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proof.
    The garage door opener, the spare, had been locked away as evidence, and Hoke had checked it out of the property room (it took Baldy Allen, the property man, more than two hours to find it, three years and three months being a long time for evidence to be stored away), but Hoke was convinced that the opener was the key, somehow, to the case.
    Perhaps Dr. Schwartz had taken the original door opener, and if so, instead of throwing it away, he still had it? If so, and if he had also planned three years ago to marry Louise, and if they had been having an affair at that time, he was currenty using the original door opener to get into the garage now that he was married to Louise and living in her house--and driving the white Mercedes. Everything seemed logical; the killer could very well be Dr. Schwartz. Tomorrow, when he got to the office, he would see where Leo Schwartz had been when the murder was committed. There was nothing much in the report about Schwartz, except that he and his partner, Max Farris, both had attended the funeral. Sergeant Quevedo had attended Dr. Russell's funeral and had copied down the list of everyone who had signed the register. But Quevedo hadn't checked on any of these people to see where they had been during the murder. It might be a good idea to check the Belle Meade house, too. He would see if this spare opener still opened the garage. If it did, it might mean that Dr. Schwartz did indeed have the original opener--the one stolen from the Mercedes. If the spare didn't open the garage, it could mean that a new radio signal and new openers had been ordered and that he was on the wrong track...
    Hoke fell asleep in the recliner. Ellita brought him a cold beer at ten o'clock and woke him in time to watch the rerun of -Hill Street Blues-.
    CHAPTER 4
    The next morning, when Detective Teodoro Gonzalez came into the office, Hoke handed him the garage door opener and told him to go to the late Dr. Russell's house and see if it would open the garage door. Hoke didn't tell Gonzalez why. All he had was a theory, even if the opener did open the garage. If it worked, however, his suspicion would be stronger, and it would confirm that he was at least on to something.
    "After I open the garage," Gonzalez asked, "should I go inside, or will I need a warrant?"
    "All I want you to do," Hoke said slowly, "and I want you to do it as inconspicuously as possible, is open the door---if- it opens. Then, if it opens, push the button and close the door again. If anybody's around, don't do it. Drive past the house. Keep circling the block, and don't let anyone see you open and close the door. If you think Mrs. Schwartz is at home or see her out in the yard, just drive away. Go back later when she isn't home."
    Gonzalez slipped the opener into his outside jacket pocket. He was wearing an iridescent lime green linen sports jacket, a black silk T-shirt, with pleated lemoncolored gabardine slacks, and tasseled white Gucci slip-ons.
    "And take off that jacket. Your T-shirt's okay, but that jacket isn't inconspicuous, and neither are your slacks. So don't get out of your car either."
    Gonzalez nodded. He removed his jacket and draped it, silk lining side out, over his arm. "Don't I check and see what's in the garage after I open it? I mean, take a quick little survey, something like that? What exactly am I looking for?"
    "Nothing. Just see if that gadget opens the door. Then come back and tell me. Do you know where the Belle Meade neighborhood is? How to find the address on Poinciana?"
    "I know about where it is. There's a Publix market at the corner of Poinciana and Dixie, so all I have to do is turn there and follow Poinciana till I get to the address."
    "Okay, then, move out. And come straight back here when you finish trying the opener."
    Gonzalez hadn't been promoted to detective-investigator because he had earned it. He had been promoted after only one year of patrol duty in Liberty City because he had a degree in