“I can ask Lamar; Vitton is dead.” When she didn’t react, Oliver added, “Suicide.”

She flinched. “When was this?”

“Right when we reopened your husband’s investigation,” Oliver said.

“Interesting timing,” Marge added. “Do you think his suicide might have had something to do with your husband’s demise?”

“How would I know?” She began to tap her foot. “Can we wrap this up?”

Decker said, “Rudy Banks moved out of his apartment about a week ago. Since then, no one has heard boo from him. And his disappearance also neatly coincided with our reopening the case.”

“Didn’t you tell me that you had a witness who implicated him in Ekerling’s murder? Or was that utter bullshit?”

“No, it’s absolutely true. We do have a witness.”

“Then maybe he felt you were closing in on him and he took off.”

“It doesn’t worry you?” Decker asked. “Vitton’s dead and Rudy’s missing?”

She didn’t answer.

“Well, how about this?” Decker said. “Probably one of the reasons that you stopped hearing from Ryan Goldberg is that he had a serious mental collapse. His breakdown was so serious, he underwent shock therapy. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago. He’s completely decompensated.”

“Did he bring me up?” Melinda asked.

Decker digested the question. Talk about narcissism. Or maybe it was fear. “No.”

“Why’d you go to see him?”

“Initially I went to get some information about Primo Ekerling. Then Rudy went missing and I went back to Ryan for information about Rudy-and to make sure he was okay. Now Ryan appears to be missing as well.”

Melinda’s reaction was slow shock. “Ryan’s missing?”

“Maybe he’s lost, maybe he packed out. We can’t locate him.”

She bit her thumbnail. “Should I be worried?” When none of the detectives answered, she cursed out loud. “God, this is just terrific…just fucking terrific! Ekerling is dead and two maniacs are missing plus the police are breathing down my neck. I think it’s time I hired a lawyer!”

“Sure, do that,” Decker said. “And while you’re at it, you might also consider hiring a bodyguard.”

CHAPTER 38

DECKER TOSSED MARGE the keys to the Crown Vic. “You drive. I need to think.”

No one spoke for the first ten minutes of the ride back to the Valley. Oliver put his hands behind his head, lay back, and closed his eyes. Decker had popped open a can of root beer and was sipping it while reviewing his notes and making diagrams. He said, “Okay, let’s have a go at it. Melinda Little Warren. Lying or not lying about her involvement in her husband’s murder?”

“Even though she is a liar, in this case I vote not lying,” Marge said. “She spoke to us without a lawyer.”

“To play devil’s advocate, maybe she knew that once a lawyer was involved, her current husband would find out about her past and dump her.”

“True, but if she was in real trouble, I don’t think she would hesitate to hire the best legal mouthpiece in the country. She certainly could afford it.”

“Or at least her husband could. How much money does she have on her own? And what if her current husband is like her past husband? What if he holds all the purse strings and she knows he’d be reticent to hire a lawyer to defend her?”

“All true, but the fact that she did speak without a lawyer to me means either she thinks she’s clever enough to beat the system or she doesn’t have anything to do with Ben Little’s murder. Plus she was checked out thoroughly by Vitton and Lamar, and they couldn’t dredge up anything against her except Ben’s insurance policy. I think Ben was worth more to her alive than dead. He allowed her to tap into her trust fund. And, as a woman, I think part of her really liked her husband.”

“Ditto,” Oliver chimed in with his eyes still closed.

“Are you agreeing with him or me?” Marge said.

“You.” Oliver straightened up. “Melinda’s arrogant, and a liar and a thief. She could even be a murderer. But I don’t think she murdered Ben Little. I believe her when she said she had enough of the sex, drugs, and rock and roll. I think she was grateful to get out of the scene with her marriage intact and get rid of those losers.”

Decker said, “You think she was happy in a loveless marriage?”

Marge said, “Some women can deal with passionless marriages, especially if they occasionally get it from an outside source. Melinda seems to me to be one of those.”

Oliver said, “I also don’t think that she set up Ryan Goldberg to murder Ben. She wouldn’t be involved with a loser unless she was planning to whack him afterward. Otherwise he’d be an albatross around her neck.”

Marge said, “I agree with that as well.”

Decker said, “May I remind you two that Goldberg is missing? Maybe she did have him whacked.”

“If she was going to whack him,” Marge said, “she would have done it long ago.”

“Then how about Ryan murdering Ben on his own?” Decker asked.

Marge was noncommittal. “Melinda told us that Goldberg swore he didn’t do it.”

“That’s meaningless.”

“You met Goldberg, Pete. What do you think?”

“At first glance, he seems too compromised mentally to pull off a murder. But like you said, I didn’t know him then, and I don’t know him now. He could be a gentle giant ninety-nine point nine percent of the time. It may be that point one percent that we should be concerned about.”

Oliver made a face. “He stalked Melinda. That’s not a passive guy.”

Marge said, “But he stopped after Ben Little died.”

“That fits with what Liam said about Ryan moving on to someone else,” Decker commented on. “Goldberg was a serial romantic, falling in love with the women he screwed. On the other hand, Mudd had a major breakdown. Maybe his crack-up was precipitated by his murdering Ben Little.”

Oliver said, “And from talking to Melinda, you could tell that she really was frightened by him. So scared that she didn’t even report him to the police.”

Marge said, “Was Ryan so out of it that he could have thought that murdering Ben Little was the only solution to getting Melinda?”

“Maybe,” Decker said. “But if he murdered Ben with the hope of snagging Melinda, why did he suddenly disappear from her life after Little died?”

“How about this?” Oliver said. “Ryan murdered Ben with or without Melinda’s okay. But now she’s stuck. She tells Mudd to lay low. He did, and while he was hiding out, he felt so guilty that he had a breakdown and forgot about Melinda.”

Decker nodded. “Sure, although I’m not certain I see him as a premeditated killer. If he did kill Ben, it was probably heat of the moment or an accident. A hulking guy who’s not aware of his strength in an argument that got out of hand.”

“Like Lenny from Of Mice and Men,” Marge said.

Oliver said, “Let me remind everyone that Little was shot execution style in the trunk of his own car.”

“He had help, Scott,” Marge said. “We know Leroy Josephson was involved. Maybe Rudy Banks wanted Little dead and didn’t want to do it himself. He hired out Leroy Josephson but knew that Leroy needed help. That’s where Ryan Goldberg comes in. Rudy puts the two of them together: two men he could manipulate.”

“All that’s fine,” Decker said, “but what’s Rudy’s motive for wanting Little dead?”

“Maybe Rudy found out about Little’s insurance policy,” Marge said. “Ben might have been worth more to Melinda alive, but Ben wasn’t worth anything to Rudy Banks. Rudy hated the guy. With him gone, Rudy gets rid of a guy he detests, plus it frees up Little’s insurance policy.”

Oliver said, “But why would Melinda give Rudy any of the insurance money?”

“To keep her past a secret,” Marge said.

“We could postulate or we could actually try to do something,” Decker said. “What’s your schedule like tomorrow, guys?”

“I’m not sure,” Marge said.

“I think I’m pretty light,” Oliver said.