by Tyler Dilts
I hadn’t even thought about where I’d stay until I could go home, and Jen hadn’t said anything about it to me.
Marty shook his head and chortled.
“What?” I said.
“Just remembering what Siguenza said about Omar. Called him a ‘vindictive little fuck.’”
“That’s funny?” I asked.
“It’s lucky that it runs in the family.”
“I’m not following,” Patrick said.
“If it didn’t,” I said, “we never would have got Rudy.”
Marty was the only one of us with enough energy to be amused.
“Make sure he gets some rest,” the lieutenant said to Jen. He turned to Patrick and Marty. “You two might as well get to work.”
I woke up in Jen’s guest room, my feet dangling off the end of the double bed. The sunlight angling in through the slatted blinds on the window told me it was afternoon. I checked the time on my phone: 1:52. There were also two voice mails. One from Julia Rice and one from Gary the banjo teacher. Sitting up, I cycled through a series of stretches in hopes of relieving some of the deep ache that spread across the entire left side of my body. They didn’t help much.
In the kitchen, Jen said, “There’s coffee.”
“Thanks,” I said. In the cupboard over the sink I found a cup with an owl on it and filled it.
“How’d you sleep?”
“Good.”
“I’ll make you some bacon and eggs.”
I took the coffee outside onto her patio and sat at the table. After a few minutes in the crosshatched sunshine under the pergola, I started feeling better.
It was a nice day.
I picked up my phone and began to dial, but I was distracted by the sound of the small Zen waterfall across the yard. I remembered the dream I’d had of Bishop on the river and the sounds of his steps splashing away into the darkness.
I thought of the other man, William Fischer, the drunk who’d beaten his wife and whose daughter, Rose, years later would welcome us into her house. The man who died homeless on the concrete bank of the Los Angeles River.
What was the truth? Which man was he? The two of them were not yet reconciled in my mind, and in that moment I understood that I wanted to keep them that way.
I made a choice. The same choice that, rightly or wrongly, I’d made for Rose.
I would remember the man who played chess with a wounded vet, the man who cleaned a parking lot every week in return for the chance to wash clean his possessions. I would remember the man who, on the Fourth of July, with the aurora of the fireworks flashing in the windows high on the wall behind him, took the hands of an old and frightened woman into his own and swayed with her to the music of a fifty-year-old song for no other reason than that he thought it might provide a moment’s relief to another soul burning in pain.
I would remember that Bishop danced.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
My most sincere thanks to:
Nicole Gharda, Sharon Dilts, Jeff Dilts, and Kim Dilts
Eileen Klink, Bill Mohr, Zachary Locklin, Karl Squitier, and Carlos Dews
Derek Pacifico and Richard Klink
Gary Phillips, Naomi Hirahra, and Tod Goldberg
Alison Dasho, Jacque BenZekry, Tiffany Pokorny, Anh Schluep, Paul Morrissey, Charlotte Herscher, Meredith Jacobson, Andy Bartlett, and the entire crew at Thomas & Mercer.
My gratitude is immeasurable.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
As a child, Tyler Dilts dreamed of following in the footsteps of his policeman father. Though his career goals changed over time, he never lost interest in the daily work of homicide detectives. Today he teaches at California State University in Long Beach, and his writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Chronicle of Higher Education, The Best American Mystery Stories, and numerous other publications. He is the author of A King of Infinite Space and The Pain Scale, the first two novels in the Long Beach Homicide series. He lives with his wife in Long Beach, California.
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
Dedication Page
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE
CASE #0054732 CRIME SCENE EVIDENCE INVENTORY
1 SHOPPING CART: WHOLE FOODS MARKET, VERY GOOD CONDITION. CONTENTS ITEMIZED BELOW.
2 FLEECE BLANKET: MEDIUM BLUE, FRAYED AT ONE CORNER, THREE DARK STAINS NEAR SAME CORNER, RECENTLY LAUNDERED.
3 SHOES, TWO PAIRS: NEW BALANCE 1123 RUNNING SHOES, WELL USED AND STAINED, SIGNIFICANT WEAR ON OUTSIDE EDGES OF HEELS, MEN’S SIZE 12; MERONA LOAFERS, BROWN, GOOD CONDITION, MEN’S SIZE 10.
