Blood Work полностью

“You really know how to spoil a good thing. Yes, my terminal is on. What’s up?”

“Well, I’m looking for something but I’m not sure how to find it. You think you could do one of those key-word searches for me? I’m looking for stories that would be about a robber who shoots people.”

She laughed.

“That’s it?” she said. “You know how often people get shot up in robberies? This is L.A., you know.”

“Yeah, I know, that was stupid. Okay, how about adding in ski mask. And maybe only go back about eighteen months. Think that will narrow it?”

“Maybe.”

He heard her keyboard start clicking as she tapped into the newspaper’s computerized library of story files. By using key words like robbery and ski mask and shooting she would be able to draw up all stories that had contained those words.

“So what’s going on, Terry? I thought you were retired.”

“I am.”

“Doesn’t sound like it. This is like the old days. Are you doing some kind of investigation?”

“Sort of. I’m checking something for a friend and the LAPD’s being the LAPD. And it’s worse when you don’t have a badge.”

“What’s it about?”

“It’s not newsworthy yet, Keisha. If it turns out that way, you’ll be the first I let know.”

She blew out her breath in exasperation.

“I hate it when you guys do that,” she protested. “I mean, why should I help you when you won’t let me decide whether something’s a story or not? I’m the newspaper reporter, not you.”

“I know, I know. I guess what I’m saying is that l just want to keep this to myself until I see what is what. I’ll tell you about it after that. I promise, first crack at it. It probably won’t pan out, but I’ll tell you one way or the other. Did you get anything?”

“Yes,” she said in a mock pout. “Six hits in the last eighteen months.”

“Six? What are they?”

“Six stories. I’ll read you the headlines and you tell me if you think you want me to call up the stories.”

“Okay.”

“Okay, here goes. ‘Two Shot in Robbery Attempt,’ then we have ‘Man Shot, Robbed at ATM.’ After that we have ‘Deputies Seek Help in ATM Shooting.’ Let’s see, the next three look like one related case. The headlines are ‘Store Owner, Customer Shot in Robbery,’ followed by ‘Second Victim Dies; Was Times Employee’-oh, shit, I never heard about that. I’ll have to read this one myself-and the last one is ‘Police Seek Good Samaritan.’ Those are the six.”

McCaleb thought for a moment. Six stories, three different incidents.

“Could you pull up the first three and read them if they’re not too long?”

“Why not.”

He listened as her keyboard started clicking. His eyes wandered out past the cab to Sherman Way. It was a four-lane street, busy even at night. He wondered if Arrango and Walters had been able to come up with any witnesses to the shooter’s getaway, anybody besides the Good Samaritan.

McCaleb’s eyes moved across the street and in the parking lot of a strip mall he saw a man sitting in a car. The man raised a newspaper just as McCaleb noticed this and his face disappeared. McCaleb checked the car. It was an old beater, foreign make, which dissuaded him from the possibility that maybe Arrango had put a quick tail on him. He dismissed it as Keisha started reading the newspaper story on her computer screen.

“Okay, the first one ran on October eighth last year. It’s just a short. ‘A husband and wife were shot and wounded Thursday by a would-be robber who was then wrestled to the ground and captured by a group of passersby, Inglewood police said Thursday. The couple were walking along Manchester Boulevard at eleven when a man wearing a ski mask approached and-’ ”

“The guy was captured?”

“That’s what it says.”

“Okay, skip that one. I’m looking for unsolveds, I think.”