'Okay.'

'That what you find?'

I took my ice and my Falstaff and went to my desk. I saw the notepaper with Lucy's flight information. Pike's printing was meticulously neat, but so small it was almost impossible to read. 'She's aggressive, ambitious, and no one likes her much, but there's no evidence that she dumped LeCedrick Earle or anyone else. Haig comes across like a crank, and Earle's own mother said that her son is a liar.'

Pike nodded.

'The only thing that doesn't fit is her house. Two years ago she bought a condo in the Marina that had to go for four hundred thousand dollars. I've got a call in to Adrienne Martin.'

'Forget the house. Her mother left her an apartment building in Long Beach. When Rossi sold it she had to roll the cash into another property or get hit with the capital gains.'

I stared at him.

'We were close.'

'I see.'

'Very close.' Still hidden behind the black lenses.

I stared at him some more, and then I nodded. 'I guess that's it, then. No crime, no graft, no corruption. Jonathan won't like it, but there it is.' There hadn't been much to check and it hadn't taken long, but it rarely does when everything is above board.

'She's a sharp cop, Elvis. It's a tough game for a woman, tougher still if the woman is better than the boys and lets them know it.'

I smiled at him. 'She doesn't seem like the retiring type.'

He canted his head a couple of degrees. 'She had a real shot at being the first female chief of detectives. She still might, even with the Miranda beef.'

'High praise coming from you.'

Pike shrugged.

I said, 'Joe, are you soft on this woman?'

Pike finished his beer, then got up and placed the empty can carefully into the wastebasket. 'I admire her, Elvis. In much the same way I admire you.'

I didn't know what to say to that, so I said, 'Since you admire me so much, I've got a favor to ask.'

He waited.

'Lucy and Ben are coming, and I've got the two-seater. Can I borrow your Jeep to pick them up?'

Pike stood motionless. The Jeep was in immaculate condition, and Pike kept it flawless. You could shave in the fender. You could eat off the engine block.

I said, 'I'll wash it before I give it back. If someone dents it I'll shoot them.'

Pike's head swiveled one-half a degree. I think he was stricken. 'Why don't I come with you to pick them up?'

'Joe.' It was like pulling teeth.

He still wasn't happy about it, but he finally nodded. Once.

I said, 'I'll draft the report on Rossi tonight. I'll call Truly and tell him that I'm going to turn it in tomorrow, and he'll probably want to see me. You want to go along?'

Pike said, 'No.' Lizard people.

'Just thought I'd ask.'

Pike went to the door, then looked back at me, and gestured to his right eye. 'That's going to look nice for Lucy.',

'Thanks, Joe.'

'Good to see Angie hasn't lost her touch.' His mouth twitched a single time and he left. Pike never smiles or laughs, but sometimes you'll get the twitch. Mr Hilarity.

I had the rest of my beer, then phoned Elliot Truly. When Truly came on the line, I said, 'I've concluded the investigation into Angela Rossi. I'm going to write the report tonight.'

He didn't say anything for a second. 'So soon?'

'I'm fast, Truly. Cases solved in no time flat or your money back.'

Truly said, 'Well, hell.' Like he was disappointed it hadn't taken longer, like he was maybe thinking that I had given the job short shrift. 'What did you find?'

'She's clean. Earle is a liar and Haig is a crank with a grudge. There's absolutely no evidence that Rossi's ever been anything other than a good cop.'

Another silence. 'You'd better come in. Jonathan will want to talk about it.' You see?

'I have guests coming in from out of town at five tomorrow evening.'

I could hear him fumbling with something. 'We're going to have a staff meeting here tomorrow morning at nine. Can you make that?'

'I'll be there.'

It took less than twenty minutes to write the report, and then I drove home listening to k. d. lang. k. d. lang was Lucy's favorite, and as I drove I found that I was thinking less about Jonathan Green and Angela Rossi, and more about Lucy Chenier. I thought that I might clean the house and make a shopping list. The house was already clean and it was too late to shop, but that didn't matter. My work was done and Lucy was coming, and what could be better than that? Anticipation is everything.

When I got home, Pike's Jeep was waiting in the drive, freshly washed, immaculate and gleaming. I found a note under the windshield that said, Give my love to Lucy, and please drive carefully.

That Pike is something, isn't he?

CHAPTER 8

At twenty minutes before nine the next morning I worked my way down the mountain along Laurel Canyon to Sunset, then turned west toward Jonathan Green's office.

Most prominent attorneys in Los Angeles will blackjack their mothers to find office space in Beverly Hills or Century City, both of which are considered prestige addresses for the legal community. Jonathan Green's office was on Sunset Boulevard in an ornate four-story Spanish office building across from the Mondrian Hotel. I guess if ypu're Jonathan Green, any place you happen to be is a prestige address.

The building was older, with an established landscape of royal palms and bougainvillea, and state-of-the-art security equipment discreetly hidden from public view. A tasteful sign built into the front of the building simply said THE LAW OFFICES OF JONATHAN GREEN. The parking garage was gated, and the gate wouldn't open until a gentleman wearing a red blazer strolled out to my car and asked my name. He was exceedingly polite, and possessed of a bulge in the line of his jacket beneath his left arm. The bulge, like the sign and the security equipment, was also discreet.

I left my car in the garage, then followed the guard's directions past a Spanish tile fountain in the lobby to the elevators, and then to the top floor. Another blazered gentleman smiled at me in the lobby, and a third just happened to be on the elevator. Both were polite and both, like the guard in the parking garage, had the corded necks of men who spent a lot of their time honing confrontational skills. Corded necks are a dead give-away.

When the elevator opened, Elliot Truly was waiting for me. I guess the parking guard must've called. I said, 'Some security.'

He stared at my eye.

'Cut myself shaving.'

Truly realized he was staring and looked away. 'Yes, well, I guess that happens.'

I followed him past the floor receptionist and along a glass hall. 'Why all the spooks?'

'Many of Jonathan's cases are unpopular, as you might imagine. You'd be surprised at the number of people who don't believe that defendants are entitled to the best possible defense.'

'No kidding.'

Men and women in business suits hurried in both directions, some carrying files, others long yellow legal pads, still others small Styrofoam cups of what I took to be coffee. Nine in the morning, and everyone looked tense. I guess tension is a way of life when you're trying to give people the best possible defense. Especially at five hundred dollars an hour.

I said, 'Are all of these people working for Teddy Martin?'

'Oh, no. The firm is involved in over two hundred active cases.'

'Mm.'

'Jonathan only involves himself in the more, ah, trying cases.' He gave me a sly smile.

I nodded.

He looked at me. '"Trying."'

'I got it.'

Truly looked disappointed. 'Oh.' Lawyer humor.

We turned down another hall and then into a conference room about the size of Rhode Island. A breakfast buffet had been set up at one end of the room with coffee and mineral water and enough lox and bagels to sink the Lexington . Six men and three women were crowded around the buffet, talking in soft whispers. Everyone had coffee, but no one was eating. Probably too tense. Truly said, 'Would you like something to eat?'