“To aggravate you.”

“You’re doing a fine job at that,” he groused. “I heard about your bust. Congratulations.”

“Thank you. Have you heard good or bad things?”

“Mostly good. A couple of nasty comments about the convenient bag of X.”

“Scum is scum.”

“Did they hassle you?”

“Yes, but the one good thing about being honest is you have only one story. It’s easy to repeat and you don’t get mixed up in your lies.”

“You want to tell me about it?”

I told him about it. “I looked up the two names El Paso spit out. Joseph ‘Juice’ Fedek is not living at his last listed address, but Pepe Renaldes is. He works on a construction crew with a posh West Side builder—”

“See why I do my own renovation work?”

“Not all of us can build houses, Dad. Ideally, I’d like to bring Sarah Sanders down to the station and have her look through some six-packs from mug books and see if she picks out El Paso or Fedek or Renaldes. If she does, I’d like to check Renaldes’s employment record. I also want to hunt for Fedek. I want to do all those things, but no one’s letting me do anything. So I’m here, taking out my frustration on you.”

“Why not? Everyone else is. What is the status with the case right now?”

“Russ MacGregor and Justice Brill are waiting to see if there’s a drug plea. They tell me that El Paso’s willing to roll, but the DA would rather put him away with a sure thing than take a chance on an iffy six-month-old rape case.”

“That makes sense, Cin.”

“Yes, it does. Unfortunately, if they do it, it means that two very vicious men are out there, able to prey on the public instead of being locked up behind bars.”

“If Sarah’s story is true.”

“That’s why I’d like to show her the mug books and see if she could pick them out.”

“I’ll tell you the same thing I just told the young DA over the phone. Have patience.”

“Do you see me going behind anyone’s back? In the meantime, just because I’m obsessive and dedicated, I’m still looking for David Tyler. I figure if I find him and if both he and Sarah independently ID Fedek and Renaldes, then the rape/assault case is on much more stable ground.” I sat back in my chair. “At first, I thought the bag was good, something we can use to really squeeze El Paso. But I think they’re going for the slam-dunk drug conviction. Better for the statistics.”

“You’re too young to talk that cynically.”

“I’m not cynical, I’m practical. And I’m in a fine mood. A good date makes everything seem a little less hopeless.”

Dad faced me with unreadable eyes. “If you two are still speaking, you can bring him around again for Shabbat dinner. I promise I won’t glare at you this time.”

I shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Have you told your mother?”