Hollywood Lust Read Online Free Page B

revitalize the area in recent years, not all of them successful.
    Selfie, who today had yellow hair and eyebrows, used a remote control and we saw video of the crime scene appear in the glass tabletop. “The victim is Carla Hodge, age twenty-four.” The video zoomed in and we saw the girl’s body on the ground. She wore a jogging suit and there was lots of blood. “Multiple stab wounds to the upper torso. A witness, Roberto Hernandez, told the responding officers that he saw a man leaving the area in a hurry just after seven. No real description of the suspect.”
    “What about surveillance video?” Alex asked.
    “Nothing. The victim was in a dead zone between the cameras.”
    We saw several more images of the victim, shot from various angles before we saw a close up of the knife that was used in the attack.
    Molly took up the story. “The murder weapon was found on the walkway a few yards from the girl, probably dropped as our suspect made a hasty retreat. It’s a replica of a knife carried by German paratroopers in World War II. It’s opened by pulling the handles apart, allowing the blade to slide through the slot in the end of the handle. As you can see, it’s got a swastika and SS markings.”
    “Maybe our suspect is a one of those neo-Nazi nut jobs,” Alex speculated.
    Oz shook his head. “It’s more complicated.” He lifted his brows as he turned back to his civilian employees.
    “SID was able to identify the knife by a small chip in the blade,” Selfie said.
    SID was the department’s Scientific Investigation Division. It was LAPD’s version of a typical police department’s crime scene investigation division, only much larger, with laboratories, specialized equipment, and a host of both sworn and civilian employees.
    We saw a close up, showing there was a tiny piece of the knife’s blade missing as Selfie went on. “Computer analysis shows it’s an exact match to the knife that was used to murder a movie producer named Bruce Reeder back in 2005.” Images of the deceased producer appeared on the screen, including scenes of a bedroom where the body was on the floor. The knife, apparently also used in the attack on Carla Hodge, was beside the body.”
    Oz took up the story. “Reeder’s murder was never solved. The knife was supposed to be with R&I, in storage, along with the murder file.”
    R&I was the department’s Records and Identification Division in Los Angeles. Evidence, especially property related to an unsolved homicide, should have been kept there indefinitely.
    Alex’s dark eyes lifted from the table monitor and he looked at Oz. “A knife like this might have been a temptation for someone in charge of the evidence. Do we think it might have been taken by an employee?”
    Oz shrugged. “Since you and Kate just caught a suddenly hot cold case, along with Hodge’s murder, that will be part of the investigation.”
    “Let’s go back over what we know about the victims,” I said. “Maybe there’s some kind of connection between them.”
    “And pigs fly,” Alex said. “Somebody stole the knife and used it on Hodge. There’s no connection.”
    “We’ll see.” I turned to Selfie and Molly, pushing down my irritation with the arrogant ball of lard. “Fill us in, starting with what we know about Reeder.”
    Selfie used another remote and an overhead monitor appeared with several photographs and identifying information about our first victim. “Bruce Anthony Reeder was age forty-three when he was murdered. He was married, but had been separated for about three years. His condo was located in Baldwin Hills, about a block from Bernstein Studios where he worked. He was working on a documentary about the war in Afghanistan at the time of his death. The investigators basically came up empty, no trace, prints, or DNA, and no real suspects or even a motive. The case has been with the cold case unit, but there’s been nothing active on it in recent years.”
    Bruce Reeder had been a