She put in a call to dispatch and requested that they reroute the officers heading for Strata Luna's and send them to Mary of the Angels instead. Then she called Starsky and gave him the new location.

Officers at every possible exit would have been the ideal situation, but they didn't have that kind of manpower. And if David was unconscious, Strata Luna couldn't be moving very quickly…

She checked her watch. "Wait upstairs for the patrol unit and the detectives," she told the manager. "When they arrive, show them down here."

"You think the person who killed that woman got in through there?" the manager asked, all of his earlier impatience gone, replaced by fear and a sudden reluctant respect.

Elise dislodged more bricks until the hole was large enough for her to pass through. She pulled out her flashlight and handgun.

In the broad beam of light, red dust particles curled toward the ceiling. She directed the beam to the ground inside the tunnel and immediately spotted parallel tracks and footprints.

Holding the gun and the light together with both hands, she paused. "Feed the cat," she said over her shoulder, then ducked through the opening.