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And as I even bothering? I didn’t have a case, and ed hi hi him out first, and that hadn’t happened

Unless--

Unless he had a visitor, a calht even pass for a cop, so house and convinced the fellow in charge to hand over whatever res

Soet behind Greg Still off the flow of blood to the brain, inducing unconsciousness Not choking hih to put hied the suicide Stripped to his shorts, the belt around his neck, its end secured by the closet door

And then what? Drop hian to coo, so you could watch hi for breath, for life

The choke hold ht leave marks, some form of physical evidence But the belt would cover up all of that

Even Steven

The super at Jack’s roo house was named Ferdie Pardo Short for Ferdinand, I suppose He wore a dark blue work shirt with the sleeves rolled up He had a pack of Kools in his shirt pocket and a pencil behind his ear, and he looked like a man who didn’t expect the day to turn out well

"There was a guy showed upthe same question What did I do with Ellery’s stuff?"

"And what did you tell hi you Guy showed up and I gave it to hin for it?"

He shook his head "There was nothing," he said "Just crap, you know? Ione you leave some old clothes and a couple of books"

"That’s all?"

"Pair of shoes, a notebook, soonna come for it I had it down in the base, and I have to say the duffel bag orth ether And it was a worn-out old duffel bag that wasn’t worth anything nature was required"

"Another week," he said, "and I’d of put it out for the garbage pickup, and I wouldn’t n for it, either He was a cop, he had soave it to him"

"You say he was a cop"

He frowned "He wasn’t a cop?"

"I’ you" Maybe so, but he didn’t wait for an answer "I think he said he was a cop He definitely gave that impression"

"Did he show ID?"

"Like a badge?" He frowned "I had any sense, I’d just say yes, absolutely, showed e, showed me his ID, Patrolman Joe Blow, Detective Joe Blohatever"

"But as luck would have it you’re an honest man"

"Shit," he said "What I as a couple of seconds too late What I think he did, and even so I can’t swear to it, is he took out his wallet and flashed it atsome asshole like you ot was police"

"Yeah He looked like a cop"

"Can you describe him?"

"Jesus," he said "I wish you’d askwith an earring That’d be easier He sure as shit didn’t look like a cop"

OneI said, "Take a shot at describing the cop, why don’t you"

"Oh, so he’s a cop after all? Okay, fuck it About your height and weight"

"How old?"

"I don’t know What are you?"

"Forty-five"

"Yeah, that sounds about right"

"So he’s about forty-five"

"Well, forty, fifty, soot forty-five"

"Maybe it was e, ht--"

"Maybe he was a little heavier," he said grudgingly "Sort of a blocky-type body, thicker through the middle"

"What about his face?"

"What about it?"