Hotline to Murder

didn’t he have to punch time clocks and leave other tracks during his shift?
    That sealed it. Tony was not going to talk to Detective Croyden about Fred. For one thing, he didn’t want to take Croyden’s shit about doing police work and interfering with the law. He hadn’t interfered with anything. Croyden would be able to verify Fred’s employment, his alibi, and anything else he wanted to know. And nothing Tony had done would stop him. Fred didn’t associate him with the police or with the Hotline. He was sure of that.
    The doorbell chimed. Who could that be at 10:00 on a Saturday morning? Tony glanced at his attire, relieved that he was wearing shorts, even though he was shirtless. At least he was presentable enough to answer the door. He padded slowly into the living room, without his crutches. He didn’t intend to use them anymore. He didn’t bother to look through the peephole in the front door. The sun was shining and nothing bad could be lurking outside. He opened the door and found himself looking at the crooked nose of Detective Croyden.
    It was a shock to see the man he had just been thinking about. Tony stared at him for a moment before he found his voice. “Good morning, Detective Croyden,” he said. “Do you work twenty-four hours a day?”
    “Thirty, sometimes. I’ve come to talk to Josh.”
    Josh. Tony was horrified. When he had given the panties to Croyden, he had known at some level that Croyden would have to talk to Josh. But he hadn’t actually pictured how this would take place. In his house. And so soon.
    “Josh is still asleep.” He had come home even later than Tony.
    “Well, wake him up. This is official police business. And I want to talk to him alone.”
    That did sound official. Tony stepped back so that Croyden could enter. He pointed to the couch in the living room and said, “I’ll get him.”
    As he went slowly up the stairs, still favoring his left leg, Tony dreaded what was going to happen. Croyden was carrying a briefcase. He could guess what was inside. He pictured Croyden whipping the panties out of the case and saying, “Where did you get these?”
    Croyden hadn’t had time to perform any tests on the panties. But what could he test for? If there wasn’t any blood on them, how could a test connect them with Joy? Tony reached the top of the stairs and looked at Josh’s closed door. He was a grumpy riser. And being faced with the prospect of talking to the police would make his mood that much fouler.
    Tony decided to go to his athletic club and work out, something he hadn’t done since his knee injury. Get good and sweaty. And not return for a while. He gritted his teeth and knocked on the door.
    ***
    In fact, Tony didn’t return home until late that afternoon. After he finished his workout he went to his office to catch up on paperwork. He sometimes did that on weekends when there was nobody around to disturb him. It was peaceful, and he was very productive. He found that he really liked this job, and he wanted to do well at it. He was sure that what he did helped people. Just as the Hotline helped people.
    Toward the end of the afternoon, he remembered that he had been going to tell the Los Angeles Police Department about the church scam. It would be a long drive to a police station near the church. And then back. And Croyden had been pessimistic about how much good it would do. He decided to skip it.
    He hadn’t thought about Josh and Detective Croyden for several hours when he turned into the car park of his townhouse development. He had driven the Porsche for the first time in several days, and it felt good to be behind the wheel of the responsive car, even if he had to be careful shifting because his left knee was still sore.
    As he drove down the row of carports, he saw that his was filled with large cardboard boxes. What the hell was going on? He saw Josh’s SUV, which had been backed into the adjoining carport, and then he saw Josh, methodically loading the boxes into it.
    Tony stopped the Porsche outside the carport and got out, not bothering to close the door. He limped over to Josh, who had not ceased work, and said, “What are you doing?”
    Josh placed a box carefully into his car before he replied. He looked at Tony and said, “Remember, I told you that I’d move out within thirty days? I’m well within that time period, I believe.”
    “I didn’t think…I didn’t think….” He didn’t think what? “I didn’t think you’d