Eleventh Hour

here, has to be somehow involved with the show. No outsider would know the scripts that well.”

    Savich typed on MAX’s screen: Episode One of The Consultant —set in Boston, three murders: a secretary, a bookie, and an insurance salesman, about two to three weeks ago. “Dane, I’ll check—Hey, wait a second. Ah, Sherlock, who was reading over my shoulder, just said these murders were not in Boston, but actually happened two and a half weeks ago, in Pasadena, California.”
    “Bingo,” Dane said. “I’ll tell Delion and he can call the cops in Pasadena. Nice and close to Los Angeles.”
    “Dane, the guy’s officially taken this show on the road. You’re now formally FBI, working this case. If you want to use the San Francisco field office, call Bert Cartwright, coordinate with him. You will remain in charge of the Federal part of the investigation, all right?”
    “Yes, all right, but the thing is, Savich, the killer has to be here in Los Angeles, someone working for the studio, someone working on this specific show, or with access to it.”
    “Yes, of course, you’re right. I’ll let Gil Rainy know—he’s the SAC down in LA—that you’ll be coordinating with him. But you’ll be calling the shots. I’ll make sure everyone’s clear on that.”
    “Thanks, Savich.”
    There was a brief silence, then a chuckle. “And that means you’ve got MAX at your disposal.”
    There was incredulity in Dane’s voice. “You mean you’re going to send MAX out for me?”
    “Get a grip here, Dane. Deep-six that fantasy. No, let me know what you need and I will—personally—set MAX to work.”
    “Oh, so I didn’t catch you in a weak moment.”
    “Never that weak.” A pause, then, “How are you holding up, Dane?”
    “Michael’s funeral is on Friday afternoon.”
    The words were spoken with finality, cold and frozen over.
    Savich said, after a pause, “Just call when you need something.”
    “Thanks, Savich.” Dane closed his cell phone and walked into the West LA Division on Butler Avenue. It was a big blocky concrete box with an in-your-eye bright orange tile entrance, evidently someone’s idea of cheering up the place. Truth be told, the building was old and ugly, but humongous, nearly a full city block, with a parking lot beside it for the black-and-whites. Across the street was another lot and a maintenance station. It was in an old part of town, with lots of weeds, old houses, and little greenery anywhere.
    Dane flipped open his shield for the officers standing at the front desk, got a nod from one of them, and walked to the stairs. He heard a loud mix of voices before he even saw the signs. He met Patty, a nice older lady who was a volunteer receptionist, kept chocolate chip cookies on a big plate on her desk, and tracked all the detectives. She told him they had three homicide detectives and Detective Flynn was inside with the two cops from San Francisco. Dane assumed Delion had just rolled Nick into the mix.
    He walked into the large room, much bigger than the homicide room in San Francisco. All the detectives here were stationed in this room filled with gnarly workstations and funky orange lockers against the rear wall.
    Patty had told him Detective Flynn’s desk was down three rows. He walked past a man whose shirt was hanging out, past a woman who was shouting to another detective to shut the fuck up, and then there was Flynn—impossible to miss Flynn, he’d been told, and it was true. He saw Nick sitting quietly in the corner, reading a magazine. Well, no, she wasn’t reading, just using it as a prop. What was she thinking?
    Dane walked up to Delion and told him, “The murders from the first episode of The Consultant, they were in Pasadena. Two, two and a half weeks ago.”
    Detective Mark Flynn didn’t wait for an introduction, just lifted his phone and started dialing.
    Ten minutes later, he hung up. He was about fifty, black, and looked like he’d been a pro basketball player until just last week. He said, “You must be Agent Carver.” The men shook hands.
    Flynn said, nodding toward Nick, who’d come up to his desk when Dane arrived, “The murders in Pasadena took place before, during, and just after the first show. They sound pretty much identical to the murders on the first episode.”
    “That would mean, then,” Delion said, “that our guy went back and forth to San Francisco, maybe he even flew back and forth a couple of times. Or drove, what with the waits at