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check, that’s not the way things will go.” He looked at me.
    I turned to Alex. “Leo’s got the background on the case, let’s do as he suggests and take things from there.”
    Alex glared at me. “It’s not your decision.”
    I raised my voice. “It’s not yours, either.”
    We locked eyes. Alex turned red. A vein pulsed in his temple below his receding hairline. If we got lucky, he’d suffer a stroke and drop dead.
    We didn’t get lucky. Alex finally looked back to Leo. “Let’s go, then. But, for the record, Hodge is ours and we actively work it, just like any other homicide. We don’t sit around pushing paper.”
    Leo just grinned and waited until Alex broke eye contact with him.
    When we got to the parking lot, I suggested that Selfie meet us at the original Reeder crime scene to go over the evidence with us. Alex disagreed. After a lengthy discussion, also known as an argument, he finally relented. I told him Bernie and I would ride with Leo, stop by the station and pick up our crime analyst, and then meet him at the crime scene.
    As Leo drove us back to Hollywood Station, I apologized for my partner’s behavior. “He lost his former partner in a shooting a few weeks ago. He’s also…” I took a moment, trying to be diplomatic. “…a little intense.”
    He glanced at me, smiling. “Not your monkey.”
    “I’m sorry?”
    “The monkey on your back that you’re carrying around, it’s not yours.” He rubbed a hand over his shaved head. “Guys like Alex are…” He looked at me, his dark eyes twinkling. “Life’s short. Let’s not waste our time talking about him.”
    The more I was around Leo Kingsley, the more I liked him. I said, “Lieutenant Oz told us we’d be working with a legend. He said the two of you go way back.”
    “Ozzie’s my white brother.” He turned to me, flashing what I decided was an almost ever present smile. “Ask him about Lulu one of these days.”
    “Lulu?” He glanced at me again, still smiling, but didn’t respond. I changed the subject. “Oz told me you’re close to retiring.”
    “Three to go, give or take. I’ve got a couple of grandkids that want Big Poppy around more often.”
    “That’s nice.”
    “And you?”
    I shrugged. “Bernie and I just take it one day at a time.” My big dog was sniffing the exotic scents of the city through the rear window.
    “I’ve heard about a few of your cases. You and Pearl have done some nice work.”
    “You know Pearl?”
    “’Course.” Another big smile. “Pearl, Oz and me are what you might call the three amigos.” He laughed. “Or maybe with Oz in the middle we’re more like the big Oreo.”
    Pearl was also black and the image he’d conjured up made me laugh. “I miss Pearl. He’s one of the best detectives I ever worked with.”
    We pulled into the station parking lot and I saw that Selfie was waiting for us.
    “Remind me someday to tell you a story or two about Pearl,” Leo said. “Your former partner had another side to him once.”
    ***
    After picking up Selfie, we met Alex at the condo complex in Baldwin Hills where Bruce Reeder had been murdered ten years earlier. We initially only planned to walk around the complex and go over the facts as we knew them until we realized the unit was for rent. After calling a local real estate agent, we were let inside.
    The unit was a two bedroom. Based on the original crime scene photographs that Selfie brought with her, it looked like it had been refurbished over the years.
    After we familiarized ourselves with the layout, Leo took over. He seemed to have sparked an instant connection with our crime analyst and asked her to go over the facts of the crime, even as Alex huffed and puffed about it all being a big waste of time.
    Selfie placed several of the original crime scene photos on the kitchen counter as she told us what she knew. “The victim’s body was found at the foot of his bed in the master bedroom on May 7 th , 2005. According to the