felt isolated even though they were only twenty minutes from the city. Canyon Camino was a good place to hide.
The Sheriffs Substation was a small brown building located between a convenience store and a video store. I parked at the video store, and walked to the Sheriffs.
A slender deputy in a khaki uniform was leaning back with his feet up, talking on the phone when I walked in. He dropped his feet when he saw me, and hung up.
"Can I help you?"
His name tag read Biggins. I identified myself, showed him my license, then put Pardy's card on the counter.
"I'm here about a local named Payne Keller. Detective Pardy at LAPD spoke with someone."
"I was here. What a bunch of crap, getting killed like that. The sheriff's out now, letting people know. He had to secure Payne's house. What a bunch of crap."
"When is the sheriff getting back?"
"All I can tell you is he'll get back when he gets back. We been real busy this morning."
"It's going to get even busier. Pardy is coming up, and a couple of other homicide cops are going to meet us here. Has Detective Diaz checked in?"
"You're the first."
"Maybe she called."
"A woman?"
"Yeah."
"Someone from Sheriffs Homicide called-Mullen, I think she said. Then there was Pardy and someone named Beckett-"
Diaz had probably posed as Mullen.
"Okay. I need directions to Keller's house, and I'm also interested in talking to his friends. Maybe you could give me a few names."
Biggins was looking nervous.
"Tell me again-what's your involvement in this?"
"I'm working for the family."
I tapped Pardy's card.
"Call Pardy. He knows I'm working the case, and he's good with it. Give him a call."
Biggins frowned at the card, then pushed it aside.
"I didn't know Payne that well, just to trade a cup of coffee when I rolled by his station. I lived in Riverside before we moved up here."
"He had a gas station?"
"Yeah, a little bit out of town-Payne's Car Care."
"Did he have a family?"
"Listen, why don't you talk to one of those guys at the station. He has two guys out there."
Biggins gave me directions to Keller's home, and said I would pass Keller's gas station on the way. He told me that Keller's employees were Elroy Lewis and Frederick Conrad, and that either one of them might be able to answer my questions. Biggins was helpful. After I copied the directions, I wrote out my cell number, tore off the page, and put it beside Pardy's card.
"If I miss the sheriff and he gets back, tell him I need to talk to him. It's important."
Biggins glanced at the number.
"Cell phones don't work up here. You can't get a signal with the mountains."
"I live in the middle of Los Angeles, and I can't get a signal."
Biggins laughed.
"It was like that in Riverside, too."
I turned to leave, then stopped.
"If Diaz or Mullen check in, tell them I'm here. Tell Diaz I asked after her parents, and she should talk to me before she does anything."
"Okay. Sure."
"There's something else you and the sheriff should know. Pardy didn't know this earlier, or he would have told you. Payne Keller and his son are suspects in a multiple homicide. If Keller's son is up here, he will be dangerous."
Biggins stared at me without comprehension.
I nodded toward the transceiver.
"You should tell the sheriff."
53
Frederick
Payne's cabin was as lonely as yesterday, but that was good.
The air still carried the smoky scent of the fires he had used. It wasn't so bad. It smelled like a cold fireplace.
Frederick unlocked the front door, then stepped into Payne's living room. He was trying to decide where best to wait for Cole when a car pulled up the drive. Frederick jumped at the sound, and hurried to the window, thinking-
"You bastard! This is what you're going to get for Payne, you bastard!"
But when he looked, it wasn't Cole; it was the Canyon Camino sheriff, Guy Rossi.
Frederick stood back from the window, watching as Rossi parked alongside his truck. The sheriff eyed Frederick 's truck, probably wondering who it belonged to. The sheriff walked along the length of the truck, and that's when Frederick saw the shovel. Here he had been driving all over Los Angeles, here he had worked so hard at cleaning up Payne's place to get rid of the evidence, and the shovel he used to dig up the stuff was still in his truck. The shovel, with evidence on its blade.