Death of a Blue Movie Star (Rune 2)

"Oh, yeah."

Rune said, "But I'm mostly into older music. Like Bowie, Adam Ant, Sex Pistols, Talking Heads."

"David Byrne, yeah, he's like your megagenius. Even if he's old."

"I still listen to the Police a lot," Rune said. "I kinda grew up with them."

Adam nodded. "I heard about them. My mom used to listen to them. Sting's still around."

Healy said, "Um ... Crosby, Stills and Nash?"

Rune and Adam looked at him blankly.

"Jimi Hendrix? The Jefferson Airplane?"

When he got a stare in response to "The Doors?" Healy said quickly, "Hey, how 'bout some lunch?"

They sat across from the ornate Woolworth Building, Rune and Healy. Adam, replenished by two hot dogs and a Yoo-Hoo chocolate soda, chased squirrels and shadows and scraps of windblown paper.

"Sam," she began, "say you have a couple different suspects and you know one of them did it but you don't know who."

"In a bombing?"

"Say, any crime. Like you're an ordinary movable investigating something."

"Portable, not movable. But it'd probably be a detective evaluating suspects."

"Okay, a detective with three suspects. What would you do to figure out who the perp is?"

"Perp," he said. "See, I said you were a born cop."

In a thick Slavic accent: "I learned English from Kojak reruns." She grew serious. "Come on, Sam. What would you do?"

"In order to make an arrest you need probable cause."

"What's that?"

"Something that shows your suspect is more likely than not to've committed the crime. A witness, conflicting alibis, physical evidence at the scene connecting the suspect and the crime, fingerprints, genetic marker test ... A confession's always good."

"How do you get confessions?"

"We put the suspect in a room, turn the camera on and ask them questions. You don't arrest them because then their lawyers show up and tell them not to say anything. They can leave at any time but we ... encourage them to stay."

"You ever trick somebody into a confession?"

"Sure. That's part of the game. But no more answers till you tell why you're curious about police procedures."

"Okay, I've got three suspects."

"What suspects?"

"In the Shelly Lowe killing."

"Three suspects? You mean, you know three people in the Sword of Jesus? Why didn't you tell Begley or somebody in Homicide?"

"Oh, there is no Sword of Jesus. It's a cover-up

. Somebody's making it look like it's a religious thing but it's not."