“Really long but very profitable.” He gave her a brief recap of his eight hours in a cell with Travis Martel. “So now that Banks seems to be involved, Hollywood can justify even more manpower to hunt him down.”

“Even more manpower? They were looking for him previously?”

“Yes, they were, but not with this newfound intensity.” He explained to her about the blood splotches he had discovered behind the newly painted baseboard in Rudy’s apartment. “The blood’s not Primo Ekerling’s.”

“So whose blood is it?”

“A very good question. We got the DNA back. We know it was a woman. Once we locate Banks, maybe we can even get an answer. The good part is that with Hollywood looking for him, I don’t have to concentrate my efforts toward finding him. Plus, I got them to post a couple of guys to look for Ryan Goldberg.”

“The missing Doodoo Slut.”

“Exactly.” He put down his sandwich and picked up a pile of message slips. “Sorry. I just want to see if any of my messages are from Liam O’Dell.”

“Take your time. I’ll just eat my sandwich and read my book.”

“What are you reading?” he asked absently.

“A biography of Eric Clapton.”

“I didn’t know you like that kind of thing.”

“It has its moments. All celebrities are a might off, but rock stars are uniquely nuts.”

“You’re telling me?” Decker continued to sort through the messages. “Just the little acquaintances I’ve made with D-list people have made me realize that. And yet the wannabes keep on coming like locusts during the dry season. Doesn’t matter who steps on them, who squashes them and mashes them under their heels, there’s always more. Travis Martel was willing to sit in jail and risk a life sentence in prison for a crime he probably didn’t commit, just on the off chance that if he ever came out of the pen, Rudy Banks would get him a recording contract. Now how crazy is that…ah, here we go.” Decker picked up the phone and dialed Liam’s cell. “This shouldn’t take long.”

O’Dell answered on the third ring.

“It’s Lieutenant Decker. What’s going on?”

“Nothing.” His voice was tense.

“I’ve managed to secure a couple of Hollywood police officers to look for Ryan.”

“Bully for you.”

Decker ignored his anger, knowing where it was coming from. “I spent the entire day at County Jail talking to Travis Martel. He had some interesting things to say.” He summarized eight hours of master interrogation for Mad Irish. “It seems Rudy promised Martel a record contract if he’d either murder Primo or just get rid of the car.”

“And you believe him? Martel?”

“I believe that he was involved, and I believe that Rudy was involved.”