“Happened to see him about an hour ago. He said he was going over to Judge Maclntyre’s house, try for some warrants. Pasadena—I can give you the number if it’s important. But Judge Maclntyre gets cranky about being bugged on the weekend, so why don’t you try Milo’s mobile.”
“I did. He didn’t answer.”
“Maybe he shut it off, didn’t want to annoy Judge Maclntyre.”
“Scary guy, huh?”
“Maclntyre? Yeah, but law and order. If he thinks you’re righteous he’ll give all sorts of leeway—okay, here it is.”
A frosty-voiced woman said, “What’s this about?”
“I’m a police consultant, working on a homicide case. It’s important that I reach Detective Sturgis. Is he there?”
“One minute.”
Four minutes later, she came back on. “He’s on his way out, said he’ll call you.”
It took another quarter hour for Milo to ring in.
“What’s so important, Alex? How the hell did you get Maclntyre’s number—you almost messed me up, I was in the middle of getting paper on Doss. Got some, too.”
“Sorry, but you were wasting your time.” I told him what I’d seen in Alice Zoghbie’s backyard. The way I’d reported it to the police clerk, my prints on the gate.
“This is a joke, right?” he said.
“Ha ha ha.”
Long silence. “Why’d you go out there in the first place, Alex?”
“Boredom, overachievement—what’s the difference? This changes everything.”
“Where are you right now?”
“Home. Just finished with some visitors.” I began to tell him about Donovan and Bratz.
“Stop,” he said. “I’m coming over—no, better if we meet somewhere, just in case they’re still watching you. I just got on the 110—let’s make it somewhere central… Pico-Robertson, the parking lot behind the Miller’s Outpost, southeast corner. If I’m late, buy yourself some jeans. And try to figure out if the feebies are tailing you. If they are, I doubt they’ll be using more than one car, which will make it damn near impossible for them to pull it off if you’re looking out for them. Did you happen to notice what kind of car they were driving?”
“Blue sedan.”
“Check for it three, four car lengths behind you. If you see it, drive back home and wait.”
“High intrigue.”
“Low intrigue,” he said. “Bureaucracy’s big toes getting stepped on. Zoghbie and Haiselden—did you notice any overt putrefaction?”
“Green tinge, no maggots, lots of flies.”
“Probably a day or two at most… and you’re saying the positioning was similar to the stuff in Fusco’s file?”
“Identical. Geometrical wounds, as well.”
“Oh my,” he said. “Every day brings new thrills.”
I wrote a note to Robin and left, drove more slowly than usual, looked out for the blue sedan or anything else that spelled government-issue. No sign of a tail, as far as I could tell. I reached the Miller’s Outpost lot before Milo, parked where he’d instructed, got out of the car and stood against the driver’s door. Still, no blue car. The lot was half full. Shoppers streamed in and out of the store, business at a nearby newsstand was brisk, cars roared by on Robertson. I waited and thought about putrefaction.
Milo showed up ten minutes later, surprisingly well-put-together in a gray suit, white shirt, maroon tie. Warrant-begging duds. No string tie for Judge Maclntyre.
He motioned me into the unmarked, lit up the cold stub of a Panatela as I eased into the passenger seat.
He scanned the lot, fondled his cell phone, let his eyes drift to the jeans store. “Time to get myself some easy-fit . . . Glendale’s at the scene—they’ve pegged it to an anonymous caller. How does it feel to be an archetype?”
“Glorious. But I won’t be anonymous long. The gate.”
“Yeah, terrific. I’m waiting to hear back from their detectives. News jackals picked it up, too, it’s only a matter of time before they tie Zoghbie and Haiselden to Mate and we’re back on page one.”
“That’s exactly what Burke wants,” I said. “But maybe he had another motive for killing Zoghbie and Haiselden: to get hold of any records that incriminated him. He might very well have been planning it for a while, but Richard’s arrest might have sped things up: he wouldn’t like someone else getting credit for his handiwork. Like Mate, he’s after the attention, is eliminating the old guard, telling the world he’s the new Dr. Death.”