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Crazy world but the one she’d signed up for.
A voice behind her said, “You’re covered, Karen.”
Three officers, all of whom she knew well but in her state, she had no clue what their names were.
One of them, a small Black woman, took Karen’s arm and guided her back. Name tag:S. Joyner.Oh yeah, Stella.
Karen said, “He’s still breathing.”
Stella Joyner said, “Very funny.”
“He is. Look at his neck.”
Stella did. Said, “Wow. A few hours ago, we got called to an eighty-year-old woman, home-invaded, beat up, died of a heart attack. And this guy survives.”
Karen said, “Life’s not fair.”
Stella Joyner said, “If it was, we’d be doing something else.”
CHAPTER
47
An Inglewood captain named Laquitha Morrison was smart enough to remember the BOLO and considerate enough to phone Milo. He was at my house when the call came in, assaulting a triple-decker sandwich and bemoaning the policeman’s lot.
“Sturgis.”
Morrison introduced herself and said, “We got your multiple murderer, Gilmore.”
“Fantastic!”
“But complicated,” said Morrison. “He’s at Centinela Hospital getting his bowel stitched up.”
She told the story.
Milo said, “What kind of gun did he pull?”
“Cheap Polish automatic,” said Morrison. “Why?”
“I was hoping for a .38 Police and Military.”
“Then you’ll be happy—I’m going to call you Milo, okay?”
“You can call me any damn thing you want, thanks so much for cluing me in.”
“Didn’t want you to hear it on the news,” said Laquitha Morrison. “Anyway, we found one of those, too. Thirty-eight revolver. Along with another cheapie .22, a .25, a sawed-off shotgun, three pairs ofbrass knuckles, one with spikes, and a bunch of knives. All in his motel room. We found the room because he had a three-day receipt in his pocket.”
“The car—”
“Black Honda, we found that, too, parked in the lot out in front of the motel.”
“Which motel?”
“The King Henry,” said Morrison. “Anything but regal. We did a forensic tow. Car was dead, our tow guy said it looked like a blown head gasket.”
Milo said, “Breakdown. That’s why he stayed in town.”
“Lucky for you, Milo.”
