him the next day when I was hitchhiking. I was sick of my mother. She was always bringing men home, and my sister and me would see them having sex. My sister is ten."
"You told the officer that Mel molested you, is that right?"
"Yes, lots of times."
"Tell me what happened from when you first met."
"Okay," the kid said, and he took a long drink from the soda can. "First, he took me to a motel and we had sex. I didn't want to but he made me. Then he gave me ten dollars. Then we went to the movies. Then we had Chinese food at a restaurant. Then we decided to drive to Hollywood and maybe see movie stars. Then Mel bought vodka and orange juice and we got drunk. Then we drove to Fresno and parked at a rest stop and slept. Then we woke up early. Then we killed two people and took their money. Then we went to the movies again. Then we drove to Bakersfield. Then -"
"Wait a minute!" Andi said. "Let's go back to the rest stop!"
Twenty minutes later Andi was on the phone to the police in Fresno, and after a conversation with a detective, she learned that yes, a middle-aged couple had been shot and killed where they'd obviously been catching a few hours' sleep en route from Kansas to a California vacation. And yes, the case was open with no suspects and no evidence other than the .32 caliber slugs taken from the skulls of both victims at the postmortem.
The detective said, "We just don't have any leads."
Andi said, "You do now."
When Andi's supervisor, D3 Rhonda Jenkins, came in late that afternoon after a long day in court testifying in a three-year-old murder case, she said, "My day sucked. How was yours?"
"Tried to keep busy on a typical May afternoon in Hollywood, USA."
"Yeah? What'd you do?" Rhonda asked, just making conversation as she slipped off her low-heeled pumps and massaged her aching feet.
Deadpan, Andi said, "First I made calls on two reports from last night. Then I reread the case file on the pizza man shooting. Then I interviewed a banger down at Parker Center. Then I had some coffee. Then I cleared a double homicide in Fresno. Then I wrote a letter to Max. Then -"
"Whoa!" Rhonda said. "Go back to the double homicide in Fresno!"
"That bitch! You couldn't find her heart with a darkfield microscope," Jetsam complained to his partner.
Flotsam, who was attending community college during the day, said, "Dude, you are simply another victim of the incestuous and intertwined and atavistic relationships of the law-enforcement community."
Jetsam gaped at Flotsam, who was driving up into the Hollywood Hills, and said, "Just shove those college-boy words, why don't you."
"Okay, to be honest," said Flotsam, "from that photo you showed me, she was spherical, dude. The woman looked to me like a fucking Teletubby. You were blinded by the humongous mammary glands is all. There was no real melding of the hearts and minds."
"Melding of the . . ." Jetsam looked at his partner in disbelief and said, "Bro, the bitch's lawyer wants everything, including my fucking fish tank! With the only two turtles I got left! And guess what else? The federal consent decree ain't gonna end on schedule because that asshole of a federal judge says we're not ready. It's all political bullshit."
"Don't tell me that," Flotsam said. "I was all ready to yell out at roll call, `Free at last, free at last, Lord God Awmighty, free at last!'"
"I'm outrageously pissed off at our new mayor," Jetsam said, "turning the police commission into an ACLU substation. And I'm pissed off at my ex-wife's lawyer, who only wants me to have what I can make recycling aluminum cans. And I'm pissed off living in an apartment with lunging fungus so aggressive it wants to tackle you like a linebacker. And I'm pissed off at my former back-stabbing girlfriend. And I'm pissed off at the Northeast detective who's boning her now. So all in all, I feel like shooting somebody."
And, as it happened, he would.
The PSR radio voice alerted all units on the frequency to a code 37,
"You told the officer that Mel molested you, is that right?"
"Yes, lots of times."
"Tell me what happened from when you first met."
"Okay," the kid said, and he took a long drink from the soda can. "First, he took me to a motel and we had sex. I didn't want to but he made me. Then he gave me ten dollars. Then we went to the movies. Then we had Chinese food at a restaurant. Then we decided to drive to Hollywood and maybe see movie stars. Then Mel bought vodka and orange juice and we got drunk. Then we drove to Fresno and parked at a rest stop and slept. Then we woke up early. Then we killed two people and took their money. Then we went to the movies again. Then we drove to Bakersfield. Then -"
"Wait a minute!" Andi said. "Let's go back to the rest stop!"
Twenty minutes later Andi was on the phone to the police in Fresno, and after a conversation with a detective, she learned that yes, a middle-aged couple had been shot and killed where they'd obviously been catching a few hours' sleep en route from Kansas to a California vacation. And yes, the case was open with no suspects and no evidence other than the .32 caliber slugs taken from the skulls of both victims at the postmortem.
The detective said, "We just don't have any leads."
Andi said, "You do now."
When Andi's supervisor, D3 Rhonda Jenkins, came in late that afternoon after a long day in court testifying in a three-year-old murder case, she said, "My day sucked. How was yours?"
"Tried to keep busy on a typical May afternoon in Hollywood, USA."
"Yeah? What'd you do?" Rhonda asked, just making conversation as she slipped off her low-heeled pumps and massaged her aching feet.
Deadpan, Andi said, "First I made calls on two reports from last night. Then I reread the case file on the pizza man shooting. Then I interviewed a banger down at Parker Center. Then I had some coffee. Then I cleared a double homicide in Fresno. Then I wrote a letter to Max. Then -"
"Whoa!" Rhonda said. "Go back to the double homicide in Fresno!"
"That bitch! You couldn't find her heart with a darkfield microscope," Jetsam complained to his partner.
Flotsam, who was attending community college during the day, said, "Dude, you are simply another victim of the incestuous and intertwined and atavistic relationships of the law-enforcement community."
Jetsam gaped at Flotsam, who was driving up into the Hollywood Hills, and said, "Just shove those college-boy words, why don't you."
"Okay, to be honest," said Flotsam, "from that photo you showed me, she was spherical, dude. The woman looked to me like a fucking Teletubby. You were blinded by the humongous mammary glands is all. There was no real melding of the hearts and minds."
"Melding of the . . ." Jetsam looked at his partner in disbelief and said, "Bro, the bitch's lawyer wants everything, including my fucking fish tank! With the only two turtles I got left! And guess what else? The federal consent decree ain't gonna end on schedule because that asshole of a federal judge says we're not ready. It's all political bullshit."
"Don't tell me that," Flotsam said. "I was all ready to yell out at roll call, `Free at last, free at last, Lord God Awmighty, free at last!'"
"I'm outrageously pissed off at our new mayor," Jetsam said, "turning the police commission into an ACLU substation. And I'm pissed off at my ex-wife's lawyer, who only wants me to have what I can make recycling aluminum cans. And I'm pissed off living in an apartment with lunging fungus so aggressive it wants to tackle you like a linebacker. And I'm pissed off at my former back-stabbing girlfriend. And I'm pissed off at the Northeast detective who's boning her now. So all in all, I feel like shooting somebody."
And, as it happened, he would.
The PSR radio voice alerted all units on the frequency to a code 37,
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