“Or maybe he didn’t even try to hold him,” Marge said. “I’m still thinking back to Pete’s conversation with Freddie Vitton, about Cal Senior not coming to his son’s rescue when he was being bullied.”

“Maybe he didn’t know.”

“I don’t believe that. Now Oliver says that Shriner passed Rudy’s name to Cal Vitton, giving Cal an opportunity to haul in Rudy’s ass. But he doesn’t do it.”

Oliver said, “Rudy had something on Cal.”

“I still think it had something to do with Cal J’s homosexuality,” Marge said.

Oliver said, “Freddie V said that just about everyone knew that Cal J was gay.”

Marge said, “But that doesn’t mean that Cal Senior would want it advertised. Maybe Cal didn’t have anything concrete on Rudy, so he decided not to look too hard if Rudy kept his mouth shut about Cal J’s sexuality.”

“He might let some things slide,” Oliver said. “But not murder.”

Marge looked at him. “But maybe Cal didn’t know that Rudy was a murderer. All I’m saying is that we’re familiar with a certain breed of cop who’d rather have their own sons conveniently disappear than to admit to the world that their offspring are homosexuals. They think it reflects on their machismo.”

“Not just cops,” Decker said. “It’s a certain breed of man.”

Oliver said, “Can we get back to Melinda Little for a moment? We have several reasons why she would want Little dead. The insurance money and maybe she was in love with Rudy and wanted to go off with him.”

“There’s divorce for that,” Marge said.

“But then she might lose her trust fund money.”

Marge said, “Or maybe Rudy wanted Melinda and ordered a hit out on Little.”

Decker said, “First we need a way to verify an affair between Rudy and Melinda. Scott, you need to lean on either Shriner or Melinda Little.”

“Shriner’s an immovable object,” Oliver said. “He’s out for now. I could go to Melinda Little, but I’d like more ammo before I shoot.”

A thought hit Decker’s brain. “Maybe we don’t need Shriner to verify the affair. Give me a few minutes and I might even have an idea.”

CHAPTER 33

VENICE BEACH SPANNED the socioeconomic spectrum in a ten-block radius: from the multimillion-dollar architectural homes on the canals to the gang-riddled roads of the Oakwood area. In between were a number of California ranches, Pasadena-style Greene and Greene houses with wraparound porches and wood-sided shingles, and old Victorians, some restored, some not.