Cindy gave his words some thought. “Okay, so even if someone besides the teens killed Ekerling, why do you suspect Rudy Banks? Was the lawsuit between Banks and Ekerling particularly nasty?”

“I don’t know. From what I understand, Banks is involved in a lot of lawsuits.”

“So why would you suspect that he’s made the jump from suing people to murder?”

“I don’t suspect anything. I just want to talk to the dude.”

“Nonsense, Daddy, you wouldn’t waste your time just ‘talking’ to him unless you were going for something more sinister.”

Decker bent down and rearranged the china to fit more plates into the dishwasher. When he was done, he stood up and stretched. “I suppose I’m stirring up the pot to see if anything rises to the top.”

“Surely you’re investigating more avenues that just Banks.”

“Of course. I have a guy named Darnell Arlington. He was Bennett Little’s charity case, but eventually Little kicked him out of school when Arlington was caught drug dealing. The problem with Darnell is that he was over fifteen hundred miles away when Little’s murder went down. We’re checking out the possibility of murder for hire because Arlington had some thuggish friends.”

“How’s that going?”

“Just found out the names. Unlike TV, we just don’t cut to the next scene. Locating people takes a while. Also, I had a retired cop who might have helped me with the Little case, only now he’s dead—like on-purpose dead. Suicide.”

Cindy stopped working. “Who’s that?”

“An LAPD detective named Calvin Vitton. He originally worked the Little case. I had an appointment to talk to him and when I showed up at his house, he appeared to have killed himself. Empty pill vials, then a gunshot to the head.”

“So why do you say he appeared to have killed himself?”

“Because I haven’t gotten the final path report. I got the feeling that if Cal were going to kill himself, he’d do it like a man. Just aim and shoot—no pills for him to soften the act. So I’m thinking cause and effect. I bring up Ben Little to Cal Vitton, and the next thing I know is that he’s dead. It’s not inconceivable that Cal called someone who came over, knocked him out with pills, shot him, and then staged the scene.”

“Did Cal have residue on his hands?”

“Yes, but someone could have wrapped the gun around his own hand and pulled the trigger for him. And if he did kill himself to hide something, what’s the secret?”

“More important for Hollywood Homicide and me: What do Vitton’s suicide and Little’s murder have to do with Primo Ekerling?”

“That’s legitimate. I don’t know that they have anything to do with it.”