“Bram hiding the bloody clothes with the fuck mags in his apartment. Even if he was protecting someone, why would he keep incriminating material in his possession?”

“Like Luke said, maybe he didn’t have time to find a safe dumping ground.” Marge thought a moment. “Or if he’d been hiding magazines for someone, maybe Bram figured that the someone would want them back.”

“But Luke said the wrappers had his name on them. I can’t see Bram subscribing to that stuff for someone else.”

Marge shrugged. “So Luke’s lying. Maybe the wrappers had Luke’s name on them and Bram’s protecting Luke just like Luke stated.”

No one spoke for a moment.

“We should set up a polygraph for both of them,” Marge stated.

“Bram isn’t talking.”

“So we’ll go for Luke. One out of two ain’t bad.”

“Fine. We can do it after we check out Bram’s belongings.”

Marge stood. “Is Bram still at Van Nuys or did they move him downtown?”

“No, he’s at Van Nuys.”

“You want to come with me?” Marge smiled. “For old times’ sake?”

Decker smiled back. “Sure.”

“Are we going to spring him?”

“Well, if we find the cross in Bram’s belongings, and Luke swears he was at Decameron’s house, it’s pointless to keep Bram locked up.”

“What about the key with the ID tag of his apartment address?”

Decker thought a moment. “It was definitely the key to his apartment. But it wasn’t Bram’s personal key. Because I locked the door to his apartment using Bram’s own key ring.”

“So whose key is it?”

Decker waited a beat. “If he and Decameron were lovers, Bram could have given Reggie a key to his apartment.”

“And it just happened to be in Reggie’s pocket?”

Decker shrugged. “We’re getting ahead of ourselves. First, let’s check out Bram’s belongings. If Luke’s to be believed, we should find an identical confirmation cross. You want to drive, Margie?”

“Sure.”

Decker pulled his wallet from his desk drawer. “How’re things working out with Oliver?”

“We have our rough moments.” Marge picked up her purse. “But he’s got positive attributes. He’s a clear thinker.”

“Good to hear.” Decker hesitated. “Sorry I jumped on you a few moments ago.”

Marge stood. “I understood your dilemma, Pete. But I felt Luke wouldn’t have opened up to me like he did to you. For what it’s worth, I think you did the right thing.”

“The guy’s a jerk.”

Marge said, “Yeah, it was awful what he said to you.”

Decker shook his head. “I should have just shrugged it off without comment.”

“You’re human.”

Decker opened the door to his office. “Baby, ain’t that the truth.”