Novakshifted in his seat. 'This man you're asking me about - I take it he was in thephoto lineup you showed me at my apartment?'

    'Yes.'

    'Idon't know anyone by that name.'

    Byrnereached into the box, slid the photo lineup across the table. Novak looked atit, his eyes carefully roaming across the six faces. This was clearly for show.He shook his head.

    Byrnejabbed the photo on the iPhone screen, enlarging it. It was a news clipping ofthe Antoinette Chan case. 'You said you were doing research. What kind ofresearch?'

    'I'mwriting an opera.'

    'Anopera?'

    'Yes,'Novak said. He shifted his weight again in what Jessica knew to be anuncomfortable steel chair. 'It is an epic story of crime and punishment in thiscity. It covers more than a hundred years. What you are looking at here is myresearch.'

    'Someof your research into the Antoinette Chan case named Kenneth Beckman as asuspect.'

    Novakhesitated. 'I can't remember every person's name. Real names are not importantto the theme of my work.'

    'Whatis the theme of your work?'

    'Crime,punishment, guilt, redemption.'

    'KennethBeckman is dead.'

    Nothing.No reaction.

    'Hewas murdered,' Byrne continued. 'His body was found at the same crime scenewhere Antoinette Chan was found.'

    Novakremained silent.

    'Hellof a twist, no?' Byrne said. 'I'm seeing that as the end of the first act.'

    Novaklooked up, a smug look on his face. It was not the look of someone with nothingto hide but rather of one who has very carefully hidden everything.

    'Ifhe was involved in the murder of Antoinette Chan, I might make reference tokarma, fate, all that. None of it has anything to do with me.'

    'Sothe name Kenneth Beckman means nothing to you?'

    'Nothing.'

    'Whatabout the name Sharon Beckman?'

    'Isthat his wife?'

    Byrnejust stared.

    Novakfashioned a thin smile, shook his head. 'Is this the part where you say"Did I say wife? I didn't say wife. How did you know itwasn't his daughter or sister?" Is this where you say these things,detective?' Novak clasped his hands in his lap. 'I saw Sleuth. Theoriginal film, that is. The one with—'

    'LaurenceOlivier and Michael Caine.'

    Thistime Novak's look said touche.

    'Youstill haven't answered my question,' Byrne said.

    Novakstared at the floor.

    'Mr.Novak? Does the name Sharon Beckman mean anything to you?'

    Novaklooked up. 'No.'

    Byrnelet the exchange settle for a few moments. Then he removed the clear plasticevidence bag containing the sample of Atriana paper.

    'Doyou recognize this?' Byrne asked.

    Novaktook the evidence bag from Byrne, held it up to the fluorescent light. The edgeof the distinctive watermark was clear.

    'Ido.'

    'Wheredo you recognize it from?'

    'I'mfamiliar with the line. It's called Atriana.'

    'Whatis Marcato LLC?'

    Pause.'It's a publishing company.'

    'Books?Magazines?'

    'Music.'

    Byrnenodded. 'And you use this paper?'

    'Yes,'Novak said. 'I use the paper to bind special editions.'

    'Wherewould I find a copy of one of these editions?'

    'Theyare all over the world.'

    'Whenwas the last time you purchased this paper?' Byrne asked.

    'Idon't recall.'

    'If wesearch your apartment will we find this paper? Maybe cut into five-inch-widestrips?'

    'No,'Novak said. 'All the paper I had was stolen. Someone broke into my house.'

    'Ohyeah? When was this?'

    'Sixmonths ago.'

    'Didyou report it to the police?'

    'Yes.'

    Novakwas certainly smart enough to know that they would look this up. He probablywould not have said this if it weren't true. 'What else was taken?'

    'Awatch, an MP3 player.'

    'Andpaper,' Byrne added.

    Noreply.

    Byrnestared at the man for a few moments, as if commiserating with him over thestrange state of the world. 'Well, I was at your place this morning, and I haveto say that if I had broken in I would've found a few more items of value thanjust a wristwatch, a Nano, and some paper. Some of your audio equipment wouldgo for more than a few bucks on the corner, don't you think? Pioneer Elite,Mcintosh. This is serious jelly.'

    'Ididn't have all that equipment then.'

    'Ah,okay,' Byrne said. 'I'm sure you still have the receipts from when youpurchased the equipment, yes? We may want to look at them.'

    Novakremained stone-faced. 'I could probably find them.'

    'Great,'Byrne said. 'That would help a lot.'

    Jessicaexcused herself, stepped out of the interview room. She got on the phone toWest Division detectives, made her request. A few minutes later she got a faxof the incident report. Novak was telling the truth. At least about thebreak-in. She stepped back into the interview room, handed the fax to Byrne. Heread it, looked at Novak.

    'Itappears you were telling the truth,' Byrne said.

    'Imaginethat.'

    Byrneput the fax into the binder, closed it. 'Yet you know what I find odd?'

    'Whatis that?'

    'Withall your meticulous research into the Antoinette Chan case, you do not rememberthe name Kenneth Beckman. His name was in the papers - on television, too.'

    Novakshrugged. 'I must have missed it.'

    'Imaginethat.'

    'You cansee why we might be interested here, Mr. Novak.' Byrne held up the bag with thepaper sample. 'Here is an item belonging to you, and it was found at the sceneof a homicide.'

    'Itwas an item stolen from me,' Novak said. 'And while the injustice thatwas done to me pales in comparison to what was done to Mr. Beckman I am just asmuch a victim in this as he.'

    Byrnetook it all in, waited a few moments. 'Sounds positively operatic.'

    For afew moments Novak said nothing. Then, almost on cue: 'I believe we have reachedthe point where I should contact my attorney.

    Amongother things, I'm sure he will be interested in the photographs you have of mypersonal and private property, and how they were obtained.'

    Byrnelooked at Jessica. She held up her iPhone so that Novak could see the screen.She tapped a few icons and a moment later they all watched the progress barmove left to right. The images had been deleted. Byrne looked back at Novak.

    'Whatphotographs?' Byrne asked.

    Thetwo men stared at each other for a few seconds.

    'We'realmost done here,' Byrne finally said. 'If you'll excuse us for a moment.'

    Byrnestepped out of the room, closed the door, slid home the bolt. He bumped a fistwith Jessica. They had, of course, printed the images from her iPhone beforestarting the interview. In addition, while holding up her iPhone in theinterview room, she had also taken Joseph Novak's picture.

    Theymet with Dana Westbrook in the coffee room. They watched Novak on the monitor.

    'Unfortunately,this is not enough to hold him or get a search warrant,' Westbrook said.

    'Wehave to consider his collage of murder stories, boss.'

    'Notagainst the law last time I checked. If it was, I might be in jail myself. Lastnight I watched a double feature of Manhunter and The Silence of theLambs.'' Westbrook checked her watch. They had to be careful about how longthey kept Novak. They would soon have to charge him or let him go. They'd allhad a refresher course in this recently with the Eduardo Robles fiasco. 'Plus,none of the snapshots would be admissible. No probable cause, and how they wereobtained would certainly be explored by any defense attorney.'

    Jessicalooked back into the room. Novak had not moved a muscle. He sat with his eyesclosed, his long legs crossed in front of him.