“It’s mutual.”
“You would have liked his dad, too, I think. A shame you didn’t get a chance to meet him. Elena didn’t really get a chance to know Phil, either. He obviously trusted her, and if he had lived, I don’t doubt he would have stayed with her. He was a loyal person, and he was choosy about that loyalty of his — didn’t pass it down the row like a bag of peanuts at the ballpark the way some of these guys do. You know — the blue brotherhood and all that. He didn’t hang out with other cops.”
“You must have a guess or two about who killed him.”
He shook his head. “Not a one. Not for a lack of trying, but none that makes sense to me.”
“Meanwhile, the killer’s still out there. That has to stick in your craw.”
“For a time it did, but now I figure whoever it was is dead or long gone from Las Piernas.”
“How do you figure that?”
“He’s been quiet for too long. I’m alive, Elena’s alive, even Whitey Dane is alive.”
“And Seth isn’t allowed to go to school or use the name Lefebvre.”
“Okay, so we take precautions where the boy is concerned. But there haven’t been similar cases of detectives or commissioners and their families murdered. I think the guy cut his losses after Phil and ran.”
Frank thought of the attack on Bredloe, but said nothing.
“All right, so sometimes I think he might still be out there,” Arden admitted. “But there isn’t much I can offer you on it — can’t get near enough to learn a damned thing. You can get in where I couldn’t. Look at the records for that box of evidence from the Randolph case. The man who killed Phil took the contents of that box.” He sighed. “I couldn’t figure out who would want Randolph and his family dead. Tory Randolph had the most to gain, but you’ll never convince me that she would have sacrificed her kids to get her hands on that money.”
“I agree. Even if I could believe she killed her own children, she didn’t have access to… no, wait… Jesus, she did.”
“Did what? You look like you swallowed a damned lemon.”
“I was going to say she didn’t have access to the evidence. But if she got help from the man she later married — Dale Britton — she could have easily managed it.”
“That stumbling clod?” Arden scoffed.
“He worked in the lab. Could he have lasted at that job if he was dropping beakers all over the place? Maybe he’s not clumsy all the time.”
“Maybe.”
“There’s a lot to sort out about Dane and Randolph, too. One of Dane’s men watched the funeral today.”
“The gent under the jacaranda?”
“Yes.”
They heard the door to the condo open above them.
Arden lowered his voice. “I wish you luck. Trail is colder than a polar bear’s nuts and the department wants this whole business out of sight and out of mind. But if there’s anything I can do, you let me know.”
He held out his hand and Frank shook it, saying, “It’s been an honor.”
There was the slightest questioning look in Arden’s eyes.
“I mean it,” Frank said.
The old man smiled. “You call me if I can help,” he said again as the others arrived.
Frank stood apart from the group as Seth and Elena said good-bye to Arden and Yvette. As these two members of Seth’s extended family drove away, Frank noticed a white van parked in the guest parking lot which was at the far end of the alley, at the intersection of the nearest street. He started to walk toward it when Elena said, “I guess you’ll have to be going now.”
“My jacket’s upstairs,” he reminded her, reconsidering his plan to approach the van on foot. “Seth, would it be okay if I took a look through your telescope before I go?”
“Sure!”
Elena made a sound of exasperation, but led the way.
“I’m not allowed to spy on the neighbors,” Seth said, when Frank lowered the angle of the telescope to look toward the guest parking area. Elena, who was apparently not going to let Frank have another minute alone with her son, smiled from the other side of the room.
“That’s a good rule,” Frank said. “I just want to see if this would be a good kind of telescope to use at work.”
“What do you mean?” Seth asked.
Frank could see only part of the van’s plate, but enough to tell that it began with “2JST.” It was not the same plate number as the one he had seen at the cemetery.
“I mean that sometimes we have to see things that are happening too far away to see with the naked eye.” He looked out onto the parkway between the buildings. Other than a gardener carrying a bulging green trash bag and a rake, there was no one nearby.
“Do you want to borrow it?”
“No, I’ll make the police buy their own if they want one. But thanks for letting me try it.”
“Thanks for visiting us,” Elena said. “Here’s your jacket. Say good-bye, Seth.”
Seth looked disappointed, then asked, “Can I visit you at your house?”
“Seth!”
“Sure you can,” Frank said, putting on the jacket. He smiled at Elena and said, “Don’t worry, he’s more interested in my dogs than me.”
“No, I’m not!” Seth said, laughing, then quickly added, “But they don’t bite, Mom, so can I visit them?”
“Seth…”
“I won’t bother him. He likes me, Mom.”
Until that moment, Frank was certain she would refuse. But at these words, she seemed ready to relent.
“That’s true,” Frank said. “We’d be happy to have both of you over. My wife used to know Seth’s dad, and I think she’d be pleased to meet Seth.”
“Your wife?” Elena asked. “The woman who was with you at the funeral?”
“Yes. Irene Kelly.”
“Irene Kelly — now I remember where I’ve seen her before. You married a reporter?”
“Yes.”
“Man, you must already be on the outs with the department.”
“What do you mean, Mom?” Seth asked.
Before she could answer, the guinea pig began making squealing noises, sounds of distress.
“What’s wrong, My Dog?” Seth asked, then sniffed. “Do you smell smoke?”
The smoke alarm went off before anyone could answer.
“Are you cooking?” Seth asked his mother.
“No,” she said, “but let me check the oven.” She hurried out of the room, ignoring Frank as he called after her.
But the acrid scent indicated more than a kitchen mishap. As it rapidly grew stronger, he saw smoke billowing outside Seth’s window. Seth’s eyes widened in fright. Frank put a hand on the boy’s shoulder and kept his voice calm as he said, “Let’s all go outside. Why don’t I carry My Dog’s cage?”
Seth ducked out from under his hand and got down on the floor, scattering toy soldiers.
“Seth!” Elena called out frantically as the air in the condo itself began filling with smoke.
“My treasures!” Seth said, pulling a small wooden box from beneath the bed and tucking it inside his shirt.
Frank grabbed hold of him and lifted him into one arm, and took the guinea pig cage with his free hand just as Elena struggled back to them.
“I’ve got him!” Frank shouted. “Go!”
Eyes tearing, he felt Seth gripping tightly to him, the edges of the wooden box pressing into his side. They found their way to the front door, coughing. Elena started to reach for the doorknob, but Frank yelled, “No! Feel the door first.”
“It’s hot,” she said, backing away from it, a look of panic on her face.
“The fire ladders!” Seth shouted, squirming.
“Where are they?” Frank asked.
“In the bedroom closets.”
“You stay here with your mother. Get down on the floor — more air there!” Handing Seth over to her, he hurried back toward Seth’s bedroom, the nearest of the two. The smoke had thickened. He stumbled over toys but located the closet and yanked the door open. He bent close to the floor, but still the smoke made his nose and throat and lungs feel as if he were breathing hot needles. He found the ladder and made his way out to the living room in time to hear glass shatter. Elena had picked up a chair and used it to break out the large front window. It sent a rush of cooler, less smoky air into the room. He hooked the chain ladder on the sill and dropped it down. The distance from the bottom rung to the ground would not be difficult for an adult to manage, but he was afraid the boy would be hurt or might freeze halfway down the rungs, trapping them. “You first,” he rasped to Elena. “I’ll send Seth down after you.”