“Don’t you?”
“Yes.Am I under arrest?”
“All over the state?”
“What’s the point of this?”
“When was the last time you were in the Uinta Basin?”
That white point of focused light in Tean’s head turned red.“That’s crazy.”
“When, Dr.Leon?”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“When?”
“I have no idea.I’d have to check my records.”
“You’d have to check your records.”
“What you’re suggesting is insane.I had nothing to do with Brennon Lee.I didn’t even know the man.”
“Now that’s where things get interesting, because you’re such good friends with Mr.Young.From what I understand, the two of you go way back.”
Tean knew he should stop talking, but the words slipped out of him.“If I’d been involved in this somehow, why would I be messing around in it now, while you’re investigating?”
“What’s the nature of your relationship with Mr.Young?”
“He’s my friend.”
“Are you sexually involved?”
Blood rushed into Tean’s cheeks so quickly that his whole face felt puffy.“You already know the answer to that, or you wouldn’t be asking it.”
“It’s a simple question.”
“No, we’re not.Yes, we have been in the past.”
“While he was married.”
That distant sound of a printer cycling came again.
“That’s none of your business,” Tean said.“And I’m finished with this conversation unless you plan on arresting me.”
“Where did you get Brennon’s wallet?”
Halfway out of his seat, Tean froze.“We found it,” he said.“In Kazen Shumway’s house.He’s the one you should be talking to.”
“See, I think that’s convenient.Because your best friend copped to a murder, and we can’t find the victim’s wallet, and all of a sudden, the wallet shows up, and it’s in the house of exactly the right person to create what a defense attorney would call reasonable doubt.”
“Then I guess the person you should be talking to is Kazen Shumway.”
“It’s supposed to be a coincidence that you harass Tilar Lee outside her home, drive to Kazen Shumway’s home, and miraculously find a piece of key evidence?”
“You were following us,” Tean said.“That’s how you happened to be there when Kazen ran out of the house.And you think—” He shook his head; Jem would have laughed and said something clever, but all Tean could do was focus on his hands, on the tabletop beneath them and the way the corner bit into his palm.“I’m leaving now.”
She let him get to the door before she said, “You were an upstanding citizen until last year, Dr.Leon.”