Ed stepped back–his legs brushed the model, broke off a piece of freeway. “I apologize, and I should be asking your advice, not competing with you. Father, is there anything about the Atherton case you haven’t told me?”
“Apology accepted, and no, there isn’t. You, Art and I went over the case constantly during our seminar period, and I expect that you know it as well as I do.”
“Did Atherton have _any_ known associates?”
Preston shook his head. “Emphatically no. He was the very model of a psychotic loner.”
A deep breath. “I want to interview Ray Dieterling.”
“Why? Because one of his child stars was killed by Atherton?”
“No, because a witness identified Dieterling as a K.A. of a criminal tangential to the Nite Owl.”
“How long ago?”
“Thirty years or so.”
“This person’s name?”
“Pierce Patchett.”
Preston shrugged. “I’ve never heard of him and I don’t want you bothering Raymond. Emphatically no, a thirty-year-old acquaintanceship does not warrant bothering a man of Ray Dieterling’s stature. _I’ll_ ask Ray about him and report back to you. Will that suffice?”
Ed looked at the model. Hypnotic: L.A. grown huge, Exley Construction containing it. His father’s hands, gentle now. “Son, you’ve come very far and you’ve earned my respect absolutely. You’ve taken a beating for Inez and those men you killed, and I think you’re bearing up strongly. For now, though, I want you to consider this. The Nite Owl case got you where you are today and a quick resolution on the reopening will keep you there. Collateral homicide investigations, however compelling, might seriously distract you from your main objective and thus destroy your career. Please remember that.”
Ed squeezed his father’s hands. “Absolute justice. Remember that?”
CHAPTER FIFTY-FIVE
Both crime scenes sealed–the printshop, the pad next door. One Mann sheriff–a fat guy named Hatcher. A lab man talking nonstop.
Crime Scene 1: the back room at Rapid Bob’s Printing. Bud scoped Dudley nonstop, flashing back to _his_ pitch: “We thought you were going to kill him, so we stopped you. I’m sorry if we were untoward, but you were a handful. Hinton is associated with some very bad people, and I’ll elaborate in all due time.”
He didn’t press it–Dud might have stuff on him.
Lynn in custody.
Exley’s slap in the face.
The lab man pointed to a rack of dumped shelves.”. . . okay, so the front of the shop looked hunky-dory, so our perpetrator didn’t bother with it. We found cigarette butts in an ashtray here, two brands, so let’s assume the Engleklings were working late. Let’s assume the perpetrator picked the front door lock, tiptoed up and got the drop on them. Glove prints on the jamb of the connecting door, so that backs it up. He comes in, he makes our boys open those cabinets I showed you, he doesn’t find what he wants. He gets pissed and yanks those shelves to the floor, glove prints on the fourth shelf up indicate a right-handed man of average height. The brothers open the boxes that spilled off–we got a whole load of smudged latents that indicate Pete and Bax were a bit panicked by this time. So, the perpetrator obviously didn’t find what he wanted and marched our boys across the driveway to their apartment. Gentlemen, follow me.”
Out the door, across an alley. The lab guy carried a flashlight; Bud stuck to the back.
Lynn cocky–convinced she could beat truth juice with her brains.
Dud probably had his own insider leads–but he still kept talking up niggers.
The lab man said, “Note the dirt on the driveway. On the morning the bodies were found our tech crew discovered and photographed three sets of footmarks too shallowly placed to make exemplers from. Two sets walking ahead of a single set, which indicates a march at gunpoint.”
Over to a bungalow court. Dudley stone quiet–on the plane he hardly talked.
Would _Whisper_ hit?
Play the stiff under the house against Exley–HO W?
Tape on the door–Hatcher peeled it off. The lab man opened up with a pass key. Lights inside–Bud squeezed in first.
A shambles–all forensicked up.
Blood spills on a wall-to-wall carpet–tape-marked. Glass tubes on the floor–circled, held in see-through evidence bags. Scattered around: photo negatives–dozens—cracked, scalded surfaces. Overturned chairs, a dumped dresser, a sofa with the stuffing ripped out. Tucked in the largest rip: a glassine bag tagged “Heroin.”