I told my mother that reading about Compton had made me sad for him, but that the writer’s eloquent praise of his achievements took that sadness and added something, the way the second note of a chord takes a lonely, simple sound and makes it lovely and full. When I finished the book, I felt bereft, partly because Compton had died at twenty-eight and there was so much he could have done, and partly because the text’s warm, edifying voice had finished talking to me.

I didn’t say that the book was not a book, but a thesis. I didn’t say that the author was Calvin Teicher, Ray’s half brother, or that he was also dead, found in a Boyle Heights hotel about a year ago, beaten and floating facedown in a bathtub, the shower running, the drain closed. His death not from blows, but from water in his lungs. The investigation inconclusive. Calvin’s murderer still free. I didn’t believe Ray was back in L.A. only for Janis Rocque, or that, deep down, he really cared what had happened to Brenae Brasil. He must have some new insight into his brother’s case, and he would be chewing on it the whole time we worked together. You don’t want to act like you’re playing a part. People can always tell.

Interview with Hal Giroux

March 16, 2003

LAAC

Detective Strick

Tell me how long and in what context you knew Brenae Brasil.

She was one of my star students in the fall. She came in blazing, straight from undergraduate. I hired her to work on my crew, and she assisted in building my London show. I was also the chair of her review committee.

So exactly how many months did you know her?

August to March. Seven or eight months.

You’d never met her before she was a student at LAAC?

No.

Did your relationship to Brenae change over the course of those months?

My relationship to all of my students is fairly constant. I expect the best of them.

What made you hire her to work on your crew?

I thought she was talented. I wanted to give her a chance.

Did Brenae do her best, in your mind?

I don’t think Brenae was ready for the intensity of graduate school. Her second semester was a total disaster. She barely attended any classes. She was showing up to places clearly under the influence—

How so?

Slurring and stumbling.

What “places” are you referring to?

Open studios, presentations. LAAC social gatherings mostly.

Was she the only student to show up to social events inebriated?

Of course not. I brought it up because you asked what changed. She changed.

Tell me about your probationary meeting on March 5, 2003.