"Why?" said Charley, chewing on his lower lip. "Why, man, why?"
"Lotta reasons, I guess."
"Yeah, but name me one reason they should end up like this?"
"You know I can't, anymore than you can," I said. "We always get some of the reasons, later, you know that. Maybe not even the real ones, but what can you do?" I started making notes while we were waiting for the Crime Scene guys to get there.
When they showed up, minutes later, Charley pulled on my sleeve. "Let's go for coffee. I need some bad."
"Makes two of us," I said as we headed for our unmarked.
"Let me drive," Charley said. "I need something to concentrate on to get that sight out of my mind for a few minutes."
"Sure," I said, opening the passenger side door.
I knew exactly what he meant. We'd both seen it enough times. A young man, with most of his face blown away, who would never be going back home again.