The Burning Plain by Michael Nava

Gave him a bloody nose, I think. There was a cab waiting for him outside. He left, to another appointment, he said. That was the last time I saw him.”
    “Why did you beat him up?” Gaitan asked.
    “He said something disrespectful to me,” I said, hoping it was enough.
    “What?” Gaitan persisted. “How could he dis you, Rios?”
    “Inez,” I said.
    “It’s not important,” she said. “The important thing is when the man left my client’s house he was still alive.”
    “If Rios is telling the truth,” Gaitan said, “how come you were at the vic’s house this afternoon?”
    “The man who introduced me to Alex called me and told me he’d heard Alex had been murdered. I went to his house to talk to his roommate to see what she knew.”
    “Name of the man who introduced you?” Odell asked.
    “Richard Florentino. He lives on La Cuesta Way, here in West Hollywood.”
    “And how did he know about Amerian?” Gaitan asked.
    “He said he’d heard it from one of your deputies,” I said, looking at Odell.
    “He say which one?” Odell asked.
    “No.”
    “Who is this roommate you’re talking about?” Gaitan said.
    “Her name is Katie Morse.”
    “What did you think she was going to tell you, Rios?”
    “I thought she might know where Alex was going after he left my house.”
    “Why?”
    “Because of this,” I said. “I knew as soon as you guys found out that I’d been with him last night you’d be all over me. I wanted to be prepared.”
    “You don’t trust us to do our job?” Gaitan asked.
    “I know you guys go in for the obvious answers.”
    “That’s because most of the time they’re the right answers,” Odell said.
    “Not this time,” I replied. “If you want to know who killed him, find out where he went after he left my house.”
    Gaitan tipped his chair back, looked at me with undisguised distaste, and said, “You know what I think, Rios? I think you two had a lover’s spat and you killed him.”
    “I’ve cooperated with you completely,” I said. “The only way you’re going to keep me here is to arrest me, and not on some bullshit trespassing charge.”
    Odell said, “Will you consent to a search of your house and your car, Mr. Rios?”
    “Now? Tonight?”
    “If you didn’t do it, you shouldn’t have anything to hide,” he said.
    “That’s right, Rios. You want to clear yourself, don’t you?”
    “I want a minute with my lawyer.”
    The two deputies left the room. “Listen to me, Henry,” Inez said, “I’m the lawyer here. We do this my way.”
    “What are you talking about?”
    “That macho crap, daring Gaitan to arrest you.”
    “We all know there’s no probable cause.”
    “He’d do it just to harass you,” she said. “Good thing that other cop is here.”
    “Do you think they could obtain a search warrant?”
    “In a heartbeat. You have something to hide?”
    “I told you, I bloodied his nose. They’ll find traces of his blood at my house and his fingerprints all over my car.”
    “You explained all that,” she said. She narrowed her eyes. “You’re not holding out on me, are you, Henry?”
    “You don’t think I did it, do you?”
    “Some judge somewhere will sign a search warrant,” she said. “I think you should cooperate. Let them have their search.”
    “That doesn’t answer my question.”
    She had to think about it. “Of course not,” she said, after a moment.
    It was four in the morning before the sheriffs concluded their search of my house. They had impounded my car for a later search, so Inez drove me home and remained with me until the last deputy left. I showed them where I had shoved Alex against the wall, pointed out the bloodstains, retrieved the bloody rag from the washer. Gaitan seemed particularly interested in my bathtub.
    “You have a hot tub?” he asked me, emerging from the guest bathroom.
    “No,” I said.
    One of his deputies broke a glass in the kitchen. Gaitan wandered around the living room, stopped,