I waited for Gull to start sweating, but he recovered his composure and ushered the woman toward the door, saying, “Next week, then.”

The woman was brunette and well padded, swimming in a sea of gray cashmere. She brushed at her hair, favored us with a brittle smile, and left.

Gull said, “Again? Now what?”

Milo said, “We met your wife.”

Long silence. “I see.”

Milo smiled.

Gull said, “Patty’s going through a rough patch. She’ll be fine.”

“She didn’t sound fine.”

Gull smoothed back his hair. “Why don’t you come in? I’m free for the next hour.”

“Or at least forty-five minutes of it,” said Milo, under his breath.

Gull didn’t hear. He’d turned and was striding toward the trio of inner offices. Albin Larsen’s and Mary Lou Koppel’s doors were closed.

Gull’s was open. He stopped before entering.

“My wife- has got problems.”

“Bet she does,” said Milo. “Maybe she could use some therapy.”

CHAPTER 25

Gull’s office was two-thirds the size of Mary Lou Koppel’s and set up surprisingly simply. No bird’s-eye maple paneling, just beige paint on the walls. Thin, beige carpeting blurred the room’s boundaries. Off-white leather couches and armchairs were loosely arranged. Koppel had displayed crystal eggs and Indian pottery. Franco Gull’s sole nod to decoration were cheaply framed photographic prints of animals and their young.

I found myself sniffing for the aroma of sex, smelled only a syrupy mélange of perfumes.

Gull sprawled on a sofa and invited us to sit. Before our butts hit the leather, he said, “The thing you need to know about Patty is that she’s dealing with some very serious issues.”

“Marital infidelity?” said Milo.

Gull’s lips produced a pained semicolon. “Her problems go way beyond that. Her father was extremely abusive.”

“Ah,” said Milo. “Ah” was a running joke between us. The old therapist’s dodge. He turned his head so Gull couldn’t see him wink. “All this talk about Mrs. Gull. Guess wives don’t get confidentiality.”

Gull’s eyes sparked. A fleck of moisture appeared from under the shade of a wavy, salt-and-pepper forelock.

I’d been right: Losing the power rule played havoc with his adrenals.

“I’m telling you about Patty because you need to put her in context.”

“Meaning I shouldn’t believe anything she tells me.”

“That depends on what she told you.”

“For one thing,” said Milo, “she thinks you didn’t kill Dr. Koppel.”

Gull had been primed to protest. He regrouped, shifted position. “There you go, even someone who’s not feeling kindly toward me knows I’d never do anything like that. I don’t even own a-”

“You hate guns,” said Milo. “She told us that, too.”

“Guns are an abomination.”

“Mrs. Gull feels she’s provided you with an alibi for the night Dr. Koppel was killed.”

“There you go,” Gull repeated, sitting a bit straighter.

“Yeah, I’m going strong,” said Milo. “The thing is, Doctor, what your wife considers an alibi, we don’t.”

“What? Oh, come on, you’ve got to be kidding.” Sweat beads popped at Gull’s hairline. “Why would I need an alibi?”

“Don’t you want to know what Mrs. Gull told us?”

“Not really.” Theatrical sigh, then: “Fine, tell me.”

“Mrs. Gull drove by Dr. Koppel’s house around 2 A.M., searching for your car. She didn’t see it-”

“She did that?” said Gull. “How… sad. As I told you, Patty’s got serious trust issues.”

“You blame her?” said Milo.

“Why did you speak to Patty in the first place? Why would you even consider something so far-fetched-”

“Let’s get back to the alibi, Doctor. Your car not being parked on McConnell. That really doesn’t mean much. You could’ve parked somewhere else in the neighborhood. Or taken a cab from the hotel you stayed at- which was…?”

Gull didn’t answer.

“Dr. Gull?”

“This is my personal life, Detective.”

“Not any longer, sir.”

“Why?” said Gull. “Why are you doing this?”

Out came Milo’s pad. “Which hotel, sir? We’ll find out anyway.”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake. The Crowne Plaza.”

“Pico and Beverly Drive.”

Gull nodded.

“You stay there often?”

“Why would I?”

“It’s close to your office, for when you and the missus have a spat.”

“We don’t have spats that often.”

Milo’s pencil tapped the pad. “Same question, Doctor.”

“I’ve lost track of your questions.”

“Do you stay there often?”

“Occasionally.”

“When your wife throws you out.”

Gull flushed. His hands tightened. His fists were enormous. “My marital issues are of no concern to-”

“What I’m getting at,” said Milo, “is do they know you at the Crowne Plaza?”

“I don’t know… those places.”

“What about them?”

“Businesslike, anonymous. It’s not exactly the wayfarer’s inn,” said Gull. “And I’m really not there that often.”

“How often is not that often?” said Milo.

“I couldn’t quantify.”

“Your credit card records could.”

“My- this is absolutely-”

“You don’t consider the hotel a home away from home? Being so close to the office.”

“I don’t need a home- I paid cash.”

“Why?”

“It seemed simpler.”

“For when you bring women there.”

Gull shook his head. “This is ridiculous.”

“Ever bring Dr. Koppel there?”

“No.”

“No need to, I guess,” said Milo. “What with her living so close to the office. And to your house. Make a stopover after work, then continue on to the missus and kids.”

Gull’s brow was slick and pale. “I don’t see what your point is-”

“How far would you say it is, from the office to Dr. Koppel’s? A mile?”

Gull rolled his shoulders. “Closer to two.”

“Think so?”

“All the way up Pico to Motor and then south to Cheviot.”

“Let’s split the difference,” said Milo. “Mile and a half.”

Gull shook his head. “I really think it’s closer to two.”

“Sounds like maybe you’ve clocked it, Doctor.”

“No,” said Gull. “I’m just- forget it. This is pointless.”

“You look in pretty good shape, Doctor. Work out?”

“I’ve got a treadmill at home.”

“A little mile and a half walk on a cool June night wouldn’t challenge you, would it?”

“That never happened.”

“You never walked from the Crowne Plaza to Dr. Koppel’s house.”

“Never.”

“The night she was killed,” said Milo. “Where were you?”

“At the hotel.”

“Did you call up for food?”

“No, I had dinner before I checked in.”

“Where?”

“My house.”

“Before the tiff.”

“Yes,” said Gull. He knuckled an eye. Sleeved his brow.

“You stayed in the hotel all night,” said Milo.

Gull rubbed his jaw. “I rented a movie. That’ll be on record.”

“What time?”

“Elevenish. Check.”

“I will,” said Milo, “but all that proves is you pushed a button on your remote, not that you stayed to watch.”

Gull stared at him. “This is absurd, I didn’t kill Mary.”

“What was the title of the movie?”

Gull looked away and didn’t answer.

“Doctor?”

“It was an adult film. I don’t remember the title.”

“I guess,” said Milo, “it wouldn’t help asking you to recap the plot.”

Gull managed a sickly smile.

Milo said, “When did you see Dr. Koppel last?”

“That afternoon,” said Gull. “Both of us were walking patients out to the waiting room, and we said hi. That was the last time.”

“No tryst later that evening?”

“No. That was over.”

“What was?”

“Mary and I.”

“Who broke it off?”

“It was mutual,” said Gull.

“Because?”

“Because it was the right thing to do.”

Milo flipped his pad open, scanned his notes. “Alternatively,” he said, “if you didn’t walk to her house, you could’ve called a cab.”

“I didn’t.”

“It can be verified, Doctor.”