“I didn’t kill anyone,” I said, rubbing my cheek and jaw where her meaty hand had connected with my face. “But I could always change my mind.”

“Okay, you shut up, too,” Lee said, still struggling with the writhing maniac.

I tried to move my jaw back and forth. It didn’t feel broken, not that I knew what a broken jaw felt like. I just knew it hurt like hell.

Lee’s lips twitched, and not in amusement. She’d had enough of Minka’s squirming and one-handedly shoved her to the floor, then reached behind her back for handcuffs and snapped them onto Minka’s wrists. “Shut up and don’t move.”

Minka growled and squirmed on the floor like a pissed-off alligator. “You’re arresting me?” she cried. “She’s the murderer!”

“And you’re under arrest for assault,” Lee told her, clucking her tongue. “Right in front of a police officer. That’s just stupid.”

I figured it wasn’t a good time to give Inspector Lee a high five, but I was definitely impressed with her style.

The side of my face was starting to burn and I wanted to go home and sleep for a week.

Lee glared at me. “You want to start talking?”

“About what?” I tried to look innocent but probably only managed to look bruised.

She shook her head as she pulled her cell phone out and pushed a few keys. “I need backup,” she snarled into the phone. “Now.”

She flipped the phone shut. Apparently, she’d heard enough bullshit for one day.

Meanwhile, I could feel my cheek swelling.

After two uniformed officers took Minka off to jail, Inspector Lee asked me to follow her back to police headquarters for a little talk. And when I say she “asked” me to follow her, I was fairly certain she meant I could follow her to headquarters on my own or I could take a ride in the back of a squad car.

Minka’s assault must’ve slapped some sense into me because I was more than willing to tell the truth about being at Enrico’s. Lying about it had just gotten my face bashed in.

My cell phone rang and I grabbed it, hoping it was either Derek or Ian. I’d left more than a few voice mail messages for each of them.

“Hi, sweetie.”

“Mom.”

“I’m planning a barbecue next Saturday because Austin’s bringing Robin home for dinner. Isn’t that sweet? Savannah will be in town, too, and I left a message for Ian. I understand there’s a nice English fellow you’ve been seeing. You can bring him if you’d like.”

That nice English fellow who was ignoring my calls? Not a chance. And who had told my mother about him?

“I’m not sure Derek can make it, Mom,” I said.

“We’ll be barbecuing filets,” she said to tempt me further.

“Savannah’s eating a steak? I wouldn’t miss that for the world.”

My youngest sister was a fruitarian. I didn’t even bother trying to understand what that meant. The girl insisted she got all the protein she needed from coconut milk and raw nuts. If you asked me, she’d consumed one too many nuts.

“Oh, she’ll eat a mango or something,” Mom muttered; then she perked up again. “Dad has a new cabernet he wants you to try. You know he trusts your taste buds more than anyone’s.”

It was blatant flattery but it worked. “I’ll be there, Mom. But I’ll have to let you know about Derek.”

“Super dandy,” Mom said. “So, what are you up to, sweetie? How are your chakras?”

I turned right on Fillmore and waited for a break in traffic in order to make the left turn onto Oak. “Well, if you must know, my chakras and I are on our way to police headquarters.”

“What?” she cried in alarm. “Sweetie, that’s not funny.”

“Sorry, Mom. I’m just going down to answer some questions.”

“Oh my God.”

“Don’t worry, Mom. I’m okay. Well, I think so, anyway. But see, first Abraham was murdered and now they’ve discovered Enrico Baldacchio’s body. So they want to talk to people.” I jammed my brakes at Geary as the light turned red. The action jarred my tender jaw and I groaned aloud.

Mom groaned, too. “Oh God, they’re arresting you.”

“Mom, no.”

“Oh God,” she said again. “I knew this would happen.”

“What do you mean?”

She moaned, then abruptly began to chant. “Nam myoho renge kyo nam myoho renge kyo nam myoho renge kyo nam myoho renge kyo-”

“Mom, stop. They won’t arrest me. I didn’t do anything. They don’t have any evidence.”

“Not yet,” she cried, and chanted even louder. “Nam myoho renge kyo nam myoho renge kyo.”

“Mom, they just want to talk to me because I knew both men.”

She was chanting so loudly now, I didn’t think she heard me. “Nam myoho renge kyo nam myoho renge kyo nam myoho renge kyo nam myoho renge kyo.”

For a Unitarian, the woman sure could belt out a Buddhist chant.

Dad had always talked about the time he and his buddy Norman ran out of money. Since they were hungry, they decided to chant for food. Twenty minutes later, Mom showed up with two bags of groceries. She believed in the power of the chant.

“Nam myoho renge kyo nam myoho renge kyo nam myoho-”

“I’ll call you when I get home, Mom,” I shouted, unsure whether she could hear me anymore. “Please don’t worry.”

I disconnected the call, but I was pretty sure Mom would keep chanting until either world peace was declared or I broke out of jail.

I sat on a folding chair in a small interrogation room in the police homicide division, located inside the Hall of Justice Building. Inspectors Lee and Jaglow had started the interview but had been called away, leaving me alone for the last hour and forty minutes. I knew they were trying to unnerve me by making me wait, and it was working. I was ready to confess all my sins. Fortunately, murder was not one of them. So far. I was hedging my bets where Minka was concerned.

I tapped my fingers on the table and stared at the strangely attractive taupe walls for the three hundredth time. As usual when I had time on my hands, my brain circled around Abraham’s murder. But instead of the usual visions of dead bodies, blood and books circling my brain, I kept going back to my last meeting with Abraham the night he died. He’d been so warm and jovial, so positively reflective, so excited for the future.

“We won’t be strangers anymore,” he’d promised. And “I plan to live in the present and enjoy every minute.”

I swiped away angry tears and repeated my vow to find the person who killed Abraham’s chances to enjoy his life. That person had destroyed my opportunity to rebuild my friendship with my teacher and deprived Annie of the father she might’ve known.

The door swung open and Derek Stone walked in. “Did you confess all?”

“I haven’t had the chance.”

“Good.” He looked around. “Nice room.”

“It is pleasant, isn’t it?”

“Ready to go?”

“I haven’t talked to the police yet.”

“That won’t be necessary just now. They’ll call you later and arrange a time to stop by your place.”

“How do you know?”

“Inspector Jaglow told me.”

“He couldn’t tell me?”

“He’s busy.”

My eyes narrowed on him. “He had time to talk to you.”

“Of course.”

I sighed. “He could’ve said something.”

“He’s been occupied elsewhere. Somebody confessed to the murders.”

I gawked at him. “You’re kidding me. Who?”

He lifted his shoulders. “How the devil would I know? I listened to twelve hysterical messages from you, so I raced down here, only to be told that someone else had already confessed. Do you want to go or not?”

“Don’t get snippy with me,” I said, stalking toward the door. “I’ve had a bad day.”

“Whoa,” he said, gripping my shoulders to stop me. He stared at me for a long moment, then cautiously touched my cheek with his fingers. “What’d you run into, darling?”

“Very funny.” I felt tears welling up, so I went on the offensive. “Where have you been, anyway? And by the way, I do not leave hysterical messages.”