He said, “This is the room where Amy Ong’s body was found. The time stamp on the bottom of the image fits with the time the coroner estimates she died.” Pryce tapped the dark figure. “And this, Mr. Daniels, is you.”

Daniels snorted. “That ain’t me.”

Munro picked up the photo and studied it. “What you have here is a grainy image of a person who is completely unidentifiable. Now, if this is the best you’ve got, then you’re wasting my time and Mr. Daniels’s money.”

Pryce said, “I’m not even close to being done, Mr. Munro.”

He laid out the next three images: the figure in black heading past the office block of the Dreamz in the direction of La Brea, the same person on La Brea at the corner of Hawthorn, and finally, the perp climbing into a red car parked by the curb.

Pryce said, “These images provide us with a chronological sequence of events as backed up by the respective date and time stamps from the cameras.” He looked at Munro. “Do you agree the person seen leaving Amy Ong’s motel room is the same person who gets into the vehicle on Hawthorn Avenue?”

Munro made a big show of checking his watch. “If you say so, Detective Pryce.”

Pryce nodded to Medina, who opened a file of his own. He produced Xerox copies of both the car rental agreement and Nate Daniels’s driver’s license.

Daniels was still leaning back in the chair. Still looking smug. Munro was looking impatient.

Medina said, “The CCTV footage indicates whoever was in Amy Ong’s motel room around the time of her murder then used the car on Hawthorn Avenue to flee the scene. We’ve been able to trace the vehicle to a rental company called QuikCar on Santa Monica Boulevard.”

He handed the copies of the rental agreement and driver’s license to Munro, along with a shot of the Ford Focus from QuikCar’s files.

Medina continued, “These documents show the car was rented by your client, Mr. Daniels, last Saturday.”

Daniels’s chair dropped back onto four legs with a bang against the tiled floor. He stared at his lawyer with wide eyes.

“I’m going to need a moment with my client,” Munro snapped.

“Of course,” Medina said.

Pryce used a small remote control to pause the video recording. Both detectives scraped back their chairs and left the room. They waited outside the door for a couple of minutes before it reopened, and Munro beckoned them back into the interview room.

Pryce restarted the tape.

Munro said, “My client confirms he rented the car, but he says he wasn’t driving it Saturday night. The person on the tape isn’t him.”

Medina turned to Pryce. “I had a feeling our friend Mel was going to tell us just that. Funny, huh?”