Delusion in Death

have to consider different possibilities before we can eliminate them and move on in the investigation.”
    “You want to look at me, you look. Inside, outside, back and forward. Give me a truth test, stick a fucking probe up my ass. I’ve got nothing to hide. But you lay off my brother, right? You lay off Chris.”
    “Let me ask you this, Devon.” Eve leaned back a little. “If Roarke sells, and the price is in your reach, would you buy the place?”

    “In a heartbeat.” He folded his arms over his chest. “Make something of it.”
    “If you wanted the place, still want it, why didn’t you ask your brother for a loan, or to make an investment? He could afford it.”
    “If I can’t make it myself, it’s not mine, is it? I don’t tap Chris when I want money. He’s my brother, not a frigging bank. I’ve got nothing more to say about it. Unless you’re charging me with something, I’m leaving.”
    “We’re not charging you with anything. You’re certainly free to go.”
    He shoved back, scraping the chair on the floor. At the door, he turned. “I’d hate to be somebody who’s always looking for the worst in people.”
    When the door shut, Peabody lifted her shoulders in a hunch. “He kinda made me feel guilty.”
    “You’re a cop. You’re paid to look for the worst in people.”
    “I like to think of it more as hunting down the worst people.”
    This time she rubbed the back of her neck because it did trouble her. “Do you want to count the number of times we’ve had somebody in that chair who looked like a nice guy who turned out to be a stone killer?”
    “I don’t have enough fingers.”
    “Exactly. Let’s talk to the brother.”
    Christopher Lester shared his brother’s coloring and build. Rather than dreads, he wore his red hair short, straight, styled like a Roman centurion. He wore a well-tailored suit and perfectly knotted tie, both in deep, bronzy brown.

    His wrist unit winked gold in the overhead light.
    “Dr. Lester,” Eve began. “Thanks for coming in.”
    “I’m happy to cooperate. I assume this has to do with the murders at On the Rocks yesterday. My brother’s devastated.”
    “You’ve spoken to him.”
    “Of course. I contacted him as soon as I heard there’d been trouble. If he’d been there …”
    “I understand. We’d like to record this interview.” Eve ordered record on, read in the data. “I’m going to read you your rights. It’s routine.”
    Chris lifted his eyebrows. “Is it?”
    “It’s standard, and for your protection.” She recited the Revised Miranda. “Do you understand your rights and obligations, Dr. Lester?”
    “Yes, I do.” His hands, big like his brother’s and perfectly manicured, folded on the table. “What I don’t understand is what you think I can tell you, or what possible help I can be.”
    “You never know. Yesterday, the day of the incident, was your brother’s day off.”
    “Thank God. That may be selfish, but he’s my brother.”
    “You contacted him, you said.”
    “A friend heard the bulletin, told me. She knew Devon managed On the Rocks as I’d taken her there for drinks. I contacted him.”
    “Where were you?”
    “I was still at the lab. Actually about to leave. I tried his ’link immediately. I can’t tell you how relieved I was when he answered.”
    “You weren’t aware of his work schedule?”

    “No. It changes often, as does my own. When I reached him, he was at the bar. Not inside as they—the police—wouldn’t let him go in. He said he was coming in here, to try to find out what happened. When we spoke later, he said he and his partner would visit the rest of his staff this morning to tell them.”
    He looked away a moment. “My brother is a strong man, a good manager. To be a good manager he has to know how to handle problems—small and large—with equanimity. And he does. I’ve never heard or seen him so broken. I hope to never hear or see him broken like this again.”
    He looked back, straight into Eve’s eyes. “So I came in to speak with you, as requested. And I’ll answer these questions fully understanding you suspect him. I’ll answer them, Lieutenant, so you’ll understand Devon is a strong man, with equally strong senses of loyalty and compassion. He not only loves his work, he cared, very much, for every single person who worked under him. He could tell you their names, the names of family members, pets, boyfriends, girlfriends. They are—were—family to