late that night , well after midnight , long after adam had told carmen about lee and her problems , and about phelps and walt , about mcallister and wyn lettner , and the theory of the accomplice , hours after they 'd finished a pizza and discussed their mother and father and grandfather and the whole pathetic bunch , adam said the one moment he 'd never forget was the two of them sitting there on the desk , passing time in silence as an invisible clock ticked away , with sam patting him on the knee .