Milo turned and wroteGeographic Link?on the board, below the victims’ faces. “Where does Boykins live, Buck?”
“Back then he was in Leimert Park.”
Upscale district in South L.A. Attractive, low crime, tree-lined, predominantly affluent Black.
Raul worked his phone.
“He’s in Beverly Hills now…” His eyebrows climbed. “No surprise, sold his music company six months ago to a private equity group. For a”—he made air quotes—“rumoredthirty mil.”
Buxby’s whistle was loud and piercing. “Man, we’re all in the wrong business.”
Alicia said, “With a deal like that pending, there’d be motive for getting rid of a pest. Was Parmenter threatening to sue?”
“All I was told was he was unhappy with his deal and made a scene at the showcase.”
Raul typed some more. “Nothing between Parmenter and anyone on the civil docket.”
I said, “The threat of litigation could’ve been enough for Boykins to want to houseclean.”
Buxby said, “That’s what I figured, Doc. Even as a Crip, Boykins had never gotten busted for anything violent, but years ago he did do some burglaries and larcenies. Before discovering art.”
Moe said, “And like Doc said, O’Brien was a Hollywood hanger-on, so he could’ve also crossed paths with someone like Boykins.”
“Not as a musician,” said Sean. “But maybe as a bouncer or a bodyguard.”
“If that was the case,” said Alicia, “O’Brien could’ve been at the showcase and seen something related to Parmenter’s death and became a threat to Boykins.”
Milo said, “Twenty-two months lapsed between the murders.”
She said, “I don’t see a problem with that, L.T. Enough time for Boykins to make a few extortion payments while setting up a permanent solution. If he’d arranged the hit on Parmenter and gotten away with it, why not another one?”
Milo chewed his cheek. “Good point. Okay, Boykins definitely bears looking at.”
“Beverly Hills,” said Petra. “Closer to you than us.”
He laughed. “Happy to do it. Givenmyinterest in the arts.”
Chapter
12
The meeting ended with a well-delineated division of labor.
Moe would look for prior .308 shootings and field any tips following the postings and if the quantity grew formidable, enlist Sean to help. Until then Sean would work with Alicia researching prior body dumps with any similarities to Marissa’s and return to the urgent-care facility to requestion staff.
Petra and Raul would canvass every apartment in Paul O’Brien’s building and talk to other neighbors as well as to street people to see if anyone had spotted a person of interest the night of the shooting.
“Which in Hollywood,” said Petra, “is a low bar.”
That completed, they’d do as deep a dive as possible on both O’Brien and Jamarcus Parmenter.
Buck Buxby would remain “on-call.” A euphemism that didn’t escape him. He said, “Like the bull with the smaller cojones who waits in the stall in case the real stud gets lazy.”
Milo and I would attempt to interview Gerald Irwin Boykins né Jamal B.
“Beverly Hills,” said Buxby. “There must be a lesson in there, somewhere.”
—
