The Gumshoe Diaries (11 page)

****

(“but when I kissed a cop down on 34th and Vine, he
broke my little bottle of, love potion number 9…”)…The
Clover’s…1959

Chapter Fourteen

Bella Terra Restaurant, Los
Angeles…Saturday, Feb 21, 2009…2pm

Ever notice that there never seems to be a
quiet moment in a restaurant? It’s just an observation. I mean I’ve
never actually owned one or worked in one, but I eat in them all
the time, six days out of seven since returning to bachelor status.
I don’t know, maybe early mornings, before the staff arrives, or
late at night when its time to lock up? Those might be good times
to grab a moment’s peace? I wonder about that whenever I think
about the Manzano brothers, Johnny and Angelo or when I’m
remembering Lu and Jai, my favorite swishy Asians. It’s hard to
believe that they’re gone. It’s harder still to believe the murder
suicide theory that Oscar and his minions were trying to sell to
John Q. Public. I’ve been in this business long enough to know
things are rarely
exactly
what they appear to be, especially
at first glance.

You know, another saying my old mother was
fond of sharing was,
“the apple’s always sweeter near the
core.”
It was part of her whole
“patience is a virtue”
lecture series. The point is I knew those two guys pretty darn
well. After all, I’ve been noshing on freebies at their deli for
better than twenty years. This puzzle wouldn’t be that easy to
solve. From the proper angle even 2 plus 2 isn’t a sure thing.
Besides, there’s no way either one of them could have murdered the
other. Even a card carrying homophobe like me could see they were
in love, truly in love. Those guys
(that’s right I said
guys)
had the kind of love every girl dreams of and every fella
fears. The kind that merged two lives, blended them, and
transformed them, from individual to couple. Seriously, until I met
Lu and Jai I can honestly say that I never really understood what
it meant to be a
‘couple.’
But I digress...

Fat Johnny stirred a huge pot of Mama
Manzano’s famous Sicilian marinara sauce on the front burner. It
must have been near ready because he was also dipping some crusty
bread into the pot and giving it a taste.

“HEY, knucklehead, whatta ya doing, you’re
going to get sauce all over your suit!
Mama mia
, we gotta go
in fifteen minutes Johnny, we’ll be late for the memorial service,”
scolded brother Angelo! Johnny looked down at his white shirt and
black silk tie, checking for splash stains. There weren’t any,
luckily. He turned to face his nagging older brother and pointed at
his clothes with half a loaf of bread. He would have fired off a
snappy reply too if not for the fact that the other half of the
loaf was sticking from out of his mouth as he chewed. Instead he
grunted and gave the pot another lazy stir.

“Lovely,” replied Angelo as he stormed out of
the kitchen and out into the restaurant.

Johnny chuckled, stepped away fro the stove
and removed the dish towel tucked into his waistband. He folded it
quickly and draped it through the bar on the pizza oven door then
followed his brother out of the kitchen. He didn’t want to be late
to the little homo’s funeral either. I’d meet up with them there
later, but first I had some unfinished business with Dr. Looney,
strictly business, unfortunately.

--

UCLA, Molecular Sciences Building…Saturday,
Feb 21, 2009…6pm

--

Just
being
on
the enemy’s
campus couldn’t be wrong, could it? I mean it’s not a venal sin or
anything; Judy was pretty sure about that. But, just to be on the
safe side, she made a mental note to keep this visit short and
remember to light a candle before Mass on Sunday. Actually, she
wouldn’t have had to come here at all if not for a piece of special
equipment she needed to use. Why the Bruins could afford one and
Tommy Trojan couldn’t was beyond her? It wasn’t worth pondering
though; those decisions were made way above her pay grade anyway.
All she knew was that she needed time on the machine in order to
answer a few nagging questions that involved the blue threads I had
left with her a few days ago.

