Pryce reached through the open car window and showed the woman his badge. “Detective Pryce.” He gestured to Medina. “This is my partner, Detective Medina. We’re investigating the homicide of Amy Ong and were hoping to speak to her roommate, Kasey Taylor. Is Miss Taylor around this morning?”

The woman nodded grimly. “Your colleagues were here yesterday too. Such a tragedy. One moment, please.”

She disappeared from view, and Pryce could hear tapping on a computer keyboard. A few moments later, she was back in front of the window. “As I thought, Kasey Taylor has been given compassionate leave from class at least until the end of the week. You should find her at her apartment on campus.” She handed Pryce a parking permit and gave him directions to the housing complex.

They continued farther along Paseo Rancho Castilla. Passed by the student union building, which overlooked a busy sidewalk where bicycles were propped against trees and clusters of students sat on benches, drinking sodas and passing the time between classes. They took a right at the imposing redbrick affair that was the Luckman Theatre, onto Circle Drive, and parked in the lot in front of the music hall.

It was a gorgeous day, with clear blue skies overhead and a pleasant warmth in the air. They crossed the parking lot, weaving their way past students of all ages and cultures wearing tank tops and cutoffs and summer dresses and holding book bags and paper-filled binders.

Medina looked around him. “You know, I should’ve gone to college. Surrounded myself with all these beautiful, smart young women, instead of sweaty wannabe cops at the academy.”

“Class of ’55?” Pryce quipped, eyeing his partner’s trademark outfit of blue Levi’s jeans, tight white T-shirt, black leather jacket, and Ray-Bans.

Medina ignored the jibe and slicked back his long dark hair. “Maybe I’ll become one of those mature students,” he said. “Make something of myself.”

“It’s never too late, Fonzie. But you do know you need brains for college, right?”

They stopped in front of steep stone steps leading down through trees and shrubbery to the two- and three-story gray buildings of the phase I housing complex below them. From this vantage point, they could see the hills and rooftops of the western tip of the San Gabriel Valley stretching out for miles beyond the apartment buildings. They stood there for a moment, enjoying the view and the warmth of the sun on their faces, before making their way down the steps.

Kasey Taylor’s apartment was on the second floor at the top of a dim stairwell. Medina rapped his knuckles on the door, and eventually they heard footsteps padding down the hallway before the peephole darkened. They both held up their badges.

“Miss Taylor?” Pryce said loudly. “Detectives Pryce and Medina from the LAPD. We’d like to ask you a few questions, if that’s okay?”