The Forgotten Man

David's father independently confirmed the antagonistic relationship between his son and the Wi

David Rei

Neighbors both involved and uninvolved with the charges at hand allege David Rei

George Rei

Though Mrs. Wi

It is my opinion that prosecution of David Rei

My recommendation is that the charges against David Rei

(signed)

Gil Ferrier, Detective

#1212

9/14/68

JD/SDCSD

When I finished, I copied Ferrier's name and badge number, and the names and numbers of the two arresting officers. I didn't expect the A.O.s to remember, but it was clear that Ferrier was thorough and concerned, and might have stayed involved in David's case. Thirty-five years was a long time ago, but he might even know what happened to the Rei

The image of the dead collie was hard to erase, and left me feeling u

I went back to the phone, and got Starkey's voice mail again.

"Hey, I just read this stuff. I'm on my way to see Diaz, but I want to talk to you about it. I'll call you later."

I headed for Central Station.

38

Twenty minutes later I left my car in the same parking lot I had used before, checked in at the front desk, and waited another ten minutes before Diaz came down. I started to outline Golden's operation as we rode up in the elevator, but Diaz cut me off.

"Let's see if the picture helps us before we get into all that."

The squad room was busy. Almost every desk was occupied with detectives working their phones. Pardy was the only detective in the room who didn't look busy. He was slouched at his desk on the far wall, staring at nothing with his arms crossed. The dark blue murder book was open on his desk, but he didn't seem to be looking at it. Diaz called out to him, and waved toward her desk.

"Hey, Sherlock. Come see."

Pardy considered her for a long time before he got up. He was probably getting tired of her put-downs. He closed the murder book, checked his pager, then made his way over. He pulled up a chair as far from us as he could get.

I said, "You making any progress?"

"I'm working a few leads. You know."

"Got any ideas?"

"I'm not looking for ideas."

Diaz said, "Okay, Cole, let's see it. What do you have here?"

While the computer booted up, I gave them the page with Edelle Rei

"I guess that leaves you out, Cole. Unless you were separated at birth."

Diaz flushed like she was pissed off.

"The one doesn't have anything to do with the other. How about you run the name and see if we get a hit?"

"I'm just saying. Why would Rei

"Why would he tattoo crosses all over himself and pay hookers to pray? We'll find out when we find some people who really knew the guy."

I found the photo file, and opened the picture. Rei

"She has the boyfriend, Thomas Monte."

"That's right."

Pardy looked disappointed.

"Not bad, but not great. It's blurry."

Diaz said, "SID might be able to pull it out. We could snatch the registration with just a couple of digits."

Pardy went back to his chair.

"I'm not getting my hopes up. That backlog is a bitch. If we have to wait months to get a gun checked, how long will it be before they get around to this?"

I interrupted them.

"I can help you with that, too."

Pardy said, "What, you have your own private Walk-in Wednesday?"

So much crime was committed in Los Angeles that the LAPD lab was backlogged for months. Priorities were given to hot cases and cases going to trial, but the backlog was still so great that LAPD set up an experimental program called Walk-in Wednesday. Every Wednesday, detectives could hand-carry evidence to the lab on a first-come first-served basis to cut through the red tape. But there were still so many cases that the waiting rooms were crowded with loitering detectives.

I said, "Something like that. I have a friend at SID who owes me a favor."

"The little creep who worked with the key card?"

"Yeah, Pardy, him."

The little creep. Chen would love it.

I explained how Thomas came to take the picture, and that a couple of hundred pictures just like it were in the computer. Diaz and Pardy listened as I went through the terms of the deal, then Diaz arched her eyebrows at Pardy.

"You'd have to turn it over to Southwest Bunco, but it would still look good. I think we should go for it."

"Do whatever you want."

Diaz stared at him, and was clearly a

"Listen, Pardy, don't drop the ball here. This could turn into a major investigation with the Feds. You should get a piece of that. You should develop the case to see what you have before you hand it off. That way, you get more of the credit."

Pardy had resumed his slouch, and stared at her with sleepy eyes.