“Failed to explode?”

“Oh, it exploded,” Jack says with some satisfaction. “The cab went fifty yards in one direction, the chassis in another, mostly straight up. Produced a very impressive fireball and a really nice mushroom cloud of black smoke. But the damn Staties didn’t move. It was like they were expecting a diversion and determined not to budge. No way I could get into the room undetected, which had been the whole point.”

Dane stirs, says, “Hey, I don’t get it. How’d they know to stake out Shane’s motel room less than an hour after the crime was reported? How did they even know he was involved at that point? The Cambridge cops had barely taken possession of the scene, let alone been in a position to identify suspects, or pass it on to the state police.”

“Good question,” Jack says. “Shane told me the motel must have been under surveillance before he called 911. He gets back to the vicinity of the motel ten minutes after he makes the call, the state police were already in place, well established. That’s when he knows for sure he’s being set up and that’s when he calls me.”

“And you responded, even though you may have been assisting in the commission of a felony murder.”

“Damn right. I’ve known the guy since the Academy. No way did he murder a client.”

“And did detectives recover a murder weapon?”

Jack shakes his head. “Not yet, and not from the motel room.”

“So your working theory was mistaken and nothing was planted to incriminate Shane?”

“I didn’t say that. The detectives found a bloodstained shirt under the bathroom sink in his room.”

“Ah. You’re assuming that’s the forensic link. Shane’s DNA on the shirt, blood matched to the professor?”

“That’s my assumption.”

“But the murder weapon is still out there.”

“So far.”

Naomi announces, “Excellent case briefing.”