Kading instantly recognized how incendiary Davis’s story really was. Not only had he detailed the events behind Tupac’s shooting and confessed to his own involvement in the crime, he also laid at least part of the blame for the murder at the feet of Sean Combs. Davis claimed that soon after the shooting, Combs called Zip to ask, “Was that us?” Davis confirmed that it was and that, despite the personal nature of the killing, he still wanted his million-dollar bounty. He told Zip to handle the money on his behalf, but the payment never came. (Combs has repeatedly and vehemently denied any involvement in Tupac’s murder and has since called Davis’s claims “nonsense.” He did not respond to repeated requests for comment.)

But any real sense of accomplishment was short-lived. Davis’s statements had already enticed Kading’s cop brain toward a new target: Combs. If what Davis was telling them was true, Combs was at the heart of a murder-conspiracy plot that had resulted in Tupac’s death. Just because they couldn’t use Davis’s statements against him in court didn’t mean they couldn’t use them to go after Combs.