“Until some lawyer pokes around and you feel the pressure.”

“I don’t respond well to pressure,” said Milo. “And I never break my word. I promise your name will never appear in any case file.”

Kaplan kept his eyes down. “Sure you don’t want a cracker?”

“It’s not food I need right now, sir.”

“You think Monte killed that girl.”

“I think I need to hear what bothers you about him.”

“Huh,” said the old man. “George S. Kaplan does his civic duty like his mother taught him and look where it gets him.”

“If Monte’s dangerous, sir, all the more reason to get him off the street.”

“I’ve never seen him do anything dangerous.”

“But he’s a scary guy.”

“I’ve lived long enough to know a frightening person when I see one. No respect for his elders.”

“He was discourteous to you?”

Kaplan’s head shifted from side to side. When it stopped moving, he said, “That girl on the TV, the pretty one who was killed in that big house near Bel Air. She lived with him. Him and his other girlfriend, the three of them going in and out of that house. Normally, you’d think they were up for hanky-panky but all the times I saw them, they didn’t look like they were having recreation.”

“Serious?”

“More than serious, I’d called it purposeful. Sneaky eyes, like they were up to something. I walk around the neighborhood a lot, good for the joints and the muscles, I notice things other people don’t. There’s a woman right down the block, been cheating on her husband with the gardener for near on six years, kisses her husband when he comes home like she’s madly in love with the poor fool, when he’s gone she’s with the gardener. People do crazy things, I could tell you all sorts of stories.”

“Tell us about Monte and the girl on TV.”

“The last time I saw her with him was maybe a week before she got killed. Monte’s other girlfriend wasn’t there, just that girl and Monte, and they were going into that house and I started thinking maybe Monte’s cheating on one girlfriend with the other girlfriend, she’s certainly a better looker. But they didn’t look up for fooling around—grim, that’s the word. Real grim. After Monte let the girl in, he turned around, gave me the dirtiest look you’ve ever seen. Said, ‘Got a problem, old man?’ I just kept on going, could feel him watching me, made the small hairs stand up. Never walked near there again. A week or so later, I’m watching the fifty-inch downstairs and the news comes on, there she is. A drawing, but it’s her. So I do my civic duty. What I didn’t figure on was having to do more.”

“Any idea what Monte’s last name is?”