Blowing into the teacup, he pursed his lips. "Nice and hot… thank you for coming."
"What can we do for you, Mr. Kenten?"
"Everyone calls me Eddie. I'll come right to the point: The Mendozas are worried you're looking into Marty as having something to do with the death of Ms. Elise Freeman. I'm here to tell you Marty had nothing to do with it."
"You know that because-"
"Because I know Marty, Lieutenant. I'm the one who brought him to Prep." Kenten put down his tea. "I thought I'd done him a favor."
"You feel differently now?"
"With the police chasing after him?" Challenging words, but twinkly eyes and grandfatherly cheer.
"We're not chasing him, Mr. Kenten. We'd like to talk to him."
"Why?"
"We can't get into that right now."
"Kind of a catch-22?" said Kenten.
"No, sir. Just the early stages of an investigation."
"A murder investigation." Head shake. "Never thought I'd be talking to the police about murder. Especially in regard to Marty. Trust me, Lieutenant, he had absolutely nothing to do with Ms. Freeman's death."
"He's told you that?"
Kenten put down his teacup. "No. I'm being logical."
"How well did you know Ms. Freeman?"
"I knew of her," said Kenten. "By reputation."
"What reputation was that, sir?"
"Sexually inappropriate."
"Marty told you that?"
Kenten lifted the cup. "She tutored many students, not just Marty."
"You heard it from another kid at Prep?"
"At this point," said Kenten, "I'd prefer not to get into those details. Suffice it to say they don't impact your investigation."
"I should be the judge of that, Mr. Kenten."
"Lieutenant, I didn't need to call you in the first place, so please don't punish civic responsibility. Let's just say that Ms. Freeman had acquired what you people would call a jacket-that is the correct term?"
Milo said, "A jacket is a criminal history, backed up by an official record."
"Well, then, let's say Ms. Freeman had acquired a… sweater. Something jacket-like-a cardigan."
Kenten chuckled. Encountered two stoic faces.
"Please forgive me, I'm not making light of her death. Terrible, terrible thing, no one should die unnaturally. I'm just saying she trod on shaky grounds with some male students, so perhaps you should broaden your focus."
"Sure," said Milo. "Give me some names."
"Someone I know-not Marty-talked to me in strict confidentiality. Someone with only thirdhand knowledge, so there'd be no point."
"School gossip?" said Milo.
"I'm sorry, that's all I can say."
"She was a cougar so she had to die?"
"Pardon?"
"You said no one should have to die unnaturally. That sounds as if she'd been sentenced."
Kenten massaged a freckled dome. "I thought I left that kind of parsing behind when I dropped out of law school. It was a figure of speech, Lieutenant. Look, I sympathize with Ms. Freeman and her family. I'm sure they're devastated. And I'm certain you'll eventually get to the bottom of it. But I'm here to tell you that the sooner you get away from chasing Marty, the sooner you'll succeed. He's a fine boy, I'd be proud to call him one of my own, and I've got six of my own, as well as nine grandchildren with two more on the way. So I'd like to think I'm a pretty good judge of juvenile character and Marty's character is sterling. The same applies to his family, you'll never meet more upstanding, industrious people. I found out about Marty through Emilio. He works at my club and we've become friends."
Mistaking subservience for friendship, the way rich, delusional people do.
Milo said, "You've called us here for the sole purpose of offering character testimony?"
"Forgive me if I've wasted your time," said Kenten. "However, this isn't some situation where a friend of a friend asks me to write their offspring a letter to get them into Prep or Yale. I'm familiar with this boy's character in depth."
"You went to Yale?"
"Class of 'fifty-two, graduated at the bottom of my class, started law school, quit and went to Korea. You're ex-military, correct? Combat or ancillary?"
"I was a medic."
"That's combat," said Kenten. "I was ancillary. Monitoring inventory at one of the larger armories in Seoul. Taught me all about people, no need to get an M.B.A. after that."
"Glad it was a good experience for you, sir."
"Vietnam," said Kenten, "was a whole different ball of paraffin. My eldest, Eddie Junior, serviced helicopters, still won't talk about it. In any event, back to Marty: wonderful boy, bright, industrious, but for that blasted accident he'd be destined for stardom. Even with the injury, I'm holding out hope. The key is for him to take care of the shoulder, avoid undue stress. I'm afraid your chasing him doesn't help."
"Where's Marty now, Mr. Kenten?"
"Why are you after him?"
"I'd like an answer to my question, sir."
"What makes you think I know his whereabouts?"
"You're his mentor."
"And I'd be happy to mentor him now. Unfortunately, my efforts to reach him have failed, the poor boy's so frightened, who knows where he's gone?"
Kenten drank tea. "I'm surprised, Lieutenant."
"At what?"
"You didn't come back with the standard warning about aiding and abetting."
"Are you aiding and abetting, sir?"
Kenten laughed. "Hardly. I'm available to Emilio and Anna for support is all."
"For Marty, as well."
"Should he ask."
"If he does contact you, Mr. Kenten, you'll need to let me know."
"And you'll go straight to your boss."
"Pardon?" said Milo.
"No need to be coy, Lieutenant. We both know your boss's boy attends Prep and that raises the stakes. Needless to say, Marty or someone like him would be a much better suspect than a student from the right zip code."
"If you've got other students I should be looking at, Mr. Kenten, give me their names."
"If I did, I'd have already given them to you. Two things I do know: Marty's not involved and the chief's situation raises the risk of tunnel vision."
"The chief and everyone else in the department is interested in arresting the right offender for both cases."
"Both?"
"Yesterday, Ms. Freeman's boyfriend was beaten to death, his car stolen from his driveway. A young man was seen driving it away. I just returned from a dump site where the victim's car was found partially burned. All the contents had been removed except for a baseball cap that may have fallen off during the arson. Dark blue cap with what looks to be a gold S."
Kenten's cup held steady. So did his eyes. "That's your evidence? A baseball cap?"
"A South El Monte Eagles baseball cap."
"Marty hasn't pitched for them for over a year."
"It's not exactly a commonplace garment."
Kenten looked away. "I'm sure there's an explanation-anyone can buy a baseball cap."
"I'm sure your intentions were noble, sir, but from what I've heard, public school was a happier place for Marty than Prep. That would be good reason for him to hold on to a memento."
Silence.
"Sir, have you ever seen a cap like that in Marty's house?"
"I've never been to Marty's house."
"Has he been to yours?"
"I've had the entire family over for cookouts and such-we've got a fire pit, a game court, access to the beach, my grandchildren call it the Fun House. Marty hung out with my grandchildren. Does that tell you about my level of trust? There's no violence in the boy, Lieutenant."
"He ever show up wearing a hat like that? Blue with-"
"Never," Kenten snapped. "Never saw anything like that."