“Then it all kinda gets a little fuzzy…I was drinkin’…mebbe doing some other shit.”

In other words, his brain was fried with mind-altering materials.

Martel said, “Rudy be sayin’ that Primo got all wired. Then bam! Primo starts coming at him with a blade. He starts swipin’ at him. So Rudy defended hisself.”

“What did Rudy tell you he did to Primo?” Garrett asked.

“That he shot him in self-defense. ’Cause Primo kept comin’ at him with the blade.”

Decker said, “I’m confused. Who shot Primo?”

“Rudy shot Primo. They was only the two of them.”

“Got it,” Decker said. “Rudy told you that he shot Primo in self-defense.”

“Yeah.” Martel tried the story on for size and liked it. “That’s what Rudy tole me. That he shot Primo out of self-defense. But now there was a problem, nomasayin’?”

“What was the problem?”

“That he had to get rid of the body and that I had to help cuz it was my fault that it happened in the first place. Cuz this was all about my CDs and that’s the way a white jury was gonna see it.”

The detectives nodded encouragement.

Martel sighed. “So Rudy tells me he parked Ekerling’s Benzene a few blocks away. He had gave me the keys and told me to dump the car somewhere in the ’hood. And for my efforts, he gave me a couple hundred bucks. And he sez if anyone axe me where I got the money, just tell ’em from drugs, nomasayin’?”

Decker said, “Weren’t you curious why he had Primo’s Mercedes-Benz and why he wanted you to ditch it?” When Martel just shrugged, Decker said, “C’mon, Travis, you must have figured it out. Which ’hood did he want you to drop the car in?”

“Huh?”

“Did he tell you to dump the car in Hollywood or South Central?”

“He sez to dump it in my ’hood at Jonas Park. That it would look like some nicca boosted the whip, made a deal down there, and left the car cuz it was hot.”

“Lots of drug deals at Jonas Park?” Decker asked.

“Whatever you want.” Martel paused to organize his thoughts…or to concoct a plausible story. “So I call up Gerry from someone’s cell at the Bitty Bit ho’down and I tell him I gonna pick him up and we gotta go dump a Benzene somewhere in the hood.”

“Okay.”

“So I go pick up Gerry and we go cruisin’ in the whip and then we go to dump it in Jonas Park. But then we don’t got anyone to take us home, nomasayin’? I ain’t gonna ask no runner for a hike.”

“Let me see if I understood you correctly, Travis.” Decker tried to keep his face even. “Rudy gave you the keys to Primo Ekerling’s car.”

“Yeah.”

“Where was the car parked?”

“Down the block.”

“Down the block from the Bitty Bit party.”