Marge said, “Holt hated his black father because Daddy sent away his mother and his brother. So Holt denied his black heritage and identified with the victim—his mother—who was white.”

“Not at first,” Decker said. “He was a typical Berkeley radical.”

“But he went through a big metamorphosis. In the end, he sided with Mommy because she was the underdog, and Dad was a bastard.”

“I didn’t say his father was a bastard.”

“You said he was a schmuck,” Oliver added.

“Yeah, but his wife might have been horrible, too.”

“Maybe bad as a wife, but maybe she was a good mother. And Darrell really never got a chance to find out who she was, because she and Darrell’s brother were exiled.” Marge rolled herself back to the computer. “You like my explanation? I’ve been working it over in my mind for the last hour.”

“Freud would be proud,” Decker said.

“No, really.” Marge was emphatic. “Doesn’t it make sense?”

“It floats my boat,” Oliver stated.

Decker said, “We’re never going to be able to break all these files here. We need professionals.”

“I second that,” Marge said. “But she’s not going to let us take the computers unless we invent a good reason to do so.” She thought a moment. “We need Holt. You don’t think the father was holding back?”

Decker shrugged. His cell phone went off. He pushed the green send button. “Decker.”

“Erin Kershan’s real name is Erin Beller.” Wanda’s voice was filled with excitement. “She’s a fifteen-year-old runaway from Scarsdale, New York. Her parents have been looking for her for six months. She’s run away before but only for a week at a time. This last time, she flew the coop with some lowlife biker that she had met in Woodstock, New York, while on a family vacation.”

“Any clue as to where she might be right now?”

“Yes. They have relatives here in L.A.—in Brentwood. Relatives they don’t like.” Wanda gave him the address. “The Bellers had called the Frammels—the Brentwood relatives—just to let them know that Erin was missing and would they please call if she showed up. Of course, the Frammels said that they would contact them if she showed.”

“But so far there’s been no contact.”

“Exactly. But lack of contact with the parents doesn’t mean that Erin isn’t there now.”

“And you did instruct the Bellers not to call their relatives in Brentwood.”

“Yes. I did. I told them that if they gave Erin a heads-up, both of us would lose her. The parents didn’t like it—they want to talk to her—but they’re cooperating for now.”

“I’m not too far from Brentwood,” Decker said. “Maybe I should pay them a surprise visit.”

“I think that would be a very good idea, sir.”