'Yeah, he was just a kid. That was part of the story. Anyway, the nut shoots this fat guy in the leg to make his point, then grabs this nine-year-old girl and starts screaming he's going to do her next. He wants Madonna, right? Palmetta puts the call in for a hostage negotiator and the SWAT team but Thurman figures there ain't time. He takes off his gun and goes into the bus to talk to the guy. The nut tries to shoot him twice but he's shaking so bad both shots miss, so he puts the gun to the girl's head. You know what happened then?'
The purple lady was leaning forward, frowning because she wanted to know.
Eddie said, 'Thurman tells the guy he's had Madonna and Madonna's a lousy lay, but he knows Rosanna Arquette and Rosanna Arquette is the best blow job in town. Thurman tells the guy if he puts down the gun, as soon as he's out on bail, he'll set it up with Rosanna Arquette 'cause she owes him a couple of favors.'
The purple woman said, 'And he went for that?'
Eddie spread his hands 'Here's a nut believes he's gonna get Madonna, why not? The guy says only if she blows him twice. Thurman says, okay, she'll do it twice, but not on the same day, she's got a thing about that. The nut says that's okay with him 'cause he's only good for once a week anyway, and puts down the gun.'
The purple lady laughed, and she didn't look so odd anymore.
Eddie was smiling, too. 'That was, what, a couple years ago? Thurman gets the Medal of Valor and six months later he wins the early promotion to plain-clothes and the REACT team. They're top cops, pal. Every one of those guys has a story like that in his file else he wouldn't be on the team.'
'Eddie, what if I didn't want the good stuff? What if I was a reporter and I was looking for something that maybe had a smell to it?'
'Like what?'
'Like maybe I'm looking to see if they've crossed over.'
Eddie shook his head and patted the VDT. 'If it's in here, it's already public record. Someone would've had to lodge the complaint, and it would've had to come out through LAPD PR or one of the news agencies or the courts. It wouldn't be a secret and no one would be trying to hide it.'
'Okay. Could you check for allegations?'
'Substantiated or otherwise?'
I looked at him.
'Reporter humor. It's probably over your head.' Eddie hit more keys and watched the screen, and then did it again. When he had filled and wiped the screen three times, he nodded and leaned back. 'I had it search through the files keying on the officers' names for every news release during the past year, then I threw out the junk about them saving babies and arresting the Incredible Hulk and just kept the bad stuff. This is pretty neat.'
I leaned forward and looked at the screen. 'What's it found?'
'Excessive-force complaints. 'Suspect injured while resisting arrest.' 'Suspect filed brutality charges.' Like that. 'Course, these guys are busting felons and felons tend to get nasty, but check it out, you've got twenty-six complaints in the past ten months, and eleven of them are against this guy Riggens.'
'Any charges brought?'
'
I read the list. Twenty-six names ran down the left side of the page, and next to each name there was a booking number and the arresting charge and the claims levied by the defendants and the accused officer or officers. Riggens had all or part of eleven of the charges, and the remainder were divided pretty evenly between Pinkworth and Dees and Garcia and Thurman. Thurman had part of three.
Eddie said, 'You've got to understand, cops on these special tac squads get charges filed all the time, so most of these really are garbage, but if I'm looking for tuna I'm looking for losers, and that's Riggens.'
'Thanks, Eddie.'
Eddie stuck the cigar in his mouth and rolled it around and looked at me. 'What you got going here, kid? It any good?'
'I don't know. I'm still just running down the leads.'
He nodded and sucked on the cigar, and then he gazed at the editors' offices. He wasn't getting any younger. 'If there's a story here, I want it.'
'You bet, Eddie.'
Eddie Ditko spread his hands, then hacked up something phlegmy and spit it into the basket. No one looked and no one paid any mind. I guess seniority has its privileges.
I went back the way I came, took the elevator down to the lobby, then used the pay phone there to call Jennifer Sheridan in Marty Beale's office. I asked her for Floyd Riggens's address. She said, 'Which one?'
'What do you mean, which one?'
'He's divorced. He used to live in La Canada, but now he's got a little apartment somewhere.'
I told her that if she had them both, I'd take them both. She did. She also told me that Riggens's ex-wife was named Margaret, and that they had three children.
When I had the information that I needed, I said, 'Jennifer?'
'Yes?'
'Did Mark ever complain to you about Floyd?'
There was a little pause. 'Mark said he didn't like having Floyd as a partner. He said Floyd scared him.'
