coming for him, and what it is we want to know. Now he’ll have plenty of time to think up good answers. Way to go, Sherlock.”
The I-Man walked out.
Scott looked at Orso and Cowly. He mostly looked at Cowly.
“I know it’s worth nothing, but I’m sorry.”
Orso shrugged.
“Shit happens.”
Orso pushed back from the table and walked away.
Cowly stood last.
“Come on. I’ll walk you to the elevator.”
Scott followed her, not knowing what to say. When he found the small leather strap in the manila envelope, the sidewalk where it was found and the smears of rust gave him a sense the band and he somehow shared the events of that night. It had been a physical link to Stephanie and the shooting and the memories he could not recall, and he had hoped it would help him see the night more clearly.
When they reached the elevator, Cowly touched his arm. She looked sad.
“These things happen. Nobody died.”
“Not today.”
Cowly flushed, and Scott realized his comment had made her feel awkward and embarrassed.
“Jesus, I’m batting a thousand. I didn’t mean it the way it sounded. You were being nice.”
Her flush faded as she relaxed.
“I was being nice, but I meant it. Exclusions aren’t automatic. Issues like this are argued every day, so don’t sweat it until it’s time to start sweating.”
Scott was feeling a little better.
“Whatever you say.”
“I say. And if the DNA matches Daryl to the band, we have something to chase, which is all thanks to you.”
The elevator opened. Scott caught the doors with a hand, but didn’t go in.
“The picture of you and a man on the beach. Is he your husband?”
Cowly was so still, Scott thought he had offended her, but she smiled as she turned away.
“Don’t even think about it, Officer.”
“Too late. I’m thinking.”
She kept walking.
“Turn off your brain.”
“My dog likes me.”
When she reached the Homicide Special door, Cowly stopped.
“He’s my brother. The kids are my niece and nephews.”
“Thank you, Detective.”
“Have a good day, Officer.”
Scott boarded the elevator and rode down to his car.
26.
Scott spent the rest of the afternoon working with Maggie on advanced vehicle exercises. These included exiting the car through an open window, entering a car through an open window to engage a suspect, and obeying off-leash commands while outside the vehicle when Scott remained inside the vehicle. Their K-9 vehicle was a standard police patrol sedan with a heavy wire screen separating the front and back seats, and a remote door- release system that opened the rear doors from as far as one hundred feet away. The remote system allowed Scott to release Maggie without exiting the car, or exit the vehicle without her, and release her from a distance by pushing a button on his belt.
Maggie hated the K-9 car. She hopped into the back seat willingly enough, but as soon as Scott got in behind the wheel, she whined and pawed at the screen that kept them apart. She stopped when he gave her commands to lie down or sit, but a few seconds later she would try even harder to reach him. She bit and pulled the mesh so hard, Scott thought her teeth would break. He moved on to other exercises as quickly as possible.
Leland watched them work on and off throughout the afternoon, but was absent most of the time. Scott wasn’t sure if this was a good sign, but with Maggie jumping in and out of the car, the less Leland was around, the better. He was relieved when Maggie reached the end of the day without limping.
Scott stowed the training gear, cleaned up, and was leading Maggie out of the kennel when the office door opened behind them and Leland appeared.
“Officer James.”
Scott tugged the leash to stop Maggie’s growl.
“Hey, Sergeant. Heading for home.”
“I won’t keep you.”
Leland came out, so Scott walked back to meet him.
“I am assigning our beautiful young man, Quarlo, to another handler. Because I first offered Quarlo to you, I thought you should hear this from me.”
Scott wasn’t sure why Leland was telling him, or what his assigning Quarlo to another handler meant.
“Okay. Thanks for telling me.”
“There is one more thing. When we began our work with Miss Maggie here, you asked for two weeks before I re-evaluated her. You may have three. Enjoy your evening, Officer James.”
Scott decided a treat was in order. They celebrated at a construction site in Burbank with fried chicken, beef brisket, and two turkey drumsticks. The women who worked in the food truck fell in love with Maggie, and asked if they could take each other’s picture, posing with Scott and the dog. Scott said sure, and the construction workers lined up for pictures, too. Maggie growled only once.
Scott walked her when they reached home, then showered and brought the envelope containing the discs to his table. The idea of watching two dead men enjoying themselves creeped him out, but Scott hoped this would help him deal with the crazy, innocent-bystander nature of the shooting and Stephanie’s violent loss. He hoped he wasn’t deluding himself. Maybe he only wanted a better target for his rage.
Scott found two discs when he opened the envelope, one labeled Tyler’s, the other Club Red. Something about the number of discs bothered him, and then he recalled Melon had logged two discs from Club Red. He wondered why Cowly gave him only one of the Club Red discs, but decided it didn’t matter.
Scott fed the Club Red disc into his computer. While it loaded, Maggie went into the kitchen, slurped up what sounded like gallons of water, then curled into a huge black-and-tan ball at his feet. She did not sleep in her crate anymore. He reached down to touch her.
“Good girl.”
Thump thump.
The Club Red video had been recorded using a stationary, black-and-white ceiling camera. There was no sound. The high angle covered a room crowded with upscale men and couples in booths or at tables, watching costumed women pose while servers moved between the tables. Thirty seconds into the video, Beloit and Pahlasian were shown to a table for two. Scott felt nothing as he watched them. A couple of minutes later, a waitress approached to take their order. Scott grew bored, and hit the fast-forward. Drinks were delivered by the high-speed, herky-jerky waitress, Beloit yukked it up, Pahlasian stared at the dancers. At one point, Beloit stopped a passing waitress, who pointed to the rear of the room. Beloit followed her finger at triple-time speed, and returned just as quickly two minutes later. Pit stop. More fast-forward minutes passed, Beloit paid, they left, off to meet the Wizard, and the image froze.
End of recording.
Other than staff, the two men had interacted with no one. No one approached them. Neither man approached or spoke to another customer. Neither had used his cell phone.
