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read anything more into it.”
    â€œYou still haven’t answered my question, Lieutenant.” Ellen met his slitted gray gaze. She wasn’t about to let this testy officer pigeonhole her with his concept of a psychologist.
    â€œWhat? About becoming a legal eagle to learn about justice?” His derisive chuckle filled the car. “Where I come from, right and wrong are black-and-white. There are no gray areas, no maybes. If a score can’t be settled with talking, then a shotgun settles it.”
    â€œI was merely taking your earlier generalization and applying it to lawyers. You’ve indicated that anyone entering my profession is basically crazy, that we’ve chosen a psychology career to learn how to become sane.”
    â€œReckon you’re smarter than I gave you credit for, Agent Tanner. Score two points for your side.”
    â€œI don’t like being stereotyped, Lieutenant Cochrane. My work is very different from other forms of therapy within the psychiatric field.” Damn but he was stubborn and opinionated!
    â€œWell, we may get the chance to see whose stereotype is correct.”
    Ellen sat there, barely holding on to her rising temper. She realized again how Cochrane was projecting his anger and job stresses on her. “I know that we have different perspectives, Lieutenant, but with time I hope we can see the positive qualities we each bring to our team.”
    Cochrane slowed down and took the Spring Street off-ramp that would take them into downtown La Mesa, a sleepy community northwest of San Diego. “Different perspectives, Agent Tanner? Try different worlds. Different realities.” He jabbed his finger toward the car window. “Right now I have a possible homicide on my hands. That’s a reality, not a perspective. I’m not poking fun at you, your work or your degrees, but we have absolutely nothing in common. It’s like trying to hitch a racehorse with a plow horse.”
    Ellen heard the rest of his diatribe: that whatever her experience or knowledge, she could not help him in this investigation. Grimly, she retorted, “I learn fast, Lieutenant. And I don’t intend to be a millstone around your neck on this homicide.”
    â€œPossible homicide.”
    â€œOkay, possible.” He wasn’t going to give her an inch. Still, Ellen could swear she felt his interest in her, man to woman. It was a fleeting thing, but she’d sensed it a couple of times. There was a complex dance going on here and she felt swept up in it. She couldn’t sort it out yet. Time with Cochrane would help. Ellen had to be patient, and remain open to him, even if he was constantly attacking her.
    Cochrane braked the car and turned onto a quiet street off the main thoroughfare. “La Mesa is a small bedroom community. There are some wealthy people and a lot of middle class. There’s also a Navy housing project for enlisted people within the city limits.” He pointed ahead. “This condominium complex is where our possible homicide lived. See how new and upscale it is? Looks like our Lieutenant Susan Kane was very good at managing her money to afford these kinds of digs on a naval salary. Or maybe she has a rich pa.”
    Ellen glanced around at the Santa Fe–style architecture. The two-story stucco buildings were painted a pale pink and dressed up with red, Spanish tile roofs. “How can you say that? You don’t know anything about her yet.”
    Cochrane pulled into the street in front of the condo. As he did so, he saw two La Mesa police cruisers. Farther down the street, there was an ambulance with San Diego Medical Examiner printed on its side. “I know what lieutenants make, and judging by this ritzy place, Kane was either into something illegal, or came by the place through her rich family connections.”
    Ellen stared at him. “How about she had a sugar daddy who kept her in the style she was accustomed