L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy

party. No, lad, Jack does not deserve your hatred."
      Bud leaned over the table. "Dudley, what do you want?"
      "I want you to avoid an indictment and return to duty, and I have a way for you to do it."
      Bud looked at the newspaper. "How?"
      "'Work for me."
      "Doing what?"
      "No, more questions first. Lad, do you recognize the need to contain crime, to keep it south of Jefferson with the dark element?"
      "Sure."
      "And do you think a certain organized crime element should be allowed to exist and perpetuate acceptable vices that hurt no one?"
      "Sure, pork barrel. The game's gotta be played that way a little. What's this got to do-"
      Smith yanked the paper--a badge and .38 special gleamed up. Bud, scalp prickles. "I knew you had juice. You squared it with Green?"
      "Yes, lad, I squared it--with Parker. With the part of his ear that Exley hasn't poisoned. He said if the grand jury didn't hand down a bill against you, your refusal to testify would not be punished. Now pick up your things before the proprietor calls the police."
      GLEAMING--Bud grabbed his goodies. "There's no goddamn bill on me?"
      Ho, ho, ho--mocking. "Lad, the chief knew he was giving me a long shot, and I'm glad you haven't read the Four Star _Herald_."
      Bud said, "_How?_"
      "Not yet, lad."
      "What about Dick?"
      "He's through, lad. And don't protest, because it's unavoidable. He's been billed, he'll be indicted and he'll swing. He's the Department's scapegoat, on Parker's orders. And it was Exley who convinced him to hand Dick over. Criminal charges and jail time."
      A broiling hot room--Bud pulled his necktie loose, closed his eyes.
      "Lad, I'll get Dick a nice berth at the honor farm. I know a woman deputy there who can fix things, and when he gets out I'll guarantee him a shot at Exley."
      Bud opened his eyes; Smith had the _Herald_ spread full. The headline: "Policemen Indicted in Bloody Christmas Scandal." Below, a column circled: Sergeant Richard Stensland flagged on four charges, three old-timer cops billed, Lentz, Brownell, Huff swinging on two bills apiece. Underlined: "Officer Wendell White, 33, received no true bills, although several sources within the District Attorney's Bureau had stated that first-degree assault bills seemed imminent. The grand jury's foreman stated that four police-beating victims recanted their previous testimony, which had Officer White attempting to strangle Juan Carbijal, age 19. The recanted testimony directly contradicted the testimony of LAPD Sergeant Edmund J. Exley, who had sworn under oath that White had, in fact, attempted to grievously injure Carbijal. Sergeant Exley's testimony is not considered tainted, since it resulted in probable indictments against seven other officers; however, although the grand jurors doubted the credibility of the recantings, they deemed them sufficient to deny the D.A.'s Office true bills against Officer White. Deputy D.A. Ellis Loew told reporters: 'Something suspicious happened, but I don't know what it was. Four retractions have to supersede the testimony of one witness, even as splendid a witness as Sergeant Exley, a decorated war hero."'
      Newsprint swirling. Bud said, "Why? Why'd you do that for me? And how?"
      Smith crumpled the paper. "Lad, I need you for a new assignment Parker has given me the go-ahead on. It's a containment measure, an adjunct to Homicide. We're going to call it the Surveillance Detail, an innocuous name for a duty that few men are fit for, but you were born for. It's a muscle job and a shooting job and a job that entails asking very few questions. Lad, do you follow my drift?"
      "In Technicolor."
      "You'll be transferred out of Central dicks when Parker announces his shake-up. Will you work for me?"
      "I'd be crazy not to. Why, Dudley?"
      "Why what, lad?"
      "You shivved Ellis Loew to help me out, and everyone in the Bureau knows you and him are tight. Why?"
      "Because I like your style, lad. Will that