vs. Connelly during his first few months of law school before dropping out after his dad died, but he couldn’t recall the specifics of the argument at the moment.

Kline came to Gil’s desk and asked, “When are you going to get in there and question him?”

“As soon as I can,” Gil said. “I just want to make sure that any information we get won’t be suppressed at trial. I need to reread Colorado vs. Connelly and then look over Smith vs. Duckworth. We have to stay within the guidelines of a voluntary confession so it will be admissible in court.”

“Just because he’s mentally ill doesn’t mean any confession you get isn’t voluntary,” Kline said.

“That’s true,” Gil said, “but there are plenty of court cases that get thrown out because the defendant was mentally ill and the police interrogator took advantage of that to get them to confess.”

“From my perspective the law is pretty clear on this,” Kline said. “His schizophrenia isn’t going to make him confess.”

Joe came over and said, “Hey, did you guys see the news—” before realizing that they were involved in a conversation. “Oops. My bad.”

“Look, I’m also not sure how I feel about this,” Gil said. “My whole goal in interrogating that guy is to get a confession. I do that by manipulating him to hell and back. How ethical is it for me to do that to someone who is mentally ill? He doesn’t stand a chance. He’ll end up agreeing to whatever I say.”

“Geez, Gil,” Joe said with a laugh, “I didn’t know you were that good—”

“I just would feel better if we could talk to the district attorney,” Gil said, “to get their take on how to handle the interrogation—”

“I agree, sir,” Joe said, surprising Gil. “This is a high-profile case. One of those cases that can make or break a department. Everything has got to be aboveboard or the press will kill us. Plus, this way we all get some sleep and come at it fresh in the morning. Geisler’s not going anywhere.”

“All right,” Kline said, looking at his watch. “We have twelve hours before we need to legally figure out what to do with him. He’ll be fine here. We’ll consider it again tomorrow.”

Kline walked off, and Joe started smiling, clapping Gil on the back, saying, “I might be a jackass, but at least I’ve got your back, brother.”

“That’s true,” Gil said. “You are a jackass.”

Gil opened the front door of his house as best he could in the dark. Susan had forgotten to keep the porch light on again. He walked quietly to the hallway closet and opened the door. On the top shelf, which only Gil could reach, was the gun safe. He opened it and put in his sidearm and BUG, then closed it and spun the lock.

He went to Joy’s room but just stood in the doorway, watching her sleep. She was getting so old. She was almost thirteen. Probably the same age as Ashley when her father started abusing her. Gil closed his eyes, turned his head skyward, and breathed deeply, trying to release some of the tension he had been holding all day. Trying to banish the evil images that kept popping into his head.

He walked closer to Joy’s bed and put his hand on her head, saying a prayer in Spanish that he had said over her every night since she was born. It was the same prayer his father had said over him. “May the angels watch over you as you sleep, and may God smile on you when you awake.”

Gil went across the hall to Therese’s room. She was, as usual, curled up in a ball with all the covers thrown off the bed. Susan called Therese their little fussbudget because she never could stay in one spot as she slept. Gil pulled the blankets over her and put his hand on her head, her skin soft and cool underneath, as he repeated the prayer again.

He went to his own room and opened the door, thinking Susan would be awake. Instead she was lying on her side, snoring. She’d probably had a long day trying to get ready for Aunt Yolanda’s annual fiesta party tomorrow. Susan, with her natural organizational skills, somehow always ended up in charge of the party. A party that Gil might actually be able to go to, now that they had a suspect in custody.

He quietly kicked his shoes off into the closet and got changed into sweatpants,