fresh in the morning.”
DeMarco nodded. “Right. I’ll see you bright and early.” DeMarco left and Simon was about to do the same when Officer Richards called out, “Detective Granger. There’s a woman here who wants to talk to you.”
“Here?” he repeated. Lord, he hoped it wasn’t Nina. He looked around but didn’t see her or Carrie. “What’s her name? Where is she?”
“She said her name is Rita Taylor.”
Rita Taylor. The prostitute who’d originally claimed she’d seen a cop running from the scene of the Cann murder. The same woman who, when Simon reinterviewed her, had changed her story, saying she couldn’t be sure she’d seen what she thought she had. And she was here now? At the scene of another murder victim?
“Where is she?”
* * *
RITA TAYLOR SAT IN OFFICER Richards’s patrol vehicle while Simon stood next to the open door looking down at her. The exotic and curvy brunette was dressed much the same way she’d been when Simon had last seen her—in her working clothes: a skimpy tank top, miniskirt and thigh-high lace-up boots. Her makeup had been applied with a heavy hand, which simply emphasized how pale she really was beneath it. Not fair, as in light-skinned. But pale, as in upset. In shock. Scared.
“So you didn’t witness this murder?” he confirmed. “Didn’t see anyone fleeing the crime scene?”
“No. I told you...I was working a few blocks down. I heard the sirens. Heard what people were saying. That another homeless man had been killed, stabbed in Golden Gate Park. Just like that first one.”
Frustration ate at him. She was beating around the bush. Giving him nothing to work with. “And you what? Remembered something from before? About the cop? Or bus driver? Or air-conditioning repairman?”
She glared up at him and he held up a hand. “I’m sorry, but I’m just trying to figure out why you’re here, Rita. You came to me, remember? But so far you haven’t told me why.”
“Do you think this murder is connected to the first one?” she asked. “That’s what I need to know before I say anything else.”
Simon hesitated, studied her tense posture then said, “Yes. I have reason to believe the two murders are connected.”
Rita dropped her face in her hands. “Oh, God,” she moaned.
“Tell me what’s going on, Rita. During our last interview, you told me you weren’t sure you’d actually seen a cop before. Have you changed your mind?”
Rita laughed, but there was a hysterical edge to the sound. “I’ve changed my mind about something. I’m just not sure if I should tell you.” She took a deep shuddering breath, then seemed to make up her mind about something. “But I didn’t sign up for this. For all I know, I could be next.”
“What are you talking about?”
She swallowed hard. Took another deep breath, then said, “Someone paid me to say it was a cop who murdered that first homeless man.”
Interesting. So she was copping to giving the police false information, despite the fact she knew she could be prosecuted for having done so. But all he said was, “Who?”
“I don’t know.”
“Oh, come on, Rita!” he exploded.
“I’m not lying. I swear. When all of the ruckus was going on after the first murder victim, when we were waiting for the cops to show up, a man came up to me and offered me a thousand dollars if I would just say I saw a cop leaving the scene.”
“And you agreed? Despite knowing he might be the killer? You seem smarter than that.”
“He didn’t look like no killer. And he said he just wanted to take advantage of an opportunity. Teach you cops a lesson because you’ve been treating homeless people so bad lately. And you have! It’s been all over the papers.”
Simon swiped his hands over his face and fought to hold on to his temper. “I haven’t been treating anyone badly, Rita. Now what else did he say? Did he just hand you the money?”
“Yes. Cash. In a blank envelope. It’s all gone now.”
“Why didn’t you just take the money? Why’d you do what he said?”
“Because he scared me,” Rita confessed. “He said he’d know if I didn’t follow through. That I’d be sorry if I scammed him. So I did what he told me to. Convinced myself it would be the easiest grand I’d ever earned. And it was. I didn’t even feel that guilty about it. He didn’t want me to say it was a specific cop. I figured what was the harm? If a