Gone (26 page)

“True.”

Several bites later: “What’s on your mind?”

“The scenarios we’ve constructed depend on planning and patience. The way Peaty died —
not backing off from an armed man —
showed a lack of control.”

“He was drunk. Or Vasquez didn’t give him a chance to back off.”

“Vasquez just went out there and shot him?”

“It happens.”

“It does,” I said. “But think about this: the Gaidelases’ bodies have never been found and their credit cards were never used. Plus someone took the trouble to phone utilities in Ohio and have their power shut off. That’s high-level calculation and discretion. Peaty was nabbed by a bystander watching college girls while beating off. He continued to stare openly at women and gave them the creeps. That sound discreet?”

“Even morons learn, Alex. But let’s put the Gaidelases aside for a moment. Are you okay with Michaela and Tori as Peaty’s handiwork?”

I nodded.

“Good, because stolen wheels, duct tape, rope, a knife, a loaded gun are the kind of evidence I can write up. Basic gear from your local Psycho Killer Emporium.” He massaged a temple. Ate pie, drank coffee. Pushed the empty plate back in front of me and called for a refill.

The waitress said, “Boy, you guys were hungry.”

Milo grinned. She thought it was sincere and smiled back.

When she was gone, his