In the Midst of Death by Lawrence Block

legal status is undefined as it is at present."

    He said all of this as though he was reading it from a prepared text.
    Most people have trouble speaking in sentences.Lorbeer spoke in paragraphs, structurally complicated paragraphs, and he delivered his little speech with his pale eyes fixed on the tip of my left shoulder.

    I said, "I think you've jumped to a conclusion. I'm not a cop."

    "You're from the press? I thought- "

    "I used to be a cop. I left the force a couple of years ago."

    His face took on an interesting cast at this news. There was some calculation in it. I got a rush of déjà vu looking at him, and it took me a minute to put it in place. He reminded me ofBroadfield at our first meeting, head cocked to the side and face screwed up in concentration.
    LikeBroadfield ,Lorbeer wanted to know what my angle was. He might be a reformer, he might be working for Mr. Clean himself, but in his own way he was as much on the make as a cop looking for a handout.

    "I've just been to seeBroadfield ," I said. "I'm working for him. He says he didn't kill the Carr woman."

    "Naturally he'd say that, wouldn't he? I understand her body was found in his apartment."

    I nodded. "He figures he was deliberately framed for her murder.
    He wants me to try and find out who framed him."

    "I see." He was somewhat less interested in me now since I was just trying to solve a murder. He'd been hoping I was going to help him louse up an entire police department. "Well. I'm not certain how our office would be involved."

    "Maybe you're not. I just want a fuller picture. I don't knowBroadfieldwell, I just met him the first time Tuesday. He's a tricky customer. I can't always tell when he's lying to me."

    A trace of a smile appeared on ClaudeLorbeer's lips. It looked out of place there. "I like the way you put it," he said. "He is a subtle liar, isn't he?"

    "That's what's hard to tell. How subtle is he, and how much does he lie? He says he just came over and volunteered his services to you people. That you didn't have to force him into it."

    "That's quite true."

    "It's hard to believe."

    Lorbeermade a tent of his fingertips. "No harder for you than for us," he said. "Broadfieldjust walked in off the street. He didn't even call first to tell us he was coming. We'd never heard of him before he barged in offering us the earth and asking nothing in return."

    "That doesn't make sense."

    "I know it." He leaned forward, his expression one of great concentration. I suppose he was about twenty-eight. His manner put extra years on him, but when he grew intense those years dropped away and you realized how young he was underneath it all. "That's what makes it so difficult to place credence in anything the man says, Mr.
    Scudder. One can see no possible motivation for him. Oh, he asked for immunity from prosecution for anything he might disclose that implicatedhimself , but we grant that automatically. But he didn't want anything beyond that."

    "Then why did he come here?"

    "I have no idea. I'll tell you something. I distrusted him immediately. Not because he's crooked. We deal with crooks all the time. We have to deal with crooks, but at least they are rational crooks, and his behavior was irrational. I told Mr.Prejanian that I didn't trustBroadfield . I said I felt he was a kook, an oddball. I didn't want to get involved with him at all."

    "And you said as much toPrejanian ."

    "Yes, I did. I would have been happy to believe thatBroadfield had had some sort of religious experience and turned into a completely new person. Perhaps that sort of thing happens. Not very often, I don't suppose."

    "Probably not."

    "But he didn't even pretend that was the case. He was the same man he'd been before, cynical and breezy and very much the operator."
    He sighed."Now Mr.Prejanian agrees with me. He's sorry we ever got involved withBroadfield . The man's evidently committed a murder, and, oh, even before that there was the unfortunate publicity which