and out, how the family had been behaving, who
had called them. If you believed him, the motel was
an oasis of innocence and he was the original see-no-evil,
hear-no-evil kid.
The patrolmen cordoned off the area around room
fifteen. The sight of their squad car in the center of
the motorcourt must have ruffled some feathers–I
saw fingers drawing back comers of curtains in
several of the rooms. The policemen noticed, too,
and joked about calling Vice.
Two additional black and whites pulled into the
85
86
Jonathan Kellerman
lot and parked haphazardly. Out of them stepped
four more uniforms, who joined the first two for a
smoke and a huddle. They were followed by a crime
scene technical van and an unmarked bronze Matador.
The man who got out of the Matador was in his
midthirties, big and heavily built, with a loose,
ungainly walk. His face was broad and surprisingly
unlined, but bore the stigmata of severe acne. Thick
drooping brows shadowed tired eyes of a startling
bright green hue. His black hair was cut short around
the back and sides but worn full on top in defiance
of any known style. A thick shock fell across his
forehead like a frontal cowlick. Similarly unchic
were the sideburns that reached to the bottom of
his softlobed ears and his attire–a rumpled checked
madras sportcoat with too much turquoise in it, a
navy shirt, gray-and-blue striped tie, and light blue
slacks that hung over the tops of suede desert boots.
“That one’s got to be a cop,” said Beverly.
“That’s Milo.”
“Your friend–oh.” She,was embarrassed.
“It’s okay, that’s what he is.”
Milo conferred with the patrolmen then took out
a pad and pencil, stepped over the tape stru. ng
across the doorway to room fifteen, and went inside.
He stayed in there awhile and came out taking
notes.
He loped over to the front office. I got up and
met him at the entrance.
“H’lo, Alex.” His big padded hand gripped mine.
“Hell of a mess in there. Not really sure what to
ca]] it yet.”
He saw Beverly walked over, and introduced
himself.
BLOOD TEST 87
“Stick with this guy,” he pointed to me, “and
inevitably you’re going to get into trouble.”
“I can see that,”
“Are you in a hurry?” he asked her.
“I’m not going back to the hospital,” she said.
“All I’ve got, otherwise, is a run at ‘three thirty.”
“Bun? Oh, like in cardiovascular stimulation?
Yeah, I tried that but the chest began to hurt and
visions of mortality danced before my eyes.”
She smiled uneasily, not knowing what to make
of him. Milo’s great to have around–in more ways
than one–when your preconceptions get overly
calcified.
“Don’t worry, you’ll be out of here long before
then. Just wanted to know if you could wait while I
interview Mr.–” he consulted the pad, “Fahriz-
badeh. Shouldn’t take long.”
“That would be fine.”
He escorted the desk clerk outside and over to
fifteen. Beverly and I sat in silence.
“This is horrible,” she said,finally. “That room.
The blood.” She sat stiffly in her’chair and pressed
her knees together.
“He could be okay,” I said without much convie-tion.
“I hope so, Alex. I really do.”
After a while Milo returned with the desk clerk,
who slunk behind the counter without a glance at
us and disappeared into the back room.
“Very unobservant guy,” said Milo. “But I think
he’s on the level, more or less.. Apparently his
brother-in-law owns the place. He’s studying business
administration at night and works here instead
of sleeping.” He looked at Beverly. “What can
you tell me about these Swope people?”
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Jonathan .Kellerman
She gave him a history sjnilar to the one I’d
received in the Laminar Airflow Unit.
“Interesting,” he reflected, chewing on his pencil.
“So this could be anything. The parents taking
the kid out of town in a hurry, which might not.be
a crime at all unless the hospital wants to make a
thing out of it. Except if that was the case, they
wouldn’t leave the car behind. Hypothesis 13 is the
cultists did the job with the parents’ permission,
which is still no crime. Or without, which would