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“Ya think?” Ellery was remembering thatlucky for you, you’ve got a jaw like a donkeycrack. He said shortly, “Well, he should. But not about me. He should feel bad about arresting Dylan.”

“I don’t think he feels very good about it,” Kingston offered. “I suspect he didn’t feel he had a choice.”

“After all, there’s a lot of circumstantial evidence,” Nora said.

Ellery automatically put a hand to the swelling on his jaw. “Are you telling me,youboth think Dylan is guilty?”

“Certainly not!” Nora said.

Kingston echoed, “Never!”

“Good, because I’m not going to stand by and let Dylan go to prison for a crimeIknow he didn’t commit.”

Nora’s eyes lit with excitement. “Excellent! We were hoping you’d feel that way.”

“I’m glad to hear it. I might need some….” He caught himself before he actually said the fatal wordbackup,changing it for, “Input.”

“Of course! You know you can count on us,” Nora assured him.

Ellery absently picked up a tattered paperback from the box on the desk,studied the image of a sinister-looking man opening a drawer with a skull.Lady, That’s My Skullread the title. He returned the book to the box. “I still can’t believe that less than twenty-four hours into the investigation, Jack thought he had enough evidence to arrest Dylan.”

Nora made a noncommittal, “Mm.”

Kingston coughed. “I believe there are pressures on Chief Carson that forced his hand.”

Ellery shook his head. “I don’t know that that’s true. His mind seemed made up last night.”

Noratsk-tsked, but then, catching Kingston’s eye, she said, “I know it would bother Chief Carson very much to think you believed he would arrest Mr. Carter without sufficient cause or evidence.”

“Well, I do believe it,” Ellery said shortly. “I think Jack rushed to judgement on this. Which I can’t understand because it isn’t even like him. And Dylan’s a friend. Which makes it worse.”

Kingston caught Nora’s eye. Nora said, “Chief Carson takes his responsibilities very seriously.”

“You don’t have to tell me!”

Nora sighed and tried again. “Perhaps Chief Carson is reacting so, er, decisively because he’s… sensitive to the criticism he received when he refused to be pressured into arresting you for Brandon Abbott’s murder.”

Ellery frowned. “Okay, but I was innocent. He was right not to arrest me.”

“Perhaps he was more convinced of your innocence than Mr. Carter’s,” Kingston offered.

“Perhaps. In which case he’s wrong. About Dylan being guilty, I mean. Anyway, I need to find out when Dylan’s bail bond hearing—” Ellery started toward his office.

“Mr. Carter’s already out on bail,” Nora interrupted.

Ellery stopped in his tracks, turning to face them. “What? How? He was only just arrested.”

“Janet Maples bailed him out.”

“Janet?” That was a surprise, but also a huge relief. It wasn’t that Ellery had been eager to spend his roof money on Dylan’s bond. He had assumed there was no alternative.

“From what we understand, he’ll be staying with her for the time being.”

“That’s great. I had no idea things were moving so quickly.” And in the right direction, for once.

Nora said, “Janet used to work for the police department. That was before your time, of course. I suspect Chief Carson might have given her a heads-up.”

Ellery considered that possibility. That move was certainly more like the Jack he knew than the Jack who’d shown up to arrest Dylan that morning. He regarded Nora and Kingston’s unusually serious expressions, replayed the conversation of the last few minutes—and reviewed what felt a bit like the public relations efforts of his trusted associates.