‘I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that,’ Hayesfield said. ‘I’m going to pretend you haven’t marched in here and tried to screw up a perfectly good case with some half-baked, feel-it-in-your-waters horseshit about an evil genius. Your wit at the motel is a creep who says he might have seen a station wagon, but will have no credibility on the stand. Ballistics match. Klein’s got a record and his prints are all over that acid. It’s done, Kader. You closed this thing last week.’

‘I’m not sure Wilzon’s American.’

‘So? Do you need to know where he came from to know who killed him?’

‘That’s what I’m saying: I don’t think Klein killed him.’

Hayesfield’s gaze didn’t shift an inch, even as his mouth stiffened and his lips blanched. In a tight voice, he said, ‘Wilzon’s an illegal – is that what you’re saying?’

‘We lifted a partial from one of his fingers,’ Jo replied, ‘and it matches another we found at the motel – so we’ve managed to build a clear, usable print. But that’s been a total dead end. Nothing from dental either, nothing from the autopsy, and I spoke to the INS and no one matching his description has entered the country through any airport or –’

‘So he was here illegally?’

She paused, nodded. ‘I think he might have been, yeah.’

‘And he was Hispanic – that’s correct, isn’t it?’

She knew exactly where this was going now.

‘Is he Hispanic?’ Hayesfield said again.

‘Yes,’ she replied.

‘So you’re telling me that we’re going to unravel an entire case – one in which we can put the killer at the scene – because you want to go on some crusade to find out the name of an illegal who probably swam across the Rio Grande last month, and who you’ll never be able to ID anyway because most of his face is melted off? We don’t even know if he came from Mexico, Kader. He could have come from anywhere. And even if he did, the Mexicans literally won’t give one single shit about helping you.’

‘It’s not necessarily about ID’ing Wilzon.’

‘Then what’s it about, Kader? Enlighten me.’

‘It’s about finding the person who really pulled that trigger.’

He smirked. ‘This “mastermind”.’

Hayesfield’s gaze didn’t leave hers.

‘And what are the LAPD saying about the suicide?’

‘The detective there believes the same thing I do,’ Jo replied.

‘Great. And what’s his name?’

‘Ray Callson. He’s a detective over in Hollywood.’

Hayesfield frowned. ‘Callson?’

She nodded again.