CHAPTER 50

That afternoon Diane arrived at my office first. We sat without saying much. Rodriguez showed up five minutes later. Diane’s presence wasn’t a surprise. Still, the detective wasn’t happy.

“Before we get started,” he said, “let’s talk about some ground rules. For the press part of this.”

I had not broached the subject with Diane. Figured Rodriguez would set the boundaries here. Diane apparently felt the same way.

“What are your concerns, Detective?” she said.

Rodriguez looked at me, then back at Diane.

“Before we begin, everything here is off the record. You all right with that?”

Diane nodded. Rodriguez walked off, looked out my window, and exhaled. Soft and sad. When he spoke, it was with his back turned to both of us.

“I loved Nicole. You know that?”

I wasn’t sure which one of us he was talking to but Diane answered.

“Yes, Detective. Actually, so did I.”

“Love being a detective, too,” Rodriguez said. “Only thing I ever wanted to do.”

He moved back into the room and sat down in a chair, head down, knees almost touching Diane’s.

“You think Daniel Pollard killed Nicole,” she said. “So do I. DNA, however, won’t make the case against him, will it?”

I sat down in the third chair and leaned into the conversation.

“If he matches on Elaine’s rape, then we got him as an accomplice on Grime,” I said. “And won’t that be a fucking zoo. We also more than likely get him on some current assaults. But probably not for Nicole. No DNA there.”

Diane kept her eyes focused on Rodriguez.

“And it won’t be a death case,” she said. “No matter what.”

Rodriguez shook his head from side to side. Just once.

“Probably not.”

“So if you find him,” Diane said, “you want to kill him.”

The detective looked up. Slowly, inevitably.

“If the DNA comes back a match to Pollard, I roll on the arrest. Alone. Whatever happens, happens.”

Diane reached out and touched his knee.

“Can you live with it?”

Rodriguez nodded.

“Fair enough,” she said. “If that’s how it happens, no one will ever be the wiser. At least not from me. Story is big enough as it is. He was killed resisting arrest. Now, how do you plan on getting his DNA?”