“Weirdos finding common ground. It happens, right? Brad protects Billy but he can’t be everywhere. And like you said, he overestimates his power. Maybe he takes Billy along with him when he checks out the garage at the PlayHouse. Or the PlayHouse itself. I don’t see Billy getting laid on his own.”

“Billy seemed gentle.”

“Maybe he is,” he said. “Except when he’s not. In any event, I just got permission from Vasquez’s D.P.D. to interview his client, on my way over to the jail. I’m betting on a quick plea, maybe involuntary manslaughter. Kinda nice to have one that closes easy.”

“You could name Peaty as the bad guy on Michaela and close that,” I said.

“Yet I wonder aloud about Billy,” he said. “Why? Because I’m a self-destructive fool, no sleep in two days, I’m vulnerable, amigo. Tell me to forget about Billy and I will.”

“Two bad guys could explain how the Gaidelases’ car ended up twenty-five miles from Kanan Dume. Billy doesn’t seem street-smart, but Peaty could’ve helped him there. Still, it’s hard to imagine him getting away for any length of time. He and Brad seem to be together most of the day and at night there’s a neighbor watching him.”

“The ‘nice lady.’ Wonder how hard she looks. I was supposed to check that out but with all that’s happened...do you think it’s interesting that the bad stuff we know about started after Billy got his own place?”

“If the bad stuff was the product of a sick relationship,” I said, “with Peaty gone, Billy might not act out again.”

“There’s comfort for you.”

“I can drop by and talk to the neighbor.”

“That would be great, I’m tied up with Vasquez all day.” He read off Billy’s address on Reeves Drive. “Any more problems from that asshole Hauser?”

“Not a one.”

“Good.”

“I’m still wondering about something,” I said.

“Am I going to want to hear this?”

“Dylan Meserve picked Latigo for the hoax because he hiked up there. What led the Gaidelases to the same spot?”

“Aha,” he said. “Already been there and back. Maybe Peaty overheard Dylan talking about hiking up there. While the Gaidelases were waiting for their audition, they mentioned wanting to hike and Peaty overheard again and gave them advice.”

“That’s a lot of overhearing.”

“He’s a watcher.”

“Okay,” I said.

“You’re not buying it.”

“What we know about Meserve suggests lack of conscience, or at the least a weak one. Michaela’s description of his behavior those nights bothers me. Mind games, preoccupation with death, rough sex. I hate to add to your burden but— ”

“It’s not my burden. The Gaidelases were never my case.”

A casual acquaintance might’ve bought that.

He said, “Peaty for the girls, Meserve for the Gaidelases? What, that damned school was a magnet for homicidal maniacs?”