A Killing in China Basin - Kirk Russell [0]
The John Marquez series
SHELL GAMES
NIGHT GAMES
DEADGAME
REDBACK*
The Ben Raveneau series
A KILLING IN CHINA BASIN*
* available from Severn House
A KILLING IN CHINA BASIN
A Ben Raveneau Thriller
Kirk Russell
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
First world edition published 2011
in Great Britain and in the USA by
SEVERN HOUSE PUBLISHERS LTD of
9–15 High Street, Sutton, Surrey, England, SM1 1DF.
Copyright © 2011 by Kirk Russell.
All rights reserved.
The moral right of the author has been asserted.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Russell, Kirk, 1954–
A killing in China Basin.
1. Detectives – California – San Francisco – Fiction.
2. Serial murder investigation – California – San
Francisco – Fiction. 3. Detective and mystery stories.
I. Title
813.6-dc22
ISBN-13: 978-1-78010-082-1 (ePub)
ISBN-13: 978-0-7278-8054-3 (cased)
ISBN-13: 978-1-84751-358-8 (trade paper)
Except where actual historical events and characters are being described for the storyline of this novel, all situations in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to living persons is purely coincidental.
This ebook produced by
Palimpsest Book Production Limited,
Falkirk, Stirlingshire, Scotland.
For Philip Spitzer
Acknowledgements
Without the help, guidance, and generosity of spirit of two San Francisco homicide inspectors, Holly Pera and Joe Toomey, this novel would never have happened. In San Francisco it takes thirteen to fifteen years from the time you first apply to join the homicide detail to when your name comes up on the waiting list. Homicide Inspector Joe Toomey’s career spans thirty-nine years from Patrol Officer at the Southern Police Station to the last fifteen as a Homicide Inspector. Inspector Sergeant Holly Pera has thirty-one years with SFPD and was the first woman to join the homicide detail. She and Joe worked together as partners. In 2007 they were chosen to form San Francisco’s first Cold Case Unit. Joe has since retired but still works twenty hours a week in what’s called a 9-60 position that allows the talents of retired officers to be tapped. Both work cold cases. Neither Raveneau nor la Rosa, the fictional inspectors in this novel, resemble or are drawn from either, but I surely drew inspiration.
ONE
Whitacre’s salt-faded Buick faced the Golden Gate Bridge from a corner of the Marina Green lot, a blue handicap placard hanging from the rear-view mirror. Whitacre brushed the placard aside as he reached to open the passenger door for Raveneau.
‘That door doesn’t shut easily, pull it hard.’
As Raveneau did, Whitacre said, ‘I’m sorry it’s so hot in here. The chemo drugs mess with my body temperature. I’m always cold now, but I am winning this fight, Ben. Last scan, the tumors had shrunk by fifty percent. I’ve got another this morning and if it’s as good as the last one I think they’re going to tell me I can go back to work next month.’
‘Everybody in the office is waiting to hear that.’
But Raveneau saw that far from gaining weight, Whitacre was losing it. He watched him struggle to unfold a piece of paper and looked out at the bay, dark blue and windswept this morning, the bridge bright orange, whitecaps running toward Alcatraz.
‘He drives a late model white Lexus SUV. These are his plates.’
Whitacre handed him the piece of paper. He could have sent a text, email, or called it in yesterday. He was on medical leave but was still very much a San Francisco homicide inspector, same as Ben Raveneau, and could easily have picked up the phone