Love Thy Neighbor

He seemed to consider the question an invasion of privacy, but defending private spaces, Charlie and Joe have lost their private lives. Having won the appeal of his appeals bond, Joe now wears a satellite monitor, recording his movement around the clock. He refers to it as his ball and chain, but he could throw it off the day he left the Plantation.

He took news of the murder quietly. As it sunk in, he began to smile, and the more he thought about it, the more he liked it. Finally, Joe had the dirt on his neighbor.

"Beaten, shot twice, stabbed 14 times. Hmmm," he said. "I'm still not moving."

E-mail Randall Patterson at randall_patterson@ houstonpress.com.