Sunset Express

Teddy's flight and Green's arrest stayed in the headlines. 'Teddy Sightings' were a regular feature in the tabloids, which reported on various occasions that Teddy was now living in a palatial Brazilian mansion that had been built by a famous Nazi war criminal, that Teddy had been seen in the company of Princess Diana, and that Teddy was gone for good because he had been abducted by short gray aliens with large heads. The California State Bar Association announced that it was launching an investigation into Jonathan Green's conduct independent of that by the Los Angeles Police Department and the District Attorney's office. Green said that he welcomed the opportunity to clear his name and would cooperate fully.

Jonathan Green and his attorney appeared regularly on local television news, local radio talk shows, and in the L.A. Times. Reports from 'unnamed sources' began surfacing that Elliot Truly had made a secret deal with Teddy, unknown to Mr Green. Leaks 'close to the prosecution' were quoted as saying that computer files found at Elliot Truly's home confirmed such an agreement. Other sources leaked that Truly had had several meetings with Teddy while Teddy was in jail to which Mr Green was not privy. Carefully worded public opinion polls charted a swing in the belief of Jonathan Green's involvement from 'absolutely' to 'probably' to 'uncertain.'

Eleven days after the events beneath the radio tower, the LAPD Internal Affairs Division announced that it had completed its investigation of Detective Angela Rossi and had found there to be no evidence either in the LeCedrick Earle matter (LeCedrick Earle himself had recanted his claims against her) or that she had manufactured or planted evidence against Theodore Martin. The story was given two inches on page nineteen of the Times, and the same public opinion polls indicated that seventy-three percent of the public still believed that she was a corrupt cop who had framed LeCedrick Earle (even though he now denied it) and who had 'probably' mishandled evidence against Teddy Martin. She was returned to active duty with her partner, Dan Tonisic.

I listened to the news and followed the investigations with a growing sense of unease. Jonathan Green signed a two-million-dollar contract with a major book publisher to publish his version of the story. He appeared on Larry King Live and Rivera Live, and each time he presented himself as a victim. I was offered many jobs, but I declined them. The press still called, though with less frequency, and I avoided them. I listened to talk radio and gained weight, as if I felt a hunger that I couldn't satisfy.

The days grew warm again, and I decided to refinish the deck. It had been almost eight years since I'd last stained and sealed the deck, and the wood was showing its age. Joe offered his help, and we spent the core of each day sanding and staining and sealing. We listened to music as we worked, but from time to time we turned to the news. Twenty-three days after the events beneath the radio tower, the California Bar quietly closed its investigation, saying that all evidence pointed to wrongdoing by Elliot Truly and not by Jonathan Green. Twenty-five days after the tower, the District Attorney's office dropped all charges against Jonathan Green save one count of tampering with evidence. I was on a ladder beneath the deck when we heard the news, and Pike said, 'He's getting away with it.'

I went inside and called Anna Sherman, who said, 'It's the best we can do.' Her voice was faraway and sounded lost.

I said, 'This is crap. You know he was behind it.'

'Of course.'

'He set up Truly just like he set up Rossi and Pritzik and Richards. He ordered Lester's murder. They were going to kill Louise Earle. He did his best to destroy the life and career of a police officer who did nothing worse than do her job.'

She didn't say anything for a time, and then she said, 'He knows how to play the game, Elvis. What can I tell you?' Then she hung up.

Twenty-eight days after the towers, Pike and I finished sealing the deck. It was slick and gleaming and smelled of marine-grade varnish. After the varnish had cured, we put the deck chairs and the Weber and the little table back, and sat in the sun drinking cold Falstaff. We sat for a while, and then Pike said, 'Say something.'

I looked at him.

'You haven't said anything for three days. You've said next to nothing for almost two weeks.'

'Guess I'm getting like you.'

I smiled at him, but he didn't smile back.

I finished my Falstaff, crimped the can, then put it carefully onto the shining deck. Little rings of condensation beaded on the thick varnish. I said, 'I'm not sure that I want to do this anymore.'

'Be an investigator?'

I nodded.

'What do you want to do?'

I shrugged.

'You want to stop being what you've been for almost fifteen years because Jonathan Green is getting away with murder?' He frowned when he said it. Like maybe he was disappointed.

I spread my hands. 'I guess that's it. Elvis Cole, sore loser.'

Pike shook his head.

I went inside, brought out two fresh Falstaffs, and gave him one. I said, 'What would you say if I told you that I was thinking about moving to Louisiana to be closer to Lucy?'

Pike sipped some of the Falstaff, then gazed out at the canyon, then wet his lips and nodded. 'I'd say that I'd miss you.'

I nodded.

'I'd say that if that's what you needed to do, that I would help any way that I could.'

I nodded again.

'You talk to her about it?'

'Not yet.'

Pike shook his head. 'You're something.'

Four hours later Pike was gone and I was cooking a very nice puttanesca sauce when I decided to call Lucy Chenier. I was most of the way through a bottle of California merlot. In the course of my life I've been shot, sapped, slugged, stabbed with a broken beer bottle, and I've faced down any number of thugs and miscreants, but talking to Lucy about moving to Louisiana seemed to require fortification. She answered on the third ring, and I said, 'Guess who?'

'Have you been drinking?' Don't you hate smart women?

'Absolutely not.' Giving her affronted. Giving her shocked. Then I said, 'Well, maybe a little.'

She sighed. 'I heard on the news that the charges against Green were reduced. How's Angela?'

'Not great, but not bad, either. The public still thinks that she's rotten, but I've cleared her.'

'How nice for her children.'

'Green kept himself insulated so that there was always plausible deniability.'

'What about Truly's dying declaration?' I had told her about Truly weeks ago. 'That's legitimate evidence.'

'It is, but since it was witnessed only by me and Angela and Joe, the powers that be view it as questionable. Because I resigned from Green's employ, and because he accused Rossi, the powers that be feel that a jury would discount our version of events.'

She didn't say anything for a time, and then she said, 'Well, in this case the powers that be are probably right.'

I nodded, but she probably couldn't see it. 'I don't believe Truly had a secret agreement with Teddy Martin. Green fabricated that, just as he fabricated the business about Pritzik and Richards.'

'I'm sure you're right.'

'Truly was telling the truth.'

I'm sure of that, too.'

I didn't say anything. I was staring at the bubbles rising in the sauce and my shoulders felt tight and I was wishing that I hadn't drunk all the wine.

Lucy said, 'It hurts, doesn't it?'

I moved my tongue, trying to scrub away the wine's taste. 'Oh, God, yes.'

'You try so hard to make things right, and here's this man, and he's oozing through the system in a way that keeps things wrong.'

'He is defiling justice.' Defiling. That was probably the merlot talking.

She said, 'Oh, Studly.' I could see her smile. 'The law is not about justice. You know that.'