False Prophet

“You say you walked your sister to the door around eleven, eleven-thirty?”

“Yes.”

“But you didn’t go into the house?”

“No. Lilah asked me if I wanted to bunk down in the guest bedroom for the night, but I said I’d rather go home. Now I wish to God that I had. I’m feeling terribly guilty about it.”

Decker nodded.

“Of course, I had no way of knowing …”

“None at all,” Decker said.

“Damn, if only I had been there!”

“If you’d been there, maybe you’d have ended up in worse shape than Lilah.”

“Better me than her!”

“All I’m saying is, it might have been both of you.”

“You just don’t understand.” Brecht took a deep breath. “I’m not myself. Do you have any idea who did this horrible thing to my sister?”

“We’re investigating every avenue right now, Doctor.”

“In other words, you have no suspects.”

Decker was quiet.

“Are we done, Sergeant?”

“Almost. By any chance, do you have a key to your sister’s house?” Decker asked.

Brecht’s voice hardened. “Yes, I have a key. Why?”

“Just checking out every avenue,” Decker said. “Did you know your sister has a safe in the bedroom closet?”

Brecht shifted in his seat. “I don’t like this line of questioning.”

Decker waited.

“Yes, I know she has a safe in her closet! What of it?”

“Do you know what she keeps in—”

“Of course not!”

“Not even a hint?”

“No, Sergeant.”

“Do you have the combination—”

Brecht rose from his seat. “Why would I have the combination to her safe!”

“My brother and I have the combination to my parents’ safe,” Decker said. “I don’t have any idea what valuables they keep inside, but they gave us the combination in case something happened to them.”

Brecht seemed suspended in midair, then he slowly sat back down.

Decker shrugged. “With you being so close to your sister—you have a key to the house—well, I thought she might have trusted you with the combination.”

“She didn’t.” Brecht touched his fingers to his forehead. “May I assume the safe had been opened?”

“You can assume anything you want.”

Brecht clasped his hands together. “There was a robbery in addition to the assault?”

Decker said, “Maybe.”

Brecht said, “You don’t say too much, do you?”

“I’m just trying to do some fact-finding. A few more questions and we can call it quits, Doctor. What did you do after you dropped Lilah off?”

“I went straight home.”

“Make any calls?”

“No, not at that hour.”

“Check in with your service?”

“Uh … no.”

“Don’t you usually check in with your service before you go to bed?”

“If there is an emergency, they’ll page me. I believe in leaving well enough alone.” Brecht folded his hands across his chest. “I think we’re done now.”

“Doctor, please bear with me. How many brothers do you and Lilah have?”

Brecht opened his mouth and shut it. “What?”

“How many brothers do you have? Straightforward question.”

“Uh … two.”

Decker looked at him. “You’re sure, now?”

“Of course I’m sure. We have two other brothers—half brothers, really.”