The Night Crew

They talked for another two minutes: a woman came in, glanced at Harper, said nothing, just went on to a booth and closed the door. Harper looked at A

'All right,' A

China brightened. 'You got something good?'

'Great lead,' Harper said, as they left the club. 'Now what?'

'Bu

'A

'So, we bang on a doormaybe there'll be somebody around. What else are we go

'I could come up with something.'

Behind them, in the club, a man leaned in the door of the women's restroom and said, 'Aren't you China Lake?'

China turned and said, 'Hey: You got anything good on you?'

The man shrugged, and unconsciously reached up to touch his cheekbone. 'Probably,' he said. 'I got a little of everything.'

'You do?' China brightened, the circles seeming to fade from beneath her eyes. She looked almost young enough to be her age. 'I've been waiting for you.'

Chapter 20

On the way out Sunset toward Burbank, A

Harper pulled over: 'What's going on?'

'How do you roll the window?' The window rolled down and A

The woman had been watching the car as it slowed, and now she smiled, flipped her cigarette up the street and said, 'A

'Working. Come on, get in.' A

The woman nodded and said, 'Nice wheels,' as she slipped into the back seat. And A

Harper's eyebrows went up: 'You're pulling my leg.'

Norden gri

'A

'I can't believe you're sleeping with a lawyer,' Norden said, tongue-in-cheek.

'Who says I am?' A

'I do,' Norden said. 'You've got that really clear-skin look.'

'What's wrong with lawyers?' Harper asked the rearview mirror.

'Nothing. I am one,' Norden said.

'Yeah? You know the difference between a lawyer and a trampoline?'

'You take off your shoes to jump on a trampoline,' Norden said. 'You know what the lawyer said when he stepped in a cow pie?'

'Oh my God, I'm melting,' Harper said. 'You know the difference between a rooster and a lawyer?'

'A rooster clucks defiance,' Norden said, and Harper said, 'All right, she's a lawyer.'

'I told you that,' said A

'If you loved me, you wouldn't laugh,' Harper said.

Then A

'Sureyou're doing a story that'll ruin his life, I hope,' Norden said.

'We don't even know himbut we need to talk to him. I've got a problem.' And she explained it.

Norden listened carefully and then said, 'A

'I've suggested that. She says she's staying; so I'm staying.'

'That's stupid,' Norden said. She leaned forward and pointed through the windshield. 'See the place with the moon in the window? Let's go in there.'

The Gibbous Moon was run by a pair of gentle aging hippies who knew Norden; the place smelled of steamed vegetables, olive oil and coffee. The counterman called Norden by name; they found a booth, ordered coffee.

'Dick Harnett was the producer of legitimate TV shows back in the sixties, but he was a sex freak and he started making some porno when that was hip, back around the Deep Throatdays,' Norden said. 'Then feminism came in and porno wasn't hip anymore and nobody legit would touch him. He was scratching around for a while, but then video came along, and you know, he knew how to do that. And he saw what was going to happen. He was one of the first big time video-porn distributors.'

'So he's rich.'

'No, no, after a while, it got so every college kid in L.A. was making a porno film with his girlfriend. amateur tapes. The bottom's sort of fallen out of the market. I get the impression that most of those guys are on hard times.'

'He's got this Bu

'Yeah, pretending he has something to do with Playboy. He's had a dozen companies, probably. He's getting old, nowhe's still a freak, though, that's the word.'

'A sleaze-dog,' A

Norden blew gently on her coffee, then nodded: 'Yeah. And the thing is, there's always been violence around his films. He sorts of gets off on the idea of sex by force. Maybe. I don't know.'

'Maybe what?' Harper asked. 'You think he might be the guy?'

'He's not young,' A

'White hair?' Harper asked.

Norden nodded: 'Big white hair. From way backhis first company was called Silver Fox Films.'

'How do you know all this? From Lutheran Social Services?' Harper asked.

'I work with hookersyoung girls,' Norden said. 'Pull them off the street, try to get them out of the life.'

'Gets in fistfights in biker bars,' A

'Hey, who doesn't,' Norden said, raising her eyebrows as she looked at A

'Huh.' Harper scratched his chin. 'And you know Harnett.'

'I know who he isI've talked to him. He used street kids from time to time and I've heard that he's made a couple of videos with really young kids. So he's on my interestlist.'

'You think he might have hired somebody like Jason?' A

'From what you said, he's exactly the kind of guy Harnett would usesomebody who wouldn't cost him too much and does good work. Lot of kids from UCLA have worked for him,' Norden said.

A

Harper shook his head: 'First we've got to get a look at him. I mean, if he's the guy. you oughta know him.'

'Never heard the name,' A

'You did that piece on street kids, you might of bumped into him and not known it,' Norden said.

'That was six months ago,' A

Back in the car, A

She was amused: 'No. I went to a Lutheran college in Iowa, and then to Guatemala to work with a mission. I came back and went to law school here in CaliforniaBerkeleyand joined Lutheran Social Services as a lawyer. I met some street kids, girls, and decided that I liked the mission work better than the law work. I still do some law.'

'And you've still held onto the religious aspect. even after seeing all the stuff on the street?'

'Oh, absolutely,' Norden said, nodding, her face serious. 'I accept Jesus Christ as my savior, and I believe that he will return soon and judge us and lead those who deserve it to eternal life.'

Harper checked the mirror again, and decided she wasn't joking.

Then A