“It does, but not in Bennett Little’s situation. Eventually it’s going to break open, but I don’t know how long eventually is. I’ll tell you what we’ve done.”

Genoa took her laptop out of the briefcase. “Go ahead.” As Decker recounted the case, her fingers clicked away. She was fast at the keyboard and seemed to be taking down every word he was saying. When he had finished, she folded up the laptop and stowed it neatly into her briefcase. “I’ll review what you said later. How are you trying to locate Rudy Banks and Ryan Goldberg?”

“We’re talking to everyone who knew them. Goldberg is hard to get a handle on because he was such a loner.” When she didn’t comment, he continued. “His brother and a former bandmate have hired a private detective to try to find him, but so far he hasn’t had much luck.”

“What about Rudy Banks?”

“We’ve determined that his furniture is in storage here in L.A. The name and address on the rental application is phony. So is the driver’s license number. The rental unit was paid for in cash for two years. We have set up a camera in front of the bin. So far, no one’s been there.”

“So you are saying that no one has been at the bin.” She smiled at her joke.

Decker smiled back. “No one has been at the bin. We’ve made arrangements with the people who work there to call us if they have any kind of contact with anyone associated with the bin. We haven’t been able to determine who moved the furniture out of his apartment and into the bin. All the standard moving companies have been ruled out, but we’re still checking out van rentals like U-Haul and Ryder’s.”

“What about Rudy’s friends and business associates?”

“Rudy doesn’t seem to have much by way of friends. He does have people who he’s done business with. They haven’t heard from him. What seems to be especially troubling is that his lawyers haven’t heard from him. The man has at least a half-dozen lawsuits currently filed. I frankly don’t know whether he’s dead or alive.”

Genoa’s face was passive. “And Goldberg…you don’t know if he’s dead or alive, either.”

“Yes, ma’am, that’s correct.”

“Would it help if I put some private detectives on the case?”

“It might complicate things. But I can’t stop you.”

She paused. “You’re under a lot of pressure with this case.”

“It’s not pressure.” A pure lie. “When I get involved, I work it hard, but I’ve backed off a little. Right now, Hollywood Homicide really wants to find Banks. They actually have a witness who can implicate him in one of their murders.”

“The Primo Ekerling case.”