Decker was scribbling notes. “When you worked Juvenile, did you ever pull in a kid named Rudy Banks?”

“Rudy Banks?” A big grin opened up Arnie’s face. “Now if there was ever a pisshead, that would be Rudy. Foulmouthed little turd.”

Decker was trying to hide his excitement. “Want to tell me about him?”

“The kid had a voice of an angel. He had the face of an angel. But his soul…” A chuckle along with a shake of the head. “I tell you, he was one with Satan.”

“Where’d you hear him sing?”

“In the school choir. In church. He was a tenor…a voice that was clear and beautiful. And with those big blue eyes…looked like an English altar boy. He cussed like a sailor.”

“What did you haul him in for?”

“Stealing. All kinds of stealing. Purse snatching, breaking and entering, shoplifting. I think he even stole from the church. And all this before he reached high school. I heard he became a rock star in one of those punk bands that spit and curse at the audience.”

“I don’t know if you’d call him a star. He was in a punk band called the Doodoo Sluts.”

Lamar smiled. “That seems consistent with Rudy’s style.”

“He doesn’t have much of a record as an adult unless it’s the recording kind of record.” Decker brought Lamar up to date with Rudy’s current occupation and his numerous lawsuits. “So you remember Rudy very well.”

Lamar shrugged. “Yes, I do.”

“Would Cal Vitton have known and remembered him as well?”

“Oh yeah. Matter of fact…it’s coming back to me. Cal had a real hard-on for Rudy.”

“Like a personal vendetta?”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but he detested the boy. He was a real wiseass.”

Decker tried to stay focused. “A wiseass and maybe a bully?”

Lamar took in Decker’s eyes. “Are you asking me if Rudy bullied Cal J?”

“I believe I am.”

“I don’t know. Cal J didn’t talk about his problems with me, or with his dad for that matter. But now that you mention it, Rudy was in school the same time as the Vitton boys. If anyone would be bullying Cal J, it would be Rudy Banks.”

“So maybe that’s why Vitton hated Rudy.”

“Pete, it’s safe to say that everyone hated Rudy…except for maybe a few stupid girls who liked a pretty face. What was so ironic was the kid had talent. He probably could have made a lot of money by singing if he was just an itty-bitty bit nicer, but it wasn’t in his makeup. That kid was a bad egg.”

“And you’re pretty sure that Cal J and Rudy attended high school at the same time.”