"I know." Vicki was trying to piece things together. While I was eating lamb chops, Mrs. Bristow was being killed. "My cell was already gone by that time."

"How do you know?"

"Because I called it from a gas station and a man answered. Maybe he had something to do with her murder." Vicki felt a rush of adrenaline. Had she talked on the phone to Mrs. Bris-tow's murderer? "Think about it. Mrs. Bristow had the wallet and cell, and she'd trade the phone and money for crack. Then she'd go somewhere-probably home-to smoke. The man could have followed her home, taken the drugs and killed her.

Or maybe she bought the drugs and the man followed her home and killed her for them, then took the cell. Either way, we need to find that man."

"We?" Detective Melvin arched an eyebrow, and Bale raised his chin. "Who's we?"

"You're right. Not we." I meant me. "I meant you."

"Good. Now, what did the man on the phone sound like?"

"A black male. Gravelly voice."

Next to her, Dan was nodding with vigor. "Exactly. He did sound gravelly. I called her cell, too. A man answered and he didn't identify himself when I asked him. He's the one you want to go after, not Vicki."

"What time did you call, sir?" Detective Melvin made a note.

"Around nine o'clock, I guess." Dan ran a finger-rake through his unruly red hair, as he always did in court. "You heard what Vicki said as well as I did. Bristow was a crack addict, wandering the streets in a lousy neighborhood with fifty bucks in cash. Vicki is right. The likeliest scenario is that Bristow was followed to her house and killed for the drugs."

"That's certainly possible, sir."

"It's a helluva lot more likely than an AUSA knifing her to death!" Dan raised his voice, but Vicki cut him off.

"Dan, really, it's okay."

"You should be on Lincoln Street right now, or Cater," Dan continued, heedless. "Wherever it was, right now, you should be canvassing the neighbors! Checking out who went in and out of Bristow's house last night!"

"For your information, we canvassed already, sir." Detective Melvin raised his large hand, with a Bic pen stuck between his thick fingers. "So settle down. We have to ask your girlfriend a couple of questions."

"I'm not his girlfriend," Vicki said for the record.

Dan shot back, "Who are you kidding? You're searching her house!"

Bale stepped forward, easing off the wall. "Malloy, enough!" he said firmly. "Let the detectives complete their investigation. You and I know Vicki didn't kill anybody, but they have to do their jobs."

Vicki sighed with relief. So Bale was on her side. It emboldened her, or maybe she just liked her promotion to Dan's girlfriend. "Detective Melvin, who found Mrs. Bristow's body?"

"Her daughter, Reheema."

Vicki felt a sympathetic pang. She couldn't imagine how horrific that would be, finding your mother knifed to death. "Where was the body in the house, exactly?"

"A bedroom on the first floor."

"When was she found? I don't know when Reheema was released from the FDC."

"Let's see." Detective Melvin flipped back in his notebook, then ran a thumb down the page. "You met with the daughter yesterday in the morning, right?"

"Right." Vicki had almost forgotten, it seemed so long ago. A loud thump came from her bedroom, which everybody pretended not to hear.

"The daughter wasn't released until after midnight last night."

"Why so late?"

"There were paperwork issues, I understand. She went straight to her mother's house and found her body. We caught the case at about one in the morning."

How awful. "The report said Mrs. Bristow was stabbed to death. I assume you didn't recover the knife."

"Not yet. It wasn't pretty. The victim was stabbed nine times."

My God. Vicki's stomach did a backflip. "That sounds like rage, as if it were personal, or maybe drug induced."

Dan added, "Like a crack addict."

"Was she found with any crack?" Vicki asked. "Had she used or what?"

"We field-tested the pipe next to the bed, which was positive. Toxicology tests on the body aren't finished yet."

"She'll be positive." Vicki thought a minute. "Where was my wallet?"

"Still on the victim's person, in a pocket in her dress. It was minus whatever credit cards and money you had."

"Reheema found the body and called the cops?"

"Right."

"Who found the wallet, you or Reheema?"

"The daughter."

"So Reheema knows that it was my wallet. She must have been surprised by that."

Detective Melvin nodded. "She was extremely angry. She demanded we question you, and I told her we were coming right here."

"She can't think I killed her mother."

"I can't speak for her, Ms. Allegretti." Detective Melvin made a note. "Now, about this man who answered your cell phone. What's your phone number?"

Vicki gave it to him, and he wrote it down. But she couldn't stop thinking about Reheema. Did she think Vicki murdered her mother?

"And what type of phone was it?"

"A Samsung, the newer model. It has one of those special covers, it's silver and has blue daisies with little green centers on the front."

"Now that should be a crime." Detective Melvin smiled, but Vicki couldn't.

"How will you run that down, detective? Look for the phone? Tap the line? You have enough for a warrant."

"Leave that to us. I'd ask you not to terminate the service, to help our efforts."

"Of course."

Detective Melvin flipped his notebook closed. "I understand that you have a personal interest in this case, but you have to leave matters to us. My partner and I have the highest clearance rate on the Homicide Division. We know what we're doing."

"I respect the Philly police, I was an assistant district attorney." Vicki decided to press her luck. "Though I did wonder why you hadn't called Mrs. Bott, to talk to her about Shayla Jackson."

"We did call, but there was no answer and she didn't have an answering machine. Then we understood she was going to ID the body at three yesterday, not noon. It was a simple misunderstanding." Detective Melvin didn't look happy about it, either. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing, Ms. Allegretti. Everybody thinks he's a detective. You could have been hurt last night, if not killed."

Standing behind Detective Melvin, Chief Bale wasn't saying anything. He didn't have to.

"But what about the drug activity on Cater? Is anybody going to do anything about it?"

"Ms. Allegretti." Detective Melvin frowned all the way to his shaved scalp. "As you well know, we have a Narcotics Division. That's their job. I'll make a point of notifying them of your observations of drug activity on Cater, and I'll also notify the captain in charge of that district. I'm sure they'll step up the patrols. If there is drug activity, they'll deal with it. You can't. In fact, Chief Bale has informed us that you're on a one-week suspension."

"It is indefinite now," Bale interjected, with a deep scowl. "That's without pay."

No! "Chief-"

"Don't even, Allegretti." Bale warned her off with a raised index finger.

"Fine, Chief."

"I don't need your permission," Bale shot back, and in the next minute, his attention was redirected to the stairs. The two uniformed cops were coming downstairs, carrying the brown paper bags they used to collect evidence.

"You found my suit?" Vicki asked, though the thought of her clothes in an evidence bag was tough to take.

"Yes, thanks. Took the shoes, too." The cops looked calm, so she assumed they hadn't found a murder weapon. She didn't want to think what her bedroom looked like.

"You didn't toss the place too bad, I hope."

"We improved it," one of the cops said, with a smile. "Give us a chance to make a mess here, too, will ya?"

"No problem," Vicki answered, and everybody rose and stood as the cops split up and began to turn over cushions in the couch. In the meantime, Detective Melvin slid his notebook into his back pocket, as did the other detective.