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ROB TRILLING AND I stepped into Walter Jackson’s office. Walter sensed how dejected we were from the failed surveillance. He didn’t even try one of his puns on us. I guess every screwup has a bright side.

I knew the team looked to me for ideas. But clearly Antonio Deason had a strong network behind him. I didn’t see any way to move forward without bringing in a narcotics team used to complex surveillances. And I was pretty sure that wouldn’t go over well with Celeste Cantor. Terri and Walter weren’t even supposed to know about any of this investigation.

Walter had a map of the city on his wall, with red pins marking the sites where drug dealers had been killed in the last two months and a blue pin marking where retired cop Roger Dzoriack had died. He also had two blue pins north of the city, representing Tabitha Arnold’s death from carbon monoxide poisoning and Lou Sanvos’s car accident, plus two more blue pins to the south, representing Ralph Stein’s and Gary Halverson’s deaths in Florida.

Trilling said, “Hernandez and I talked to a guy named Silbas. We were asking about the death of his godson in a shooting. I know Hernandez has been trying to find Silbas the last couple of days with no luck. It’s like the guy just vanished. I wonder if we need to add him to your map, Walter.”

The big man said, “I got plenty of red pins.”

I was barely following along with their conversation. I said out loud, “What about the informant you and Terri have been using in the group? Is he worthwhile?”

Trilling shrugged. “He’s worn a transmitter for us a couple of times. He’s trying to work off an assault charge. He’s not super helpful, but he’s done what we’ve asked. I don’t know if we can get any more help out of him. He’s always reluctant. If he wasn’t looking at so much time, I think he would have told us to get lost a long time ago.”

“So you don’t think he’d be willing to do a little extra and clue us in to when Antonio Deason is coming to their clubhouse?”

“I doubt it. He’s stubborn and cocky.”

“That’s a terrible combination for an informant.”

“I don’t have a lot of experience, but Jaime Nantes does seem like a bad informant. Hernandez doesn’t like to deal with him at all. He looks at her like she is some kind of meat on display.”

I considered this, then said, “We need to find a way to motivate him.” I turned toward Walter, knowing he had already figured out some angles.

Walter typed away on his computer and said, “I pulled Jaime Nantes’s file up. He’s got a long record. Lots of assaults and possessions with intent to sell. Surprisingly, he’s never really done any time. Maybe that’s why he agreed to cooperate.”

Walter got that look on his face he gets when he finds something interesting, and he started clicking through links. His mouth dropped open a little bit as he concentrated. I knew the look well. My anticipation grew as he followed more and more links. Finally, I had to ask him outright, “Walter, what’ve you found?”

It was like startling him out of a nap. His eyes cut up to me, then flicked over to Trilling. “I found an old warrant that was rescinded. It’s six years old.”

I said, “Why would a six-year-old warrant that was rescinded be of interest?”

“It’s for child pornography. It looks like the FBI did the in-vestigation.”

I sat back and considered this for a few moments.

Trilling said, “You guys are going to have to fill me in. I don’t understand why an old child pornography warrant could be important if it was already rescinded.”

“It’s not so much that it was rescinded. It has to do with the charge. No drug dealer wants anyone to know he was involved in child pornography.”

“But it was rescinded.”

“Those sorts of legal distinctions don’t mean anything on the street. His buddies would flip out if they heard about this.”

Trilling said, “How does it help us?”

“It might motivate him. We have to indulge in a little blackmail, but it could get us a decent contact for when Antonio Deason is moving and what he’s doing.”

Trilling said, “I’m not sure I like the idea of blackmail.”

I smiled and said, “Don’t knock it until you’ve tried it.”