Sacred and Profane

The house was dark, the curtains drawn. After determining that no one was home, Decker went back to the car and waited. It was not the time to play hot dog and attempt a break-in. He knew Cecil was trapped. Marge was at the shop, he was here, and all good homing pigeons return to roost.

He sipped the container of black coffee, listening to the staccato voices of the dispatchers reporting crimes-burglaries, robberies, GTAs. The yetzer harah is alive and well. More than well. Goddam robust.

Devil worship, living sacrifices, pain flicks. How the hell did Lindsey figure in? Suppose she and the Countess had been snuffed in a film. How had the Countess gotten hold of her in the first place? Pulled her into a car at gunpoint in front of a busy shopping center? Stranger things had been known to happen, but he didn’t like it. And why was the Countess killed along with her? Maybe Lindsey Bates had a secret life as a satanic cultist and had been involved from the start.

No. It didn’t make sense.

The hours passed. Decker’s hopes for a quick catch began to fade. He’d come on too strong with Pode and Pode’d split town along with his goods.

Decker radioed Marge.

“Anything?” he asked her.

“Dead.”

“I think Pode might have taken an extended vacation.”

“So now what do we do?”

“There’s his son, Dustin, the stockbroker and film maker.”

“Why do you think he’s dirty, Pete?”

“I don’t think he’s one way or the other, but I still want to feel him out. We’ve returned each other’s calls but haven’t been able to co

“Doing the old Jack Cohen alias again?” Marge asked.

“Jack loves intrigue.”

She asked: “How long do you want to hang around?”

“You can go home, Marge. He’s more likely to show up here than at his studio.”

“Unless he has business to clear up here.”

There was a pause.

“How about another hour?” Marge suggested.

“Okay.”

At 4 A.M. they called it quits.

It came to him-a flash of insight as he was pulling up into the driveway of his ranch. He shifted into reverse and headed for Santa Monica, arriving at the apartment complex a half hour before dawn. The chill and wetness of the night had seeped into the nape of his neck, and he pulled up the collar on his jacket. Stopping in front of number thirteen, he knocked hard on the door. Five minutes later, Truscott answered in his underwear and swayed drowsily, using the doorhandle for balance.

“What’s goin’ on?” he muttered.

“You remember me, Chris?”

The boy nodded sleepily.

“Come in.” He yawned and opened the door wide.

Neither one bothered to sit.

“What’s goin’ on?” the boy repeated.

“The gig you got on the day of Lindsey’s disappearance-you said it was a wedding.”

“Yeah.”

“You said you got it at the last minute.”

“Yeah.”

“Who was the original photographer supposed to be?”

“A guy I know.”

“What’s his name?”

“Cecil Pode. He’s a-”

“Shit!” Decker slammed his fist into a waiting palm. “Did Pode know you were supposed to meet Lindsey?”

The boy’s face was the picture of confusion. He rubbed his eyes.

“What are you gettin’ at?” he asked.

“Did Pode ever meet Lindsey?”

“Couple times. I used to develop my pictures at his studio. He saw some of the shots I took of her and asked me to bring her around. He said he wanted to snap a couple of shots of her for his window display. Made a point of telling me how photogenic she was. I don’t think he ever did it, though.”

“Did Pode ever see the nudes you took of Lindsey?”

“I guess. I don’t remember.”

“How’d you meet Pode?”

“On the beach. He hung around the Venice boardwalk a lot.”

“Did you tell Pode before the day of the gig that you had a date with Lindsey on the day of her disappearance?”

“I might have. I don’t fuckin’ remember.” Panic seized the boy. “What is it?”

“I’m not sure.”

“What the hell do you mean you’re not sure?” Truscott’s voice cracked. “What’s Cecil got to do with Lindsey? Did he do anything to her?”

Decker was silent. Truscott grabbed his shoulders. He had an alarmingly tight grip for a man his size.

“Did he do anything to her?” he shouted.

“He might have,” Decker said quietly. “He might have told her to come with him to meet you. And then he might have abducted her.”

The boy’s scream came out a strangled, sucking gasp. Then he collapsed into Decker’s arms.

Decker slept in the station’s dormitory from 6:30 to 8:30 A.M. Bleary-eyed at 9 A.M., he placed a call to the information operator in Klamath Falls. There were three Armbrusters. The second one was the wi

Decker reminded himself that Katie had been born with congenital syphilis. The indignation of the hypocrites.

Katie’s dentist had only X rays of current patients at his fingertips. It would be a couple of days before he could find her radiographs. He did remember working on her once or twice. The Armbrusters really couldn’t afford too much. If he found the X rays, he’d be glad to send them down. A shame about Katie, he said to Decker. She was a wild kid, but that was no reason to die.

Morrison sat across his desk, eyes fixed on Decker’s face.

“You want to tell me what the hell is going on, Pete? You’ve requested two search warrants and a tail on some stockbroker named Dustin Pode.”

“The warrants are for his father’s home and studio. Cecil Pode is a snuff film distributor. I’m betting he’s involved in Lindsey Bates’s abduction and death. After I questioned him, I think he cut town. I want to see if he left anything incriminating behind.”

“Who says he’s a snuff distributor-the pimp you talked to?”

“He and another source.”

“Who?”

Decker rubbed his eyes and suppressed a yawn.

“A hooker. Her street name’s Kiki. She seems on the up-and-up.”

Morrison thought for a moment, then said, “Let’s do it this way. We’ll try for search warrants for Pode’s house and studio based on what you found out from Truscott. Unlikely we’ll get them without something concrete. A still or a film or at least someone who saw Bates and Pode together the day of her disappearance.”

“Du

“Maybe,” the Captain said.

“What about the tail?” Decker said.

“Dustin Pode is a private citizen who isn’t residing or working in our jurisdiction. He hasn’t been implicated. “You don’t have any real evidence on Cecil Pode; you have nothing on Dustin Pode. A tail is out of the question. Takes up too much manpower.”

“I have a gut feeling that Dustin Pode is involved.”

“You’re a good intuitive cop, Pete, but I can’t authorize men based on your hunches.”

“At least send Hollander out to talk to Dustin Pode about his father. Maybe Dustin will implicate Daddy in something naughty,” Decker said. “Mike’s got a light load this morning.”

“You can talk to Dustin Pode,” said Morrison. “I’ve no problem with that.”

Decker stalled a moment. He didn’t want to tell Morrison about his Jack Cohen alias just yet. “Let Hollander handle it. He’s good with these broker types. He loves to play dumb.”

“Fine. Hollander goes out for a one-shot deal. But scratch any idea about a tail.” Morrison lit a cigarette. “You’ve done a good job, Pete. Taken a dead case and breathed some life into it. Just don’t go overboard. And don’t do anything dumb-ass with this Dustin Pode. I don’t want a citizen’s harassment complaint slapped on this division. God knows LAPD gets enough fabricated shit from the papers. Let’s not give them something real to work with.”