Compulsion

killer.

“No way,” said Chacon, over the music.

“You think it’s impossible an old guy would do something like that?”

“No, what I’m saying is I never saw no one like that.”

“How about anyone walking around the lot, checking out the wheels?”

Chacon shook his head. “It’s real quiet here, the only time someone comes is when a car’s broke and the main lot sends a mechanic.”

Milo turned off the music. The silence made Chacon blink repeatedly.

“No one loitered. Or just hung around? Anyone, even a homeless guy?”

“For sure no.”

“For sure?”

“There was someone I’d tell you.” Chacon reached for the radio dial. Thought better of it.

Milo said, “’Cause you want to cooperate.”

“Yeah.”

We returned to the car. Running Chacon’s name through the system brought up a Boyle Heights address, no outstanding wants or warrants. Three arrests ten years ago.

Two gang-related assaults and a burglary pled down to petty theft, all in Rampart Division.

“Old gangbanger,” I said.

“That’s who they put in charge of hot wheels.”

“He moved to a new neighborhood, works a straight job.”

“Reformed?”

“It happens.”

“But you think not,” he said.

“What do you mean?”

“That question about the new lock. You’re wondering if he forgot to bolt up, found the chain down this morning, bought a replacement.”

“Mind reader,” I said. “Also, his eyes moved a lot.”

“Goddamn pinball machine. Maybe it’s worse and someone paid him to leave the chain off last night.”

“Or the killer picked it,” I said. “Cheap drugstore crap.”

He looked over at the shack. “A guy with Chacon’s past is wise to the drill, he’s got no motivation to give anything up. I get closer to the bad guy, I can come back with leverage, offer him a break on aiding and abetting.”

Once, not if.

Nice to see him thinking about the future.

CHAPTER 7

The meeting with Antoine Beverly’s parents was set for noon the following day.

When I got to Milo’s office, a note on the door said A: Rm. 6.

Largest room, at the end of the corridor. An Interview in Progress: Do Not Disturb sign dangled from the doorknob.

I knocked once and went in.

A middle-aged black couple sat across the table from Milo. A wallet-sized photo of a boy was placed in front of the woman and after she appraised me, her attention returned to the image.

The man next to her wore a stiff brown suit, a white shirt, and a gold tie secured by a silver clip. An American flag pin rode his lapel. His gray hair was tight; in front it faded to skin. Under a white thread of a mustache, his smile was obligatory.

The woman had on a charcoal pantsuit. High waved hair was one shade darker than her clothes. She drew away from the photo with reluctance and placed her hands flat on the table.

Milo said, “Mr. and Mrs. Beverly, this is our psychologist, Dr. Delaware. Doctor, Gordon and Sharna Beverly.”

Gordon Beverly half stood and sat back down. His wife said, “Pleased to meet you, Doctor.”

The pressing of cool dry flesh. I sat next to Milo.

He said, “Mr. and Mrs. Beverly brought me this picture of Antoine.”

I studied the picture, maybe longer than I needed to. Smiling, clear-eyed boy with a space between his incisors. Short hair, blue shirt, plaid tie.

“Doctor, I was just explaining that you were involved because of the complexities.”

Sharna Beverly said, “We could use a psychiatrist because if it wasn’t that maniac in Texas, it was some kind of maniac. I knew it from the beginning, kept telling those other detectives.” A silver-nailed finger touched the edge of the photo. “It’s been so long. No one did anything.”

“They tried,” said her husband. “But there were no leads.”

Sharna Beverly’s stare said he’d blasphemed. She turned to me. “I’m here to tell you what Antoine was like, so you’ll understand he didn’t run away.”

Milo said, “No one suspects that, ma’am.”

“They sure did sixteen years ago. Kept telling me he’d run away, run away. Antoine liked his practical jokes but he was a good boy. Our other boys went to college and that was Antoine’s plan. He especially looked up to his biggest brother, Brent. Brent has a degree in sound engineering and works on motion pictures. Gordon Junior is an accountant at the Water and Power.”

Gordon Beverly said, “Antoine wanted to be a doctor.”

“You probably heard this a million times,” said his wife, “but not knowing is the worst. Doctor, be honest with me. Knowing what you know about maniacs, what chance is there this devil in Texas is telling the truth?”

I said, “I wish I could give you a solid answer, Mrs. Beverly. But there’s no way to know. His story’s certainly worth pursuing. Every angle is.”

“There you go,” she said. “Every angle. That’s what I told those detectives sixteen years ago. They said there was nothing more to do.”

I glanced at the picture. A boy frozen in time.

Sharna Beverly said, “They should’ve had the courtesy to answer our phone calls.”

Gordon said, “They answered them at first, then they stopped.”

“They stopped pretty quickly.” Daring her husband to argue.

Milo said, “I’m really sorry.”

“No need to be sorry, Lieutenant. Let’s do something now.”

Milo said, “Getting back to what we were talking about, ma’am, how exactly did Antoine get that magazine job?”

“Magazine subscriptions,” said Gordon Beverly. “Nice white neighborhood, supposed to be safe.”

His wife said, “He’s not asking what, he’s asking how. Antoine found out at school. Someone put a flyer up on the bulletin board just before summer break. Antoine loved to work.”

“Antoine had ambitions,” said her husband. “Talked about being a surgical doctor. He liked anything scientific.”

Sharna Beverly said, “The flyer made it sound like easy money, magazines selling themselves, just jumping into people’s hands. I told Antoine that was foolish but he couldn’t be convinced. He copied down the number and went to a meeting on a Saturday. Took two friends, all of them agreed to do it. They got sent to Culver City, which in those days was all white. They worked five days steady and Antoine sold the most subscriptions. The following Monday is when Antoine never came home.”

I said, “Did Antoine or the other boys have any unpleasant experiences on the job?”