moved to the easel at the end of the table and flipped open a newsprint pad. He wrote:
NORVELL AND TULLY — BOTH FROM LINCOLN COUNTY,WHERE MONTOYA'S BODY FOUND.
COLLEGE YEARS- NORVELL AND TULLY RUN GIRLS,SELL DRUGS,ETC.
MONTOYA ACCUSES NORVELL OF DRUGGING AND SEDUCING COUSIN FOR SEX TRADE PURPOSES.
NORVELL AND TULLY BOTH MOVE TO DENVER AFTER COLLEGE.TULLY OPENS PLAYERS CLUB, NORVELL START A MEDIA ESCORT AND
SECURITY SERVICE.
MONTOYA KILLED AFTER NORVELL RETURNS TO NM; IS ELECTED TO STATE SENATE.
Kerney stopped writing and turned to Sal Molina. 'Fill us in a bit more on Norvell's Colorado years.'
'Like I said, Norvell's company supplied cars and drivers for celebrities who were in town for concerts, book signings, media events, and movie and television productions. He also provided private security for them, as well as for concert promoters and film companies shooting on location.'
Molina pulled a piece of paper out of a file. 'It was incorporated in Colorado as Five Partners Enterprises, solely owned by Norvell. That's all I have, so far.'
'That doesn't sound like a way to make a fortune,' Kerney said.
'But the company name is interesting,' Ramona said. 'Tully's business in Albuquerque is incorporated as Five Players.'
'A coincidence, I'm sure,' Kerney said.
'Add one more,' Jeff Vialpando said. 'Cassie Bedlow's agency is on the books as Five Stars Enterprises.'
'Hold on,' Sal Molina said as he quickly flipped through his notes from the Denver PD. 'Here it is. Belinda Louise Nieto was murdered outside The Players Club in Denver.'
'Surely, it's just an unrelated circumstance,' Kerney said, writing it down.
MONTOYA COUSIN KILLED OUTSIDE DENVER CLUB OUNED BY TULLY.
'Three different companies incorporated as Five Players, Five Stars, and Five Partners,' Kerney said. He tore off the sheet of newsprint and taped it to the wall. 'Tully, Bedlow, and Norvell. Who are the other two?'
'Silva and Barrett attended Tully's grand opening in Albuquerque,' Vialpando said.
'Okay, they're possibles,' Kerney said.
'And what about Luis Rojas, the ex-college jock?' Ramona asked.
'We know nothing about him yet,' Kerney said, shifting his gaze to Helen Muiz. 'Let's start a things-to-do list, Helen. Personal and business background checks on Silva and Barrett. Locate Rojas and do the same.'
He returned to his chair while the officers stared at the list on the wall.
'If Norvell killed Montoya to keep her from exposing him, you've got motive, Chief,' Vialpando said. 'But what about opportunity? Can you place him in Santa Fe at the time of the murder?'
'Or at Tully's Denver club, the night Belinda Nieto was killed?' Ramona added.
'That's two more things to do,' Kerney said, nodding at Helen, who was already writing them down.
'I'll ask Denver PD for their crime-scene witness list,' Molina said.
'I'll check Norvell's travel reimbursement records with the state,' Kerney said. 'Can you free up a detective to run down information on Barrett's and Silva's businesses?' he asked Molina.
'Can do,' Molina replied, 'and I'll cover Luis Rojas.'
'Okay,' Kerney said. 'From what Detective Pino and Sergeant Vialpando have said, I'm inclined to assume that Norvell, Tully, and Bedlow have been operating a vice ring for the last twenty years. It's likely they have at least two more partners. We've got potential informants in the Greer woman and the photographer, Deacon.'
Kerney stared at Pino and Vialpando. 'How do you two want to proceed with them?' he asked.
'I've made a date with Greer for tonight through her Web site,' Vialpando said. 'We've got a room booked at an expensive hotel. We'll videotape the transaction, bust her, and see where it takes us.'
'Don't have too much fun before the bust,' Ramona said.
Vialpando leaned close to Pino and gave her a big smile. 'I wouldn't think of it.'
Ramona grinned back.
'And Deacon?' Kerney asked, interrupting the by-play.
'He's mine,' Ramona said, turning off her smile. 'I called and asked him to make some enlargements of the pictures he took. I'm picking them up this evening. Maybe he'll be stoned enough to let down his guard.'
'I'd like to see those pictures,' Vialpando said.
'Not a chance,' Ramona replied.
'Can you give Detective Pino backup at Deacon's?' Kerney asked Vialpando.
'It's already arranged.'
'Very good,' Kerney said.
'I'd like to use Detective Pino undercover at Tully's club, Chief,' Vialpando said.
'I haven't forgotten your request, Sergeant, and I'm willing to go along with it, if needed. You've been very helpful to us, and I appreciate it. But let's see how far we get before Ramona has to start her new job.'
Kerney pushed his chair back. 'I want reports from everybody ASAP. I'll be at home tonight. Call me there.'
All except Helen Muiz left the room. She stood up, handed Kerney the to-do list, and said, 'I think those two young people like each other.'
'I noticed that,' Kerney replied.
'Well I hope they do a better job hiding it when they're undercover.'
Helen left the room laughing.
Getting lost in El Paso put Clayton in a foul mood. What looked so easy to get to on a street map wound up being a series of false starts, wrong turns, and wasted time parked at the side of roads trying to figure out where in the hell he was. He did a lot better at finding his way in the mountains and forests on the rez than in the concrete and asphalt of cities.
Finally, he made it to the Upper Valley, a suburban strip of land on the west side of El Paso that bordered the Rio Grande. He drove through wide streets lined with shade trees, passing newer two-story homes, looking for the right turnoff. Here and there along the road were old farmhouses, some irrigation canals, and patches of agricultural land that had not yet given way to the sprawl.
Deborah Shea, the girlfriend who'd been so conveniently present at Rojas's house, no longer lived at the address listed on her driver's license. Clayton got the story from the current owner, an older, retired army major who actually thought cops were the good guys. He pulled out a mortgage settlement statement which showed that the seller of the house had been Big Five Trucking, Inc., Rojas's company.
'I don't know this woman you're looking for,' the man said. 'The house was vacant when we bought it.'
Clayton checked the closing date for the sale of the house against the issue date he'd recorded from Shea's driver's license. She'd used the address to renew her license six months after the new owner had moved in.
Clayton wondered if Deborah Shea had ever even lived in the house, and went looking for neighbors who might know. According to one woman, a home owner on the same street, the house had been built six years ago and a Hispanic family lived there prior to the retired army major moving in.
'Were there any other occupants?' Clayton asked, trying not to stare at the woman's tinted and wildly curled hairdo that probably cost a hundred bucks a pop every time she went to the beauty parlor. He'd never known Apache women to do such strange things to their hair, and it had nothing to do with money.
The woman, whose husband ran a maquiladora in Juarez, shook her head. 'No, it was just Tony, Martha, and the children.'
'How well did you know them?' Clayton asked.
'They were nice people who always came to the annual neighborhood potluck parties. The children were polite and well behaved. Other than that, they didn't do a lot of socializing. The kids kept them too busy.'
Clayton rephrased his question: 'What do you know about them?'
'Tony worked for a trucking company. He had a management position of some sort.'
'Big Five Trucking?'
'Yes, I think that's it. Martha was a stay-at-home mom.'
Clayton thanked the woman, left, and kept looking for Deborah Shea. She wasn't listed in the phone book or in the several recent city directories he examined at a branch library. He tried a long shot at a motor vehicle office,
