But he didn’t go to the FBI Field Office yet. La Rosa called and said Ryan Candel was at the Homicide office and in the family waiting area reading a magazine as if waiting for a dental appointment. The Homicide office had a tiny lobby. It was like walking into a phone booth with an ATM and a door in it. Once you got through the door the family waiting room was on the left. There was a couch, a chair, a coffee table with some magazines. There wasn’t a TV but then again it wasn’t a place many people wanted to hang-out.
‘Tell him I’m ten minutes away and ask him to wait. I’m going to ask him to do something for us.’
Candel probably thought about it and decided he wanted to see that video. Went home, thought about it and decided he needed to know if the shooter was or wasn’t his father. When Raveneau walked in he was sitting on the couch texting somebody. He smiled but looked nervous and pale.
‘Does being here make you nervous?’
‘I don’t know but I’ve got to get outside.’
‘How did you get here?’
‘Bus.’
‘I’ll give you a ride. I’ve got to go downtown anyway. Did you come in to see the video?’
‘Yes.’
‘It’s short. Do you want to watch it first?’
‘Not really, but yes.’
‘You can watch it on the computer at my desk.’
‘OK.’
That’s what he did. Candel watched it three times and didn’t show any real emotion. Raveneau started it once more and froze the frame on the shooter several times.
‘Have you ever seen a snuff film, Ryan?’
‘At a party once, but I’m definitely not into anything like that.’
‘See the height difference? Your dad was much taller. That’s not your dad.’
‘You’re positive?’
‘Yeah, it’s been looked at by some film experts.’ He waited a beat. ‘I just got back from Hawaii and I learned more about your father. I’ve seen where he lived. He’s dead, Ryan. He died in 2004 of kidney failure at a hospital in Honolulu.’
‘Probably from drinking.’
‘That would more likely be a liver problem. It was more of a long series of complications from being wounded during the Vietnam War. It took some phone calls but I talked to a doctor who remembered him. It seems many people remember him. I found his house and met the man who owns the property. He was a good friend of your dad’s. His name is Tom Casey and that friendship goes back to when they were young and pilots in Vietnam. Casey had your dad’s remains cremated and his ashes are at a memorial not far from the house. I think you should go there.’
‘Why would I want to?’
‘Because he’s been bigger in your life than you acknowledge and it’s time you learn more about him.’
Raveneau popped the CD out and changed the subject.
‘Let me show you our file closet here. It’ll give you more of an idea about us.’
He was going with his gut here. He wasn’t exactly sure why he was doing this. Maybe it was because his own son would have been close to Candel’s age. Maybe he understood being young and a little bit unhappy and misguided. He unlocked the door to the closet. On the shelves to the left were cold case files.
‘Who was Kevin Collins?’
‘He was a boy that went missing and we tried hard to find him. That’s why those two big boxes are up there.’
‘But it’s got to be too late now.’
‘Cases get solved. A witness comes forward that can’t carry what they know any longer or DNA gives us a connection we didn’t have before.’
‘What about those? Who is Ramirez?’
‘He’s better known as the Nightstalker and he’s already in prison doing life, but his attorney is working hard on an appeal. If the attorney is successful we’ve got five good cases here so he can be charged again.’
Raveneau listed off the five victims. He pulled out the case file of a young woman, Marsha Smith, killed in 1966. He knew Candel didn’t really see the effort as worth it so many years after a murder. Yet Raveneau wanted him to see this.
After he shut the door, he said, ‘OK, let’s go, and I’ll drop you off on my way.’
They rode the elevator down and in the car before pulling away from the curb Raveneau reached around back and picked up the photo. It was wrapped in brown paper.
‘Tom Casey gave this to me to bring back to you.’
‘What is it?’
‘Open it.’
Candel unpeeled the brown paper as they waited at a light. He flipped the photo over then rested it on his knees, a studio shot, color, and bigger than 8 x 11, framed in oak, and Raveneau didn’t expect the intensity. He didn’t make a sound but tears started.
‘Mom. She looks beautiful. She looks happy.’
‘That’s your dad next to her.’
But he wasn’t looking at his dad. He was looking at his dad’s hand resting on his head and was disbelieving. ‘Me?’
‘What’s the matter? Do you think the kid is too good looking? That’s you.’
‘That can’t be.’
But Candel knew it was and as Raveneau turned left he heard the release and then a sob Candel tried to choke off and couldn’t. When he looked over there were tears running down his face. He bowed his head and tears fell on the glass over the photo. Raveneau drove slowly, gave him time before dropping him off.
Candel wiped the tears off his face and said, ‘Sorry, I just never…’
‘So he did know you. You’ll have to talk to Tom Casey. He said to tell you that you’ve got a standing invite at his house.’
Raveneau glanced over. ‘He didn’t make any offer like that to me. He gave me something else.’ Raveneau handed over the box Casey gave him. ‘He received two of these. Here’s one of them. Casey gave this to me to give you along with the photo.’
Candel took the box from him but didn’t open it yet. He cupped it in his left hand.
‘Your half brother has the other one. He’s on Facebook if you want to contact him that way. He gave me the contact info. I’ll give it to you when we stop. Your father married a Vietnamese woman. According to Tom Casey that was to get her out of Vietnam but she was also pregnant by him. Your brother’s name is Matt Frank.’
‘A brother?’
‘Yeah.’
‘And he got the last name?’
‘He did and he’s got mixed feelings like you. That’s a story you’ll have to get from him. He’s older than you by a few years and he’s got a specialty coffee business he’s trying to take global. He gets to California a couple of times a year so you can meet him here if you don’t go to Hawaii first.’
Candel opened the box with the dragon on it. He lifted out the medal.
‘Is this for dropping napalm on villagers?’
‘War is an often cynical calculation, but this is for exceptional heroism and bravery. They don’t hand them out like candy.’
‘But another bogus war.’
‘I know what you’re saying and I’ve had those feelings. My son died in Iraq. I had to find a way to separate how we got there from how my son did. Go talk to Tom Casey about your dad and figure out what the good things were. It’s time to turn the page.’