The Forgotten Man

According to neighbors, the younger Rei

"Someone broke windows in every house on this block one night," said Pam Wally, 39. "Everyone knew it was David, but no one could prove it."

Neighbors believe David broke the windows, because only the Rei

Karen Reese, 47, described a similiar incident. Her two sons had gotten into an argument with David. The following day, when Mrs. Reese was driving her sons home from school, they passed the Rei

Said Mrs. Reese, "As we passed, he threw a hammer at us. It was the strangest thing, because he didn't care if we saw him or not. The back window shattered and glass was everywhere. Thank God no one was hurt."

Mrs. Reese summoned the police, but no charges were filed. Mr. Rei

"I'm not sure the boy even went to school," said Chester Kerr, 52, who lived across the street. "It would be midday during the school year, and you'd see him ru

Tabitha Williams, 44, the mother of two small children, tells a slightly different story.

"David had a learning disability and was being home-schooled. I never had any problems with David or George. It was hard for both of them without David's mother."

The absence of David Rei

Now, the whereabouts of George Rei

"It could be the guy just wanted to live somewhere else and didn't think enough of his neighbors to tell them," said Det. Poole. "There's no law against moving, but we'd still like to know."

If you have any information about George or David Rei

After the cold facts of the crime reports, the sidebar article made the Rei

I compared what I knew with what was reported. Neither the Sheriffs nor the neighbors mentioned George Rei

After a while I grew tired of thinking about it. I gathered together the clippings, found Marjorie Lawrence, and asked for copies of the articles. I also asked if I could use her phone. She was happy to let me do so.

I called Starkey. I could have called Diaz and Pardy, but Starkey worked the Juvenile desk. If David showed only a Juvie file, his record would be more difficult to find. Juvenile records are often sealed or expunged.

Starkey said, "Hey, dude, where are you?"

" San Diego. I found something down here maybe you can help me with."

"Oh, I live for that. You've made my day, adding more work to my load."

I gave her the headline version of Rei

She said, "The guy had another son?"

"That's not fu

"Oh, hey."

"Will you check it out for me or not?"

"Yes, Cole, I will check it out for you. Don't be so snippy. Listen, those newspaper articles, do they name the investigating officers?"

"Yeah. The lead was a guy named Poole. San Diego County Sheriffs Department."

"Are you coming back tonight?"

"Yeah, I'm going to leave in a few minutes."

"I'd like to see the articles. With all this happening thirty years ago, having the names might help me out."

"Okay, sure."

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"Seeing as how I'm going to so much trouble, maybe I should come up to your house tonight and you should feed me di

Starkey made me smile.

"How about eight o'clock. I should be back by then."

"Eight o'clock. Don't get killed driving home."

Starkey always knew what to say.

I found my way back to the freeway. It had been a long, difficult day, and I had logged a lot of miles. I had more miles ahead of me, and all of it would be grudging.

My head buzzed with a remote ache from all the thinking about George Rei

Three hours later I slipped between the trees along Mulholland Drive, heading for home. It had been a long day. The sky had grown smoky, and the dimming light purpled the trees.

I turned onto my street and saw a tan car parked outside my house. The last time I came home to a car, it was Pardy. I decided that if Pardy was waiting in my house again, I would scare the hell out of him.

I pulled into my carport, took out my gun, then let myself in through the kitchen. I didn't try to be quiet. I pushed open the door.