closed the intercom switch. Perhaps at this very moment she was dialing 911, and in a scant hour the swift and efficient New York police would arrive with drawn guns. Perhaps-

The buzzer buzzed and I opened the door.

She wore a wool skirt, a plaid of muted greens and blues, and a navy sweater. Her tights were also navy, and on her little feet she wore deerskin slippers with pointed toes that suited her elfin quality. She poured me a cup of coffee and apologized for giving me a hard time over the intercom.

“I’m a nervous wreck,” she said. “I’ve had a parade of visitors tonight.”

“The cops?”

“They came at the very end. Well, you know that, you saw them leave. First there was another policeman. He told me his name-”

“Ray Kirschmann?”

“That’s right. He said he wanted me to give you a message. I said I wouldn’t be hearing from you but he gave me a very knowing wink. I wouldn’t be surprised if I blushed. It was that kind of a wink.”

“He’s that kind of a cop. What was the message?”

“You’re supposed to get in touch with him. He said you’ve really got the guts of a burglar and you proved it going back to the scene of the crime. He said something about he’s sure you got what you went there for and he’ll want to be on hand to check it out. When I told him I didn’t really understand he said you would understand, and that the main thing was that you should get in touch with him.”

“‘Back to the scene of the crime.’ What’s that supposed to mean?”

“I think I know from something the other cops said. And other things. After Kirschmann left Craig came over.”

“I thought you told him not to.”

“I did, but he came anyway and it was easier to let him come up than make a fuss. I told him he couldn’t stay.”

“What did he want?”

She made a face. “He was horrid. He really thinks you killed Crystal. He said the police were sure of it and he blames himself for setting it up for you to steal the jewels. That was what he really wanted to tell me-to deny that you had any arrangement with him. He said you’d probably blab if the police arrested you and that it would be his word against yours and naturally they’d take the word of a respectable dentist over that of a convicted burglar-”

“Naturally.”

“-but that I would have to swear that your story was a lot of nonsense or he might be in trouble. I said I didn’t believe you would kill anybody and he got very mad and accused me of siding with you against him, and I got nasty myself, and I don’t know what I ever saw in him, I swear I don’t.”

“He’s got nice teeth.”

“Then when he left, I was just getting interested in television when his lawyer came over.”

“Verrill?”

“Uh-huh. I think he came over mainly to back up Craig. Craig told him about the arrangement with you and naturally he wouldn’t want that to come out, and he tried to let me know how important it was to keep it a secret. I think he was building up to offer me a bribe but he didn’t come right out and say it.”

“Interesting.”

“He was really pretty slick, but in a very Establishment way. As if the kind of bribe I could expect wouldn’t be an envelope full of cash but some sort of tax-free trust fund. Not really, but he had that kind of attitude. He said there was no question you murdered Crystal. He said the police had evidence.”

“What kind of evidence?”

“He didn’t say.” She looked away, swallowed. “You didn’t kill her, did you, Bernie?”

“Of course not.”

“But you’d say that anyway, wouldn’t you?”

“I don’t know what I’d say if I killed her. I’ve never killed anybody so the question’s never come up. Jillian, why on earth would I kill the woman? If she came in and caught me in the act, all I’d want to do would be to get away before the police came. Maybe I’d give her a shove to get out of there, if I had to-”

“Is that what happened?”

“No, because she didn’t catch me. But if she did, and if I did shove her, and if she took a bad fall, well, I can see how a person could get hurt that way. It’s never happened yet but I suppose it’s possible. What’s not possible is that I’d stab her in the heart with a dental scalpel I wouldn’t have with me in the first place.”

“That’s what I told myself.”

“Well, you were right.”