“You said that Cal J might have felt guilty about the death.”

“Just speculating.”

“Where did the Vitton boys go to high school?”

“ North Valley, but both of them had graduated before the Little murder.”

“How long before?”

“Four, five years.”

“Did they know Dr. Little?”

“Yes, they did. We talked to the boys about Dr. Little, and like the rest of the community, both had positive things to say about him. Cal J was especially fond of Little. Cal J was having problems with some boys at school and I think Little intervened and diffused the situation.”

“What kind of problems? Bullying?”

“What else?”

“Cal J was the target of homosexual bashers?”

“That was the rumor.”

“So his classmates probably knew he was gay,” Decker said. “What about Big Cal? Did he know?”

“If he knew, he wasn’t admitting it.”

“Who was responsible for the bullying?”

“I don’t have any idea, but I think Cal J is comfortable enough that if you ask him about it, he’d tell you.”

“When did Cal J come out?”

“Way after the murder. About ten years ago.”

“So he was about in his late twenties?”

“About. Him being gay had nothing to do with Little. Like I said, Cal J was fond of Dr. Ben…that’s what he called him. Dr. Ben.”

“So Cal J graduated about five years before Dr. Little was murdered?”

“It all blurs, Decker. Like I said, you can direct these questions to the boys. First of all, they’re a hell of a lot younger than I am and their memories are much better. Second, you’re asking about their business, and they’re alive to tell you about it if they want to.”

“Just their business as it relates to Big Cal ’s suicide. Did he have personal problems at that time?”

“I don’t remember Cal being upset personally, only by our failure to come up with a decent suspect. It’s not for not trying. Did you read our report cover to cover?”

“Absolutely.”

“So you see how many people we interviewed.”

“We’re rechecking as many as we can. One of my sergeants just went to Ohio to interview Darnell Arlington.”

“Yeah, Arlington definitely made the cut, but he was miles away. We thought about a murder for hire, but where would the kid come up with the money?”

“He was dealing drugs.”

“He was selling dime bags of pot, which barely supported his own habit. He wasn’t big-time, Decker, if that’s what you’re wondering. Little couldn’t have kept the bust a secret if it had been a serious dealer.”

“Still, it’s amazing that someone expunged the drug charge. It had to be someone pretty important to make that call.”

“Had to be, but it wasn’t me.”

“And it wasn’t Cal?”

“We were working Homicide, not Narcotics.”

“Have you ever worked anything in West Valley other than Homicide?”

“Of course…GTA, Burglary, Sex Crimes…” Lamar shrugged.

“I worked Sex Crimes in Foothill. Did you have Sex Crimes and Juvenile under the same detail?”

“Yep.”

Decker felt his heart thump. “So if there were bad boys in the district, you’d know about them?”

“We did when we worked the detail.”

“Did you ever have experience with Arlington in Juvey before the murder?”

Lamar drained his beer can. “This is going back some. I don’t recall ever running the boy in and that would make sense. Kid would have been about ten when we left Sex Crimes and went into Homicide. I do recall, when we worked the Little case, talking to several of Arlington ’s buddies: one kid in particular-Leroy Josephson. He had the usual list of offenses-D and Ds, B and Es, vandalism, petty theft, misdemeanor battery, underage drinking-nothing over-the-top violent but he was going in the wrong direction. We ruled him out right away.”

“Do you remember why?”

“His alibi checked out as I recall. I remember him only because someone from South Central contacted me about five years after Little’s murder. Leroy was in the wrong area at the wrong time and caught a big one right through the neck that damn near decapitated him.” Lamar shook his head. “He was all of twenty-one.”

Decker was scribbling notes. “When you worked Juvenile, did you ever pull in a kid named Rudy Banks?”

“Rudy Banks?” A big grin opened up Arnie’s face. “Now if there was ever a pisshead, that would be Rudy. Foulmouthed little turd.”

Decker was trying to hide his excitement. “Want to tell me about him?”

“The kid had a voice of an angel. He had the face of an angel. But his soul…” A chuckle along with a shake of the head. “I tell you, he was one with Satan.”

“Where’d you hear him sing?”

“In the school choir. In church. He was a tenor…a voice that was clear and beautiful. And with those big blue eyes…looked like an English altar boy. He cussed like a sailor.”

“What did you haul him in for?”

“Stealing. All kinds of stealing. Purse snatching, breaking and entering, shoplifting. I think he even stole from the church. And all this before he reached high school. I heard he became a rock star in one of those punk bands that spit and curse at the audience.”

“I don’t know if you’d call him a star. He was in a punk band called the Doodoo Sluts.”

Lamar smiled. “That seems consistent with Rudy’s style.”

“He doesn’t have much of a record as an adult unless it’s the recording kind of record.” Decker brought Lamar up to date with Rudy’s current occupation and his numerous lawsuits. “So you remember Rudy very well.”

Lamar shrugged. “Yes, I do.”

“Would Cal Vitton have known and remembered him as well?”

“Oh yeah. Matter of fact…it’s coming back to me. Cal had a real hard-on for Rudy.”

“Like a personal vendetta?”

“I wouldn’t go that far, but he detested the boy. He was a real wiseass.”

Decker tried to stay focused. “A wiseass and maybe a bully?”

Lamar took in Decker’s eyes. “Are you asking me if Rudy bullied Cal J?”

“I believe I am.”

“I don’t know. Cal J didn’t talk about his problems with me, or with his dad for that matter. But now that you mention it, Rudy was in school the same time as the Vitton boys. If anyone would be bullying Cal J, it would be Rudy Banks.”

“So maybe that’s why Vitton hated Rudy.”

“Pete, it’s safe to say that everyone hated Rudy…except for maybe a few stupid girls who liked a pretty face. What was so ironic was the kid had talent. He probably could have made a lot of money by singing if he was just an itty-bitty bit nicer, but it wasn’t in his makeup. That kid was a bad egg.”

“And you’re pretty sure that Cal J and Rudy attended high school at the same time.”

“No, I’m not positive, but that wouldn’t be hard to verify.” Lamar got up and wiped his face with a cloth. “Man, it’s a scorcher. Want another beer?”

“Water would be great.”

“All I have is lukewarm tap.”

“Bud it is.”

Lamar returned a few minutes later with a couple of cold ones. “So you’re gonna talk to Rudy?”

“If I can find him.” Decker popped the top and drank with gusto. “He seems to be avoiding me. I only talked to him once over the phone, and as you said, he was foulmouthed.”

“Primo Ekerling was also found in a car trunk like Ben Little?”

“Yes.”

“And you want to talk to Rudy about the Ekerling murder since Primo and Rudy were in a long-standing lawsuit?”

“Yes.”

“Even though Hollywood already has a couple of carjackers in custody. They don’t mind you nosing around the case?”

“They’re not happy about it, but we’ve reached a cold war understanding.”

Lamar looked at his watch. “I’d like to catch a little more sunlight out there. Do you mind?”

“Not at all.”

“Keep me posted, Decker, and I’ll do the same for you. My memory isn’t too good, but if you jog it here and there, it just might get up and take a nice long run.”