'No, Dolan, we don't have him yet. It's time to take it inside.'
She glanced at me, and I knew what she was thinking. That she'd like to snap the cuffs on him herself and cut Krantz and Bishop and their whole damned Task Force out of the bust.
'This is what you wanted, Samantha. This is going to get you back on the team, but not if you piss off Bishop even more than he already is.'
She didn't like it much, but she finally went along. 'This guy works the day shift, so he's probably at Parker Center right now. I'm putting this on Bishop's desk in person. We've got the files and Wozniak's book. I'm giving Bishop the whole load, and fuck Krantz.'
'Whatever. I've got to use a phone. Stop somewhere.'
'Use mine. It's in my purse.'
'I'd rather use a pay phone. It won't take long.'
She glanced at me like I was crazy.
'I need a phone, Dolan.'
'You're going to call Pike.'
I just looked at her.
'Ifuckin'knewit.'
She jerked the Beemer into the nearest gas station, blasting 323
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past a crowd of people waiting to board a bus. She screeched up to the pay phones, and left the engine running.
'Don't take all goddamned day.'
I did the same thing I'd done before, calling Pike's man, giving him the pay phone's number, then hanging up. Pike called back in less than two minutes. From the static I could tell he was on a cell phone.
'We were right, Joe. It's Sobek.'
'Is he in custody?'
'Not yet. I wanted to tell you that we're bringing it to Bishop now. If we get lucky, Sobek will cop to Dersh. If not, maybe we'll find something that links him to it and clears you.'
'It's going to bring up Woz.'
'Yeah, it is. We've got to show Wozniak's notebook to tie Sobek to DeVille, and to Wozniak. Once the story breaks, they're going to dig into what happened between you in that room. I just wanted to warn you. After we're finished with Bishop, I'll call Charlie, then go see Paulette and Evelyn so they aren't caught flat.'
'You won't have to. I will.'
I didn't know what to say, but I smiled.
Dolan blew her horn.
Pike said, 'It's been a long time. I guess it's time we spoke.'
'Okay, but stay safe until this guy takes the weight for Dersh. You're still wanted, and we don't know what we'll get from him.'
When I was back in her car, Dolan swerved through the gas station, cut in front of the bus, and blasted toward the Los Angeles River.
'Dolan, have you ever killed anybody in this thing?'
'Cinch your belt tighter if you're scared. You'll be fine.'
I glanced at her and she was smiling. I guess I was smiling, too.
When we reached Parker Center, Dolan didn't bother going into the parking lot; she put it in the red zone out front. We trotted in, Dolan badging us past the desk guard. I looked at
L.A. REQUIEM 325
everyone we passed, wondering if Sobek would be standing there when the elevator doors opened, but he wasn't.
We pushed into Robbery-Homicide, Watts and Williams raising their eyebrows when they saw us. Dolan steamed straight into Bishop's office, surprising him on the phone.
Dolan said, 'We've got the shooter.'
He covered the phone, annoyed. 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'
She put the photograph of Laurence Sobek on his desk. 'His real name is Laurence Sobek. Here's another picture when he was booked under his true name as a juvenile. He's our shooter, Greg. We got him.'
Bishop told whoever was on the phone that he'd get back in five and hung up. He leaned closer to the pictures. Sobek had gained muscle and changed his appearance, but when the pictures were side by side you could tell they were the same guy.
'This is Woody something.'
I said, 'You know him as Curtis Wood. He's a civilian employee here. He pushes the mail cart around.'
Krantz and Watts appeared in the door, Williams standing on his toes to see past them.
Krantz said, 'Is there a problem, Captain?'
Dolan laughed. 'Oh, please, Krantz. Like you could do something.'
'They say he's our shooter, Harvey.' Bishop squinted up from the pictures. 'Where'd you get this booking picture?'
I said, 'Sobek's juvenile record. We got the recent picture from Sobek's mother.'
I showed them the pages we'd copied from Abel Wozniak's notebook, pointing out the passages about Sobek and De-Ville, and their relationship, then the copy of Sobek's juvenile record showing Wozniak as one of his arresting officers.
Even as I said it, Krantz made a sour face as if he'd bitten into a rotten carrot. 'All this proves is we've got someone working here under a false name. For all you know, he changed it legally because of the problems he had as a child.'
'No, Krantz, we've got more than that.'
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Dolan said, 'You find a connection yet between the six vies, Harvey?'
Krantz stared at her, suspicious. You could tell he wanted to say they weren't connected, but he knew she wouldn't have asked if she weren't about to drop a bomb. Instead, he glanced at me. 'What's your connection in all of this?'
'If Sobek did the six vies, then he probably killed Dersh, too.'
Krantz scowled at Bishop. 'We're being scammed. This is just some bullshit Cole cooked up to save Pike.'
Bishop was looking dubious, but Stan Watts grew thoughtful. 'How are they connected?'
Dolan said, 'Leonard DeVille was the pedophile in the motel when Abel Wozniak was killed. Wozniak and Pike had gone in there on a tip, possibly from Sobek, looking for a little girl named Ramona Escobar.'
Watts nodded. 'I remember that.'
'Cole worked backward from Dersh, asking who'd have a motive and why would they put it on Pike.'
Krantz said, 'This is bullshit. Pike killed that man.'
Bishop raised his hand, thinking about it.
Watts looked at me. 'How'dyou make the jump to DeVille?'
'I wasn't thinking the connection was through DeVille. I was thinking it had to be through Wozniak, but it turned out to be the other.'
Dolan went on. 'We tried to pull DeVille's case file out of stores, but it's missing. Sobek could've slipped in there and lifted it. I ordered this copy up from the DA's section. This is the witness list from that case file. All six vies are on this list.'
