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“Nobody. I told him to keep it under his hat until I had a chance to ask Payne.”

“So what about you, Payne?” Malone asked. “Are you going to get on the phone to Wohl the minute I leave here, or wait until tomorrow morning, or what?”

“It’s an interesting ethical question,” Matt said. “On one hand, for reasons I don’t quite understand. I would really like to see Holland caught. On the other, so far as Wohl is concerned, my primary loyalty is to him—”

“Your primary loyalty should be to the Police Department,” Malone interrupted. “You’re a cop. It’s your duty to catch crooks.”

Matt met Malone’s eyes, but didn’t respond.

“That’s the reason you would really like to see Holland caught. You’re a cop,” Malone went on.

“And on the other hand, Inspector Wohl trusts me,” Matt said. “I like that. I admire him. I don’t want to betray whatever confidence he has in me.”

“So you are going to tell him?”

“I don’t do very well deciding ethical questions when I’ve had four bottles of beer,” Matt said. “I think I’d better sleep on this.”

“I see.”

“I won’t, if I decide I have to tell him, tell him about tonight. If I tell him anything, it will be just that Charley saw you staking out Holland’s body shop. Maybe that can slip my mind too. I don’t want to decide that, either way, tonight. But if I do decide to tell him, I’ll tell you before I do.”

“Fair enough,” Malone said.

He stood up and offered Matt his hand.

“Thank you.”

“For the ribs, you mean,” Matt said.

“Yeah, for the ribs,” Malone said. Then he leaned over and shook McFadden’s hand. Charley nodded at him, but said nothing.

Malone found his coat and walked out of the apartment.

“I wonder if he really has some ideas about catching Holland, or whether that was just bullshit,” McFadden said.

“Why couldn’t he tell—who did he work for in Auto Squad?”

“That’s part of Major Crimes. Major Crimes is commanded by a captain. I forget his name.”

“Why couldn’t he tell him what he told us?”

“You really don’t understand, do you?” McFadden said. “Sometimes, you’re smart, Matt, and sometimes you’re dumber than dog shit.”

“I prefer to think of it as ‘inexperienced,’” Matt said. “Answer the question.”

“Okay. Don’t Make Waves.”

“Meaning what?”

“Meaning the Auto Squad and Major Crimes has enough, more than enough, already to do without getting involved in something that might turn against them. It’s not as if people are going to die because Holland is stealing cars. Who the hell is really hurt except the insurance company?”

“I could debate that: You are. Your premiums are so high because cars are stolen and have to be paid for.”

“And sometimes,” Charley said, smiling at him, “you sound like the monks in school. Absolute logic. You’re absolutely right. But it don’t mean a fucking thing in the real world. Whoever runs Major Crimes decided he didn’t want to go after Bob Holland because there are other car thieves out there he knows he can catch, car thieves who will go to jail, and who don’t call the mayor by his first name. You understand?”

“Yeah, I guess so.”

“Don’t get me wrong, Matt. For the record, I hope, when you settle your ethical problem, that you decide you don’t have to tell Wohl. I’d like to go after Holland.”