RICH WAS ALREADY at the computer when I got to my desk. He looked like he was in fifth gear, his index fingers tapping a fast two-step over the keys. I thanked him for the Krispy Kreme he’d parked on a napkin next to my phone.
It was my turn,” Rich said, not looking up as I dragged out my chair and sat down. “Dr. Roach called,” Rich continued. “Said there were fifty-five ccs of gasoline in Alan Beam’s stomach.
What’s that? Three ounces? Geez. Is she saying he drank gasoline
Yeah. Probably directly out of the can. Beam really wanted to make sure he got it right this time. Doctor says the gas would’ve killed him if the fire hadn’t. She’s calling it a suicide. But look here, Lindsay.
Whatcha got?” I said.
Come over here and see this.
I walked around our two desks and peered over Conklin’s shoulder. There was a Web site on his screen called Crime Web. Conklin pressed the enter key and an animation began. A spider dropped a line from the top of the page, made a web around the blood-red headline over the feature story, then skittered back to its corner of the page. I read the headline.
Five Fatal Shootings This Week Alone
When are the cops and the DA going to get it together
The text below was a sickening indictment of San Francisco’s justice system - and it was all true. Homicides were up, prosecutions were down, the result of not enough people or money or time.
Rich moved the cursor to the column listing the pages on the site.
This one - here,” Rich said, clicking on a link called Current Unsolved Murders.
Thumbnail photos came up.
There was a family portrait of the Malones. Another of the Meachams. Rich clicked on the thumbnail of the Malones and said, “Listen to this.
And then he read the page to me
Were the murders of Patricia and Bertram Malone committed by the same killers of Sandy and Steven Meacham
We say yes.
And there have been other killings just as heinous with the same signature. The Jablonskys of Palo Alto and George and Nancy Chu of Monterey were also killed in horrific house fires.
Why can’t SFPD solve these crimes
If you have any information, write to us at CrimeWeb .com. Diem dulcem habes.
My God, it was Latin
We never told the press about the Latin,” I said. “What does it mean
Diem dulcem habes means ‘Have a nice day.
Yeah, okay,” I said. “Let’s hope it’s going to be even better than that.
I called the DA’s office, asked for Yuki, got Nick Gaines, told him we needed a warrant to get an Internet provider to give us the name of the Web site holder.
I’ll buck it up the line,” Gaines said. “Just asking, Sergeant: You’ve got probable cause
We’re working on it,” I said. I hung up, said, “Now what?” as Rich clicked on a box labeled Contact Us.
He typed with two fingers: “Must speak with you about the Malone and the Meacham fires. Please contact me.” Conklin’s e-mail address showed that he was with the SFPD. If the Webmaster was Pidge, we could be scaring him off.
On the other hand - there was no other hand.
I needn’t have worried. Only a couple of minutes after firing off his e-mail, Rich had a response in his inbox.
How can I help you?” the e-mail read.
It was signed Linc Weber, and it contained his phone number.
