“Jesus, Lieutenant,” McFadden said, his tone suggesting that Malone had just asked him to believe the cardinal archbishop was a secret compulsive gambler.
“Let him talk, Charley,” Matt said, on the edge of sharpness.
“I also read somewhere that some thieves really want to get caught,” Malone said. “And I read someplace else that some thieves really do it for the thrill, not the money.”
“So you see Bob Holland as a successful thief who gets his thrills, his sense of superiority, by being a friend of the cops?”
“No wonder they think you’re crazy,” McFadden said, and then, realizing that he had spoken his thought, looked horrified.
“I don’t think—” Matt said. “I’m not willing to join them.”
“Who’s them?” McFadden asked.
“Those who suggest Lieutenant Malone is crazy to think Bob Holland could be a thief,” Payne said.
McFadden looked at Payne, first in disbelief, and then, when he saw that Payne was serious, with curiosity.
“Based on what, you think he’s stealing and selling whole cars?” McFadden asked.
“I know how,” Malone said. “I just haven’t figured out how to get Holland yet.”
“Great!” McFadden said. “Then you don’t know, Lieutenant.”
“I do know,” Malone said. “Tom Lenihan is driving a stolen car.”
“How do you know that?” McFadden asked, on the edge of scornfully.
“Because the VIN tag and the secret mark on his Bonneville are different,” Malone said. “I looked.”
The VIN tag is a small metal plate stamped with the Vehicle Identification Number and other data, which is riveted, usually where it can be seen through the windshield, to the vehicle frame.
“No shit?” McFadden asked.
“What’s the secret mark?” Matt asked, curiosity having overwhelmed his reluctance to admit his ignorance.
“The manufacturer’s stamp,” Malone said, “in some place where it can’t be seen, unless you know where to look, either all the numbers, or some of the numbers, on the VIN tag. So that if the thief swaps VIN tags, you can tell.”
If he knows that, Matt wondered, why doesn’t he just go arrest Holland?
“Does Lieutenant Lenihan know?” Charley asked.
“No,” Malone said.
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t tell him. If I told him, he would go to the Auto Squad, and they would get a warrant and go out there. I don’t want some body shop mechanic, or even the guy that runs the body shop, taking the rap for this, I want Holland.”
“Holland probably hasn’t been in the body shop for years, and can prove it,” McFadden said. “You’re sure they’re doing this in the body shop?”
“Where else?”
“Well, let’s figure out how he’s stealing cars, and then we can figure out how to catch him,” Charley said.
“Stealing and selling,” Matt corrected him.
“Hypo-something,” McFadden said. “What is that you’re always saying, Matt?”
“Hypothetically speaking,” Matt furnished.