4 PAPERBACK COPY OF THE GRAPES OF WRATH, BY JOHN STEINBECK: VIKING CRITICAL EDITION, 1992, OLD, WELL WORN, MARGINAL NOTATIONS THROUGHOUT.
5 KEY RING: PLASTIC FOB W/ BLUE ABSTRACT DESIGN. ONE VW AUTOMOBILE KEY. SIX OTHER KEYS, MISCELLANEOUS.
6 LEVI’S JEANS, MEN’S, TWO PAIRS: ONE SIZE 34/32, FADED, HOLE IN RIGHT KNEE; ONE SIZE 36/30, DARK BLUE, GOOD CONDITION.
7 ONE CAN DEL MONTE FRESH CUT SWEET CORN, CREAM STYLE.
8 THREE CDS: FAIRYTALE, DONOVAN; THE DEER HUNTER: ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK, VARIOUS ARTISTS; REMAIN IN LIGHT, TALKING HEADS.
9 ZIPLOC BAG, QUART-SIZED, CONTAINING: ORAL-B TOOTHBRUSH, ONE; COLGATE TOTAL TOOTHPASTE, THREE-OUNCE, NEARLY EMPTY.
10 PLASTIC PONCHO: BLUE AND GOLD, W/ UCLA LOGO.
11 RALPHS PLASTIC SHOPPING BAG CONTAINING THREE USED PAPERBACK BOOKS: LONESOME DOVE, BY LARRY MCMURTRY; TRUNK MUSIC, BY MICHAEL CONNELLY; SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE, BY KURT VONNEGUT.
12 ZIPLOC BAG, QUART-SIZED, CONTAINING: COMB, NAIL CLIPPERS, ADVIL (FOUR INDIVIDUAL-DOSE PACKETS).
13 ONE BOX DIXIE MEDIUM-WEIGHT PLASTIC FORKS, ONE HUNDRED COUNT. TWENTY-SEVEN FORKS REMAINING.
14 DUCT TAPE, 3M BRAND, ONE ROLL: PARTIALLY USED, APPROX. 1/3 REMAINING.
15 WOOL GLOVES, ONE PAIR: GRAY, HOLES IN LEFT THUMB AND MIDDLE FINGER.
16 LEATHERMAN MULTI-TOOL: WELL USED, IN BLACK NYLON SHEATH.
17 UNDERWEAR: THREE PAIRS HANES MEN’S BRIEFS; TWO PAIRS WHITE, SIZE LARGE, FRUIT OF THE LOOM BOXER SHORTS; THREE PAIRS ASSORTED PLAID.
18 ZIPLOC BAG, QUART-SIZED, CONTAINING: IRISH SPRING SOAP, ONE BAR.
19 CHARMIN BASIC TOILET PAPER, ONE PARTIAL ROLL.
20 FLEECE KNIT CAP: NO LABEL OR LOGO, DARK GREEN.
21 COLEMAN SLEEPING BAG: LIGHTWEIGHT, LIME GREEN W/BEIGE INTERIOR, WELL USED, ZIPPER BROKEN.
22 T-SHIRTS, SEVEN: ASSORTED BRANDS, COLORS, AND STYLES.
23 ENERGIZER LED FLASHLIGHT (NO BATTERIES).
24 SCARF: GRAY/BLUE STRIPED ACRYLIC FABRIC, FRINGE MISSING ON ONE END.
25 SPEED STICK REGULAR DEODORANT, TWO-PACK, ONE STICK PARTIALLY USED.
26 BUNGEE CORDS, FIVE: ASSORTED LENGTHS AND COLORS.
27 LAUNDRY DETERGENT: ULTRA TIDE, SINGLE-USE PACKETS, SEVEN.
28 SILVA POLARIS 177 COMPASS.
29 USED ALTOIDS TIN SECURED W/ RUBBER BAND, CONTAINING: $8.37 IN COINS.
30 KNUDSEN LOWFAT COTTAGE CHEESE CONTAINER, WITH SEWING NEEDLES, MISC. BUTTONS, THREAD.
31 TIMEX IRONMAN WRISTWATCH: BLACK AND GRAY W/ ORANGE HIGHLIGHTS.
32 BIC LIGHTER: PURPLE W/ LOS ANGELES LAKERS LOGO.
33 ONE PACKAGE HANES MEN’S CREW SOCKS, SIX COUNT: SIZE LARGE, UNOPENED.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ABOUT THE AUTHOR