Lupe leaned back against a marble tombstone, resting one hand on it. “That explains why she was working at that crummy dime-a-dance place.”

“And why she took the modeling job,” agreed Emma.

“Cathy thought she could pass as a Guatemalan. Maybe this all sounds a little hard to believe, but apparently she believed it,” I continued.

No answer from Tony Guerrero.

I poked him in the chest again. “Hey, did you tell her the names of some gun dealers or not?”

Emma crossed her arms and waited for Guerrero to answer me.

A dark movement in the distance caught my attention, and I glanced away from him. The black car that had not much earlier exited the cemetery drove by again.

“I’ll bet he don’t know the names of no gun dealers,” Lupe argued.

“Cathy must have found her own,” I said, nodding in agreement. “And her contact must have been someone right here in LA. I don’t know why she bothered to go to Mexico. I don’t know if she was actually able to turn the money over to someone who’d buy the arms or if she got ripped off. Maybe you people will find that out someday,” I said to Guerrero and Emma Garcia. “I don’t know why she went to Mexico. Probably just to feel like she was really playing the part. Maybe we’ll never know. But the rest of it I can put together real good.”

They all looked at me expectantly. Lupe stopped tracing the carving on the tombstone she was leaning against, and her eyes seemed to challenge me.

“Guerrero was in love with her, or at least he had been for a while. Don’t say anything.” I put up my hand to stop him from adding anything. “We have one of your letters. But Cathy always wanted something bigger, grander. She wanted to be a star. She got the idea to steal money for guns. At first, Guerrero, I thought you killed her. I thought you knew about the money. That’s the kind of thing you’re supposed to learn from pillow talk, isn’t it? Three A.M. secrets.”

Emma watched Guerrero carefully.

“But Cathy didn’t tell you, did she?” I scoffed. “You must be a very bad fuck.”

The sound of a big engine caused me to look up although I was the only one who noticed it. For an instant I looked away in the direction of the sound. The black car that I had now seen many times parked in the distance. I broke into a cold sweat. The man inside the car sat without looking in our direction.

I heard Tony Guerrero saying, “I swear I didn’t know who the woman in the car with you was. I didn’t kill her. I don’t care if she gave money to Cathy. She wouldn’t be the first person who gave Cathy money.”