Apparently Doctor Looney had hastily drawn
her conclusions and was feeling a little guilty. Or maybe she felt
sorry for me after giving me the bum’s rush earlier today? Okay,
that was probably wishful thinking on my part. Anyway, between
bites of her cup-o-noodles supper she had an epiphany and presto
the need for the XHR SEM at UCLA. Judy had access to a scanning
electron microscope on her home turf, but the one on the Bruin
campus was much sexier. It was an XHR model, an extra high
resolution SEM. And Judy Looney wasn’t above using her physical
attributes to worm her way into whatever lab housed that unit.
Apparently I wasn’t the only fella trying to coax her back onto
team hetero! So after wolfing down the last of her workaholic meal
she changed into her very best pair of guy friendly jogging shorts
and her favorite one size too small USC sweatshirt, minus the
sports bra of course, fishing was always better when the girls
swung free. Whichever lab tech was her admirer, he (or she, I
shouldn’t assume) didn’t stand a chance!

“
Sweet,”
exclaimed Judy, spotting a
space right in front of Young Hall, right next to the Molecular
Sciences Building!

Down-shifting her little two seat sports car,
a Mazda Miata (not her dream ride, but on her salary it would have
to do), she whipped into the prized slot and screeched to a halt.
The maneuver was totally unnecessary this hour of the day, but Judy
loved her new toy and she took every opportunity to show off her
sports car skills. If memory served she thought, Ernie Namura would
be noshing on a NY style pizza right about now, and likely craving
a cold one to help wash it down. She reached around and tapped her
backpack with her key ring and listened for the reassuring clunk of
metal to glass. Satisfied with the dull retort she locked the car
with the beeper and headed toward the building entrance.

Ernie had been one of her less than stellar
undergrad students a couple of years ago. But where he came up
short scholastically made up for as a teacher’s pet, satisfying her
Starbucks addiction every morning like clockwork, occasionally
adding a cheese Danish for good measure! She wasn’t sure if it was
a grade he was after or a shot at fulfilling a “
hot for
teacher”
fantasy, but, he was a guy so she felt confident in
her chances of getting onto the SEM with a little harmless
flirtation. She remembered him as a total frat boy, beer (Sapporo)
and pizza (Dominos) were the essence of life as far as he was
concerned, typical for a thirty something techie and perennial
bachelor.

Judy took the steps two at a time up to the
heavy security door and entered the code Ernie had sent via text
before she had left her apartment. The light on the little black
box changed from red to green as it released the magnetic lock,
allowing her access to the building. Entering quickly she headed
down the long hall toward the radiology department. He shouldn’t be
too hard to find, all she had to do was follow the pepperoni vapors
wafting down the long hallway. About halfway down she heard Led
Zeppelin emanating from one of the labs behind a set of swinging
double doors. She knew the tune, The Immigrant Song she thought,
recognizing the familiar melody. Suddenly the doors burst open and
out popped Ernie Namura, his arms heavily laden with a stack of
thick manila folders that he could barely see over. He was working
on a half eaten slice stuffed in his mouth, chewing loudly as he
rushed by her. Judy side stepped the fast moving techie, flattening
herself up against the wall.

“
Whoa, sorry ma’am
, I didn’t see you,”
apologized Ernie, the words nearly unintelligible through the
mouthful of half chewed pizza.

“No worries Ernie-san, it’s me, Judy.”

Ernie stopped abruptly and turned back toward
the voice. He leaned against the wall to free up his right hand and
pulled the pizza out of his mouth. Swallowing hard, he choked down
the wad of food clogging his airway and managed a reply.

“
Oh, man
, sorry Prof, I totally forgot
you were coming, it’s been wicked busy here tonight,” Ernie
apologized, wiping the cheese and pepperoni grease off his mouth
with the sleeve of his lab coat. Judy gingerly took the half eaten
slice from his hand with her thumb and forefinger and put it back
into his mouth.

“That’s okay, you go drop off that stack of
files and I’ll just wait for you right here in your lab. I’ll break
out a couple of the cold ones I brought to bribe you to look the
other way while I log onto the SEM with your code. Does that work
for you,” Judy asked, reaching around with both hands to tap her
backpack, and giving Ernie a good look at her C size beauties as
they stretched the fabric beneath the USC logo? It was like
watching two bobcats fighting under a thin blanket, the poor guy
was hypnotized.

“
Ahhhh
, yeah, sure, I’ll just be a
sec, make yourself at home,” he replied as he sprinted off to
wherever he was headed.

