Several hours later, Dobey, back with Starsky at the Hutchinson house, said sharply. "Stop pacing, Starsky, you're getting on my nerves."

Starsky threw an incredulous look Dobey's way. "Captain, this is a nightmare. What am I supposed to tell Hutch when he wakes up? That his little sister is crazy and has been committed to a mental hospital? That she tried to kill Carlton? Well, the gun had blanks, but what was she thinking?"

"Maybe that she would get some answers to whoever has been trying to scare her."

"When Red came in with me, she said she knew he was also involved in Jed's death, and then accused McCallum as well!"

"Didn't Red tell you Mickey hadn't been the same since her partner was killed? That he and McCallum were worried about her mental state?"

"Yes, that's what he said." Starsky was still pacing. "What did you see and hear when I went in after she tried to shoot Carlton?"

"Among the confusion? Joshua trying to get the gun and sedating her, while she fought like a wildcat. The twins – I believe said something about her being dangerous. They had looked relieved that she hadn't brought up anything about them. Mostly, the rest said she was insane. And I didn't think it before, but she looked insane. Could all of this be in her head?"

"There was a brick thrown through the window and Mickey couldn't have done that. And her partner's death – that is certainly real enough."

"Starsky, McCallum let me see the report. Her partner was killed in the line of duty, and she could have been, too. Mickey thinks Jed Bolton was targeted and she was not. There are no conclusions to be drawn from the report."

"How could this happen? We're talking about a girl who was first in the nation to make the junior high and high school baseball team. We're talking about a girl tough enough to take on the world to protect her brother. One who starved herself until he could see the damage he was doing to himself and her as well."

"She also was dealing with the pressure of becoming the first female on Duluth's police force and at nineteen. Most forces won't take anyone under twenty-one. There is a lot of stress with being a trailblazer, and she did not have Ken here to help her – and just lost the other person she was closest to, her grandmother. Two major deaths in her life – her partner and her grandmother. And then to have that twisted Carlton reveal in front of everyone in the room she and Ken are Lena's children and their mother has been in a mental institution for over twenty years. Starsky, I don't see how I could stand up to that pressure."

"And Charlatan revealing their father is a major criminal – how is Hutch supposed to cope with this, Captain?"

"Do you think Charlatan is right?" Dobey questioned. "Everyone else in that room was shocked."

"Ingrid would be the one who would know – and now she is dead."

The doorbell rang, and a weary Joshua entered the room. He still had his medical bag and he put it down beside him and held his head in his hands before looking up. "Well, that is done. Mickey has been checked into the hospital and will remain there for observation. Mickey – Mickey, of all of us, I thought she was the strongest. Is Ken still asleep?"

"Checked on him about ten minutes ago. Must have been a powerful sleeping draught."

Starsky looked over to Dobey and then introduced him to Joshua. They shook hands. Dobey said, "I'll check on Hutch and then upstairs. I think I'm ready to sleep." His glance at Starsky also told him he wanted to give Joshua and Starsky some privacy.

Starsky stole several looks at the exhausted Joshua. He noticed Joshua's hands were trembling.

"Need a drink?"

Joshua grimaced. "Physician, heal thyself? More than one, I think. One won't help. I felt like I was watching a horror movie. Or having a nightmare. Anything but what I witnessed. And Ken – I guess she was rational enough to not want to put Ken through this confrontation. My heart stopped when I thought she really shot Carlton. And he nearly dropped dead from fright."

Starsky brought them both drinks. "I can't believe it, either."

"Ken, what can I tell Ken? I still don't know if Carlton is telling the truth – but it is true that Mickey was called "Little Lena" a lot. How close are you and Ken?"

"We've been partners and best friends for years."

"He'll need a best friend after this. Grandmother Ingrid dead, Mickey's mental health state."

"What about the rest of the family?"

"He's never been close to any of the rest of us. Judith and I were just too much older and we were pursuing our own interests. It's not that we didn't care, there just was not enough time. And Mother and Father were too busy pushing us to succeed, Carlton, too. What a nightmare," Joshua sighed, accepting another drink and downing it quickly.

"You don't believe Mickey is right in what she was saying?"

Joshua shook his head. "After everything that happened? I think this has been building since her partner was killed. Maybe she blames herself. Then losing Ingrid – her job – and not having Ken to help her, it must have been too much."

Dobey and Starsky had put Hutch in the first-floor bedroom, the one Mickey had slept in the night before. There was murmuring and then the door opened, and Hutch stood there, yawning, staring at Starsky and Joshua. He looked bewildered. "How did I get here? Wait, the reading of the will is over? I don't remember most of it."

"Ken," Joshua spoke softly. "Come sit down on the couch with Starsky. We have a lot to tell you."

Starsky also spoke softly, "No matter what, I am always here for you, Buddy. Remember that."

"Why are you both treating me as if I were made of glass?" Ken looked from one to the other. "Oh, God. What happened?"

"Well, Mickey put a sleeping packet in your drink. You passed out and we put you on a couch in the next-door office until everyone left. Then Starsky and Captain Dobey brought you home."

Hutch looked utterly bewildered. "Why would she do that?"

"She wanted to keep you out of the fray that happened after you passed out. She was protecting you." Starsky put his arm around his friend.

"Protecting me from what? Where is Mickey? Is she all right? Joshua? Tell me. Where is Mickey? Has something happened to her? Did someone try to kill her again?" Ken's voice rose with every question. "She . . . she can't be dead. Tell me!"

Joshua looked first at Starsky and then at his little brother. "Ken, she is not dead. A lot of accusations were hurled around in the room. She pulled a gun and shot Carlton. It was full of blanks – but she was out of control. Ken, Mickey had a nervous breakdown."