John Doe #05-1642, also known as Herbert Faustina, had been identified through the appliances in his legs as George Llewelyn Reinnike, originally from Anson, California. I made her spell Reinnike. She told me to come to her office, and promised a full report. It was great news; so good that I did not feel the eyes, or notice that I was being followed.

Chapter 20

T he Central Community Police Station was headquartered on Sixth Street , a few blocks south of the Harbor Freeway in downtown Los Angeles , and not far from the murder site. It was a five-story modern brick building dwarfed by surrounding skyscrapers, and constantly patrolled by bomb-sniffing dogs. LAPD's SWAT is headquartered at Central, as is the elite uniformed Metro Division. Like the other police stations in Los Angeles , it was known as a Division until someone decided that Division made the police sound like an occupying army. Now we had Community Police Stations, which sounded user-friendly. I put my car in a civilian parking lot, entered through the main entrance on Sixth, and waited for Diaz to come get me. When the elevator finally opened, Pardy was the only one aboard. He was standing straight and stiff as if his suit was tight, and he did not look at me. His jaw worked as if he had bitten into a sour candy.

He said, "Get on."

I got on. Pardy hit the button to close the doors before anyone could join us, then turned and squared his shoulders to face me.

"You could have filed a beef for what I did, but you didn't. For what it's worth, I appreciate that. I was out of line."

He hesitated like he wanted to say something more, but finally turned back to the door. Sometimes these guys will surprise you.

"That was classy, Detective. Thank you."

He nodded, still not looking at me, but now he seemed more relaxed.

"I spoke with Golden this morning. That was good work, you finding him so fast. I'm not going to ask why, but he's cooperating."

"I inspire good citizenship."

"Sure."

"The girls who saw Reinnike will cooperate, too. They expect you to give them a pass."

"They don't have anything to do with the shooting, they don't have to worry. All I'm about is the murder."

"Make that clear to them, and you'll be okay."

"After I saw Golden, I went by the Home Away Suites. I'm also not going to ask how you got Reinnike's bill, but don't do anything like that again. You understand what I'm saying?"

"I get you."

"Diaz wants me to let it go, and I owe you one, so this is the one."

"Did you go over the calls Reinnike made?"

Pardy took a moment to answer.

"He called damned near every police station in the city. I've been thinking about it."

"Yeah, me, too."