“K,” she said sweet as pie.

Judy smiled coyly and went on into the lab,
this was going to be fun she thought. The instant she entered the
room and the heavy doors closed behind her she felt it. The
thermostat read 72 degrees yet she was chilled? An air of
foreboding surrounded her,
why
? And a familiar clinical
smell hung in the air, just like the embalming room at the County
morgue where she worked while pursuing her PhD. That was weird, all
she should smell is pizza she thought looking at the extra large
pie from Mario’s setting on an old metal desk. It had probably
donated by old man Hughes himself before he went nuts! Weird she
muttered, as she set her backpack down, and walked over to Ernie’s
boom box. She cranked up the music up to level six and plopped down
into the swivel chair to wait for Ernie. The room exploded with
noise as “Whole Lotta Love” blared out of the speakers.

Leaning back in the chair she closed her
eyes, just for a minute or two she told herself. But her body was
screaming for a catnap. Burning the candle at both ends was
catching up with her. Her head dipped and swayed, looking as if it
would just fall off of her shoulders at any moment. Each time, she
jerked herself back to consciousness and each time she fought the
compulsion to sleep. But after a minute, maybe less she began doze
off. And with unconsciousness the foreboding feeling returned, what
was that? She felt her skin crawl, as if a bedbug was nibbling on
her naked thigh under her covers. She didn’t trust what her mind
was telling her, her eyes felt heavy and she couldn’t open them no
matter how hard she tried. Was she awake or dreaming? She felt
awake, she felt as though she were looking around the room? She
could describe in detail every stick of furniture, every piece of
equipment, even every tile in the ceiling. She was losing track of
time, it was irrelevant in a dream state. How long had she been
here? Where the hell was Ernie anyway, and what was taking him so
long? A hinge squeaked. It was the doors in front of her. She
thought she saw someone standing at the doors. How could she know?
She was asleep right?

“Ernie, is that you,” she wondered in
silence? No reply came.

“
CUT IT OUT ERNIE,”
she
screamed without making any noise!

Her heart raced and if you were standing over
her you would see her eyes moving rapidly under closed lids. She
was asleep and awake at the same time. She was also scared. A wisp
of a shadow passed over her and quietly exited the room. She
imagined hearing a faint sound, a low and soft chuckle. It made her
smirk involuntarily, yet chilled her to the point of shivering, as
if she stepped over an open grave? She remembered an old saying
from childhood,
“step over an open grave today and someone you
know will die tonight.”
It wasn’t an exact quote but it was a
clear memory nonetheless. Judy’s breathing slowed and slowly she
settled into a peaceful state. She was startled awake by a loud
crash at the double doors as Ernie Namura returned from his errand
at a sprint.

“Am I boring you Dr. Looney,” he said
sarcastically as he reached for the Sapporo she had left on the
table?

“What,
no, no
, sorry, long day after a
late night, you know me the workaholic poster girl,” she answered
as she got up to stretch. Ernie admired the view and took a long
drink of the beer.

“Uh huh,” he replied.

Judy straightened her sweatshirt which she
had twisted out of sorts while she was catnapping she guessed. She
actually blushed when she caught her former student checking her
out. He wasn’t shy, that was for sure, and she wondered if the beer
was going to be enough of a bribe to get her onto the SEM? Raking
her fingers through her hair she broke eye contact with him and
wandered toward the equipment she needed.

“
So
, do you think I can get some time
on this thing tonight? I won’t need much, maybe a couple of hours,”
she asked, pretending to look over the machine but really watching
Ernie for his reaction.

“Yeah, I think that can be arranged,” he
replied smiling over his beer.

“
Sweet!
When can I get started,” she
asked?

“As soon as I finish my dinner and this beer,
but you have to join me, it’s rude to let someone eat alone ya
know,” he answered. Judy sighed, putting herself on alert,
wondering if she had miscalculated by labeling this guy
tame
.

“Uh, yeah, okay. Why don’t you open up my
beer while I put my stuff over here near the SEM.? I really
appreciate this Ernie-san,” she said, quickly walking over to fetch
her backpack with her samples.

“Hey, you didn’t pass anyone on the way in
here did you,” she asked
matter-of-factly
?