A Killing in China Basin - Kirk Russell [52]
A few minutes later la Rosa tapped him on the shoulder. ‘Captain Ramirez and Deputy-chief Grainer want me to go to lunch with them.’
She was gone an hour and a half. When she returned he guessed from her expression that they’d made her some sort of offer.
‘They want me to act as spokesperson for the task force.’
‘Are you good with that?’
‘I said I’d do it. Am I good with it, I don’t know. That’s a lot of cameras across the street. I’m a little scared.’
She downplayed it, though sounding excited, and it was clear she’d been given a career pep talk and the point had gotten made that how she handled herself in the swirl of media attention would count for a lot later. Careers got made in crisis situations. Everything became larger than life. That’s what drew the brass this morning.
Raveneau stayed at his desk that afternoon. He phoned a cop in Concord that he knew had friends on the Walnut Creek force. In 1988 an undercover San Francisco officer was killed in Walnut Creek and some strain remained ever since between the departments. He was hoping his friend in Concord had a route to the detectives assigned the Becker shooting. Turned out his friend didn’t know the detectives personally, but knew someone who did and made the call. He called back an hour later.
‘They’re looking at an ex-boyfriend neighbor of Alan Becker’s daughter because your lieutenant’s brother and the boyfriend got in a shoving match over the daughter two months ago. Alan Becker called the police and threatened the kid with a restraining order. And Sunday night a neighbor saw a man on a bicycle around the time of the attempted murder. Evidently, this kid is an avid cyclist, so they’ve taken his bike and all the associated clothing, shoes, helmets, everything. They also found his recreational drug stash and they’re holding him with that.’
‘They’ve questioned him?’
‘Sure. But he’s watching the same news reports they are about a mysterious killer targeting SF homicide inspectors and their families. He’s keeping his mouth shut. What’s it like where you are?’
‘We’re trying to connect the dots.’
‘Well, hang in there. I’ll call you if I hear anything more.’
THIRTY-SEVEN
The Stoltz family owned a small house in wooded hills west of the Napa Valley. The house sat well back from the road hidden from passing cars by a stand of oaks. Stoltz liked the house. He felt comfortable here. For hours he worked at the kitchen table with his laptop in front of him, and gave only occasional thought to the homicide inspectors. He was good at compartmentalizing things.
When he turned the TV on and Raveneau’s partner, Elizabeth la Rosa, was saying they’d just like to talk to him, it was for a moment as if she was speaking about another person, not him. She looked poised in front of the camera. She looked like a natural and spoke as though personally to him, asking that he just come in and talk with them. After that, she took questions, and answered with the usual police evasiveness.
‘Do the San Francisco police believe he should be questioned regarding the Walnut Creek shooting?’ she was asked.
‘We’d like to talk to him about a number of things.’
‘Do you have proof the Walnut Creek shooting is connected to the two murders?’
‘We haven’t connected the murder of Jacie Bates to Inspector Whitacre’s death. We have ongoing investigations and many open questions. We need the public’s help in locating Mr Stoltz and convincing him to talk with us.’
‘Are you aware the Walnut Creek police arrested a suspect an hour ago?’
‘Yes, we’re aware they have a person of interest.’
‘Do you have any comment about that arrest?’
‘No.’
The press conference ended and then his face was on the screen with the announcer saying, ‘Police are looking for help finding this man. Anyone who has seen him is urged to call—’
He left the TV and walked to the window. He looked through the trees to the driveway, wondering if they knew he was here. This wasn’t exactly a secret site. His mother paid property taxes. The house was in her name.
When he returned