Self-Defence

50

Milo said, "Can't talk long, got a promising suspect on the copycats. Roofer who was working at the courthouse during the trial."

"Does he have a dog?"

"Big surly mutt," he said gleefully. "Aren't you glad you weren't the poor clown who had to give him an enema?"

"How'd you get on to him?"

"One of the bailiffs gave us the lead. Says the guy used to sit in on afternoon sessions, doodle, and write things down; always had a weird feeling about him. Asshole lives in Orange County and has a bunch of DUI's, Peeping Toms, and a five-year-old attempted rape conviction. Santa Ana says their first interview was encouraging. I'm sitting in on the next one in half an hour."

"So it had nothing to do with the Bogettes."

"Not necessarily. Bailiff thinks he saw the asshole talking to some of the girls a couple of times. Shitbag denies any co

"Good luck."

"Either way, I like this bastard for Sha

"Appreciate it. I can always use a little good news."

"Yeah… something else. We finally ID'd Ms. Nova's prints. Sorry to shatter your shrink's intuition, but she's not the sister."

"What?"

"The real Jocasta Lowell was printed when she was a student at Berkeley. Busted at a demonstration. And again after her body was shipped back from Nepal, so there's no doubt. Ken was there with her, by the way, so maybe he did push her off. But our nasty girl's a piece of work named Julie Beth Claypool. Nude dancer, druggie, biker babe, bad-check artist. String of arrests back to when she was sixteen. Wrote poetry in stir. Ken met her in Rehab, couple of years ago. Love at first bite."

"She pushes him around," I said, still in shock.

"I wouldn't doubt it. SFPD says she's been known to go for the whips and chains."

"The scars," I said. "God, I missed the boat completely- using the Oedipal wedge to throw her off balance- maybe I wanted her to flinch so badly I imagined it."

My heart was hurling itself against my chest wall. I'd broken out in a cold sweat.

"Talk about operating on false premises," I said.

"What'd you tell her, exactly?"

"That she wanted to screw Ken the way she'd wanted to screw Daddy."

"Well," he said, "SFPD says she comes from a real shitty family. Suspected incest- brothers and Dad, back to when she was real little."

"Oh, man. The same old story."

"In this case, lucky for you."

"Yeah… maybe I should buy a lottery ticket."

Lucy said, "Are peaches okay? I've already got pears."

The woman next to her said, "Put them in, honey. Those old people, the fruit's good for them."

They were standing at one of a series of long tables piled high with groceries, along with a dozen other people. Sorting ca

Men and women of all ages and colors, working side by side, quietly and cheerfully, putting together boxes for delivery and loading them into a couple of old pickups out in back.

There were other places like it, all over the city.

Newspapers, especially those in the cold-weather zones, love to portray L.A. as a Balkanized smog-blinded armed camp with no more substance than a sitcom and no more altruism than a politician. It's not any closer to the truth than a lot of the other stuff in the papers.

Sherrell Best was packing along with his parishioners, distinguishable as the leader only because he had to break to take frequent phone calls.

He came over to us. "This is a wonderful person."

Lucy blushed. "Saint Lucretia."

"The kind of good she's created has to come from a beautiful soul, Dr. Delaware."

"I know."

"Please," said Lucy, placing a packet of cookies into the box.

"Wonderful," said Best. "Can I steal the good doctor from you for a second, Lucy?"

"Only if you bring him back."

He took me into a cubbyhole office and closed a particle-board door that didn't cut out much of the noise. On the wall were some of the same type of biblical pictures he'd had in his kitchen.

"I just wanted to thank you for all you've done," he said.

"It was my pleas-"

"It was exceptional, the way you stuck by her. She's blessed to have met you and so am I." He gave me a troubled look.

"What is it, Reverend?"

"You know, for a time I thought if I ever found what happened I'd take the law into my own hands. The Bible exhorts against revenge, but it also permits the Blood Redeemer his due. There were times I thought I'd do something terrible. My faith was lacking."

Tears filled his eyes.

"I could have been a better father. I could have given her money so she didn't need to-"

"Stop," I said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm no Solomon, but I know the difference between a good father and a bad one."

He cried some more, softly, then snapped out of it. Drying his eyes, he took my hand in both of his. "How selfish of me- so much work to be done. Always hunger."

I returned to the packing line.

Lucy's hands moved like a weaver's at a loom. She was trying to smile but her mouth wouldn't cooperate.

"Thanks for coming," she said. "Guess I'll be seeing you at the beach tomorrow."

"Here, too," I said. "I think I'll stick around for a while."

Jonathan Kellerman

Jonathan Kellerman is one of the world's most popular authors. He has brought his expertise as a child psychologist to numerous bestselling tales of suspense (which have been translated into two dozen languages), including thirteen previous Alex Delaware novels; The Butcher's Theater, a story of serial killing in Jerusalem; and Billy Straight, featuring Hollywood homicide detective Petra Co