Milo said, "The times she got moody and nursed the bottle, did things ever get unpleasant?"

"What do you mean?"

"She ever get aggressive?"

"Elise? You kidding? She was a pussycat. Like I said, she'd just go into her room."

"And you left."

"No point staying."

"Did things ever get argumentative?"

"How can you argue with someone who won't talk?"

"That musta been frustrating, Sal."

"I figured it out soon enough."

"Any idea what happened to Elise's computer?"

"Huh?"

"Her computer's gone."

"Really."

"You didn't notice?"

"I was looking for Elise, not some computer."

"What kind of computer was it?"

"I dunno."

"Laptop or desktop?"

"Laptop--a Dell, I think."

"When's the last time you saw it?"

Fidella's mouth screwed up. "Hell if I know. You're saying the killer took it? Makes sense if it was those bastards from the school."

"Why's that?"

"Maybe Elise learned something weird about some rich family, put it on her computer. That makes sense, right?"

"Anything's possible, Sal." Milo uncrossed his legs. "I need to ask this: What was your schedule the day before you discovered Elise?"

"The whole day?"

"As much of it as you can recall."

Fidella brushed his soul patch with the side of his thumb. "You're asking this because I was the one found her?"

"There are basic questions we always need to ask, Sal."

"Fine, I get it, no offense taken." But the blue eyes had narrowed and Fidella's thighs tightened, lifting his shoe-tips above the carpet. "Let me just say one thing: Sal Fidella loves women and respects them."

"Granted," said Milo. "We still need to ask."

"Where was I that day?" said Fidella. "I was at Star Toys and Novelties, San Pedro Street, the toy district. Why was I there? Trying to get a job repping crap from China. They had an ad on Craigslist for an opening. I show up, it's all bullshit, they had to run it to show they were being fair, know what I mean? They're all Chinese, every one of them, some of them didn't even speak no English. You'd think my speaking English would be a good thing, right? Wrong."

"They wanted someone Chinese."

"They didn't come out and say it but it was pretty damn obvious when they asked me if I spoke Mandarin. They couldn't put that in the ad? Must speak Mandarin?"

"What a hassle," said Milo. "So what time were you there?"

"Let's see... the appointment was for eleven. I showed up early, maybe a quarter to, they kept me waiting till noon, I'm in there maybe five minutes, sitting and listening to the guy behind the desk talk in Chinese over the phone. Then he smiles, walks me out, don't call us, we'll call you."

"So you were out of there shortly after twelve."

"Guess so."

"What about the early part of the morning? What time did you wake up?"

"You're kidding," said Fidella. "C'mon, guys, I loved Elise."

"We still need to ask, Sal."