I said, “If Weider needed to rationalize, she could’ve. Malley pulled the strings but the boys did the actual murder and were going down for a long time, no matter what. She said as much to Marty Boestling. Her advice to Troy would’ve been keep quiet, I’ll get you out of jail quickly and you’ll be rich. That would explain his fantasy of wealth.”

“Troy was a streetwise little thug, Alex. Think he’d buy it?”

“He was also a thirteen-year-old with no future,” I said. “Kids flock to Hollywood every day believing in Rich and Famous. Still, because he was a kid, his patience couldn’t be relied on indefinitely. Maybe Troy’s death wasn’t Malley’s doing, after all.”

He bit down on the cigar. Choppy smoke created a jagged halo. Picking a scrap of tobacco from his tongue, he spat and frowned. “Weider was a P.D.; she’d have known how to connect to a guy like Nestor Almedeira.”

“Maybe so would Daney,” I said. “Working with disadvantaged youth. He and Cherish both visited Troy.”

“Daney was the white guy Nestor talked about, not Malley? Jesus.” Puff puff. “Yeah, it could go that way as easily as Cherish being Jacqueline the Ripper. Especially ’cause I’ve got no real evidence for either scenario.”

He dropped the cigar, ground it out on the sidewalk, waited until the butt cooled, and pocketed it.

“What a good citizen,” I said.

“Enough dirt in this city. So how would Rand’s murder fit with a Weider-Drew thing?”

“Same as with a Cherish-Barnett thing. Rand was never in the loop so he was allowed to live. Somehow, he figured out the truth behind Kristal’s death and made himself a target.”

“The truth being Malley’s revenge, because he wasn’t Kristal’s daddy.”

“That seems to be the constant,” I said. “Any progress on the DNA?”

“Filled out a requisition, waiting to hear from the muck-a-mucks. I’d still like to know how and when Cherish started sleeping with Barnett. But now maybe we know the why: payback for Drew screwing around.”

“Makes sense. The waitress at Patty’s said Cherish and Barnett had only been there once before and she’s been working there for years. Cherish chose Patty’s because she knew it from her seminary days— Wascomb used to meet there with students. But the two of them could have other spots.”

“Their main spot was the motel. I’ll go by there and see what the clerks have to say.”

“Another possibility,” I said, “is Cherish snitched Rand out to Drew, not Barnett.”

“She’s cheating on Drew. Why would she confide in him?”

“She didn’t have to confide, just mention that Rand seemed really nervous, was dropping hints about Troy. Because she suspected that Drew played a role in Troy’s murder and if she could get him to eliminate Rand, it would save Barnett the trouble.”