and her mind on the Bates conversation and this new connection with Erin Quinn and Deborah Lafaye. She toyed with the idea of Lafaye wanting Jurika dead because of what she knew about her past.
She picked up her pace a little as she came through the intersection at Lincoln and then was into Golden Gate Park, running on a path dark now in the dusk. She left the path and ran down a street barricaded to vehicle traffic. When she didn’t work out she tended to pick up weight on her upper thighs and rear, and now she thought she could feel fat breaking up as the muscles stretched. She wanted to get into her best shape. Not only did she like the way it felt, but her thinking was also clearest when she was fit. She had more stamina, needed less sleep, and didn’t crave sweets the same way.
As she left the park she cut west of the panhandle and on to Haight Street, figured she’d bear right and do some hills before walking home. She crossed Haight-Ashbury thinking of Raveneau and his stories about the city during the Sixties, and talking about how the department had changed in the years he’d been there; the little bar with the American flag behind it that used to open at five in the afternoon each day, and that the chiefs would sometimes stop by. She couldn’t picture Grainer doing that or any of the brass she’d met, but Raveneau also said it was better now. She thought of Grainer’s last advice.
‘There’s a danger in working too long in any one aspect of the department. We’ve all seen the sergeant who’s been sitting too long at a desk. Alliances get made, favors done, and a status quo settles in. In Inspector Raveneau’s case, and this is not for outside this room, he’s used to doing things his way. But, unfortunately, the city has changed. That’s why his solve rate is down. That’s why you two are together, his broad experience and knowledge and your innovation and a more scientific approach.’
She slowed now to a steady jog and wondered what Grainer really knew about solving homicides. What could you know if you’d never worked a murder case? La Rosa’s face was flushed, her spine wet with sweat when she dropped to a walk. She figured to walk at least a mile to cool down. She liked this part of her workout. She could think better walking than running.
After several blocks she turned up a steep hill to loosen a cramp in her right calf. She lengthened her stride to try to stretch the muscle out and as she reached down to massage it saw a dark blue Volvo wagon slowing on the street behind her, probably looking for an address. At the top of the hill she figured to jog the last blocks home. She was ready for a shower. She didn’t feel good about the way she’d ducked out earlier and needed to call Raveneau.
At the corner the Volvo was still there coming up the hill slowly and the cramp in her calf was actually worse. Bad enough to where she limped and didn’t run as she turned right and started across the hill and toward home. Then the same Volvo came around the corner behind her, now with its high beams on but still moving slower than her, which wasn’t easy, which she didn’t like. What registered now was that she’d seen the same car earlier, an older model she associated with being a teenager, riding to soccer games and getting told how to play by somebody’s dad who’d never played himself.
She stopped and knelt, pretending to retie her shoelace, and saw the car had stopped, the driver’s face unreadable behind the glare of the headlights. But she couldn’t stay down. The cramp hurt too much and she stood and started limping forward, deciding to cross the street if the car moved again and didn’t pass her.
What it did was pull out and speed up quickly, and when she turned the car braked hard alongside her, the passenger window was down, a man’s arm rising and then a flash of light, a blow to her head. Her legs crumpled.
A witness later described the sharp, hard pop of the gun discharging and the woman, the runner, falling in a way that convinced them she was dead. The car sped away. The witness called 911 and ran to her.
FORTY-ONE
Raveneau got a call from