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"I guess not"

"Body shirts, jeans, leather jackets, the Hollywood look--that’s what you see in a place like this"

He cleared his throat "Well," he said uneasily, "I want to thank you for helping us as much as you could"

She said, "I like ain, and he saw that flicker of ravenous hunger and ani that if he let her lead him into her apartment, the door would close behind him like a set of jaws She’d be all over hi hi hi himented and dissolved and sio to work," he said, sliding off the barstool "See you around"

"I hope so"

For fifteenshots of Bobby Valdez to the customers in Paradise As theyStones and Elton John and Bee Gees material at a volume that set up sympathetic vibrations in Tony’s teeth It was a waste of time No one in Paradise remembered the killer with the baby face

On the way out, Tony stopped at the long oak bar where Otto was aritas

"Tell ," Otto yelled

"Don’t people co connections That’s what it’s all about"

"Then why the hell do so les’ bars have bands like that one?"

"What’s wrong with the band?"

"A lot of things But mostly it’s too damned loud"

"So?"

"So how can anyone possibly strike up an interesting conversation?"

"Interesting conversation?" Otto said "Heyconversation They come to o to bed with"

"But no conversation?"

"Look at them Just look around at them What would they talk about? If we didn’t play et nervous"

"All those ht you are They’d go somewhere else"

"Where the e"

Otto shrugged "It’s a sign of the times"

"Maybe I should have lived in another tiht wasoff the sea, not genuine fog yet, but a sort of da in the air andbehind the wheel of the uner’s side and buckled his seatbelt

They had one more lead to check out before they quit for the day Earlier, a couple of people at that Century City singles’ bar had said they’d also seen Bobby Valdez at a joint called The Big Quake on Sunset Boulevard, over in Hollywood

Traffic wastoward the heart of the city Soot i in and out with toots of the horn and little squeals of the brakes, trying to get ahead a few car lengths, but not tonight Tonight, he was going with the flow

Tony wondered if Frank Howard had been discussing philosophy with Otto

After a while, Frank said, "You could have had her"

"Who?"

"That blonde That Judy"

"I was on duty, Frank"

"You could have set so for you"

"Not eous"

"She was a killer"

"She hat?"

"She’d have eaten me up alive"

Frank considered that for about two seconds, then said, "Bullshit I’d take a crack at her if I had the chance"

"You knohere she’s at"

"Maybe I’ll mosey back there later, e’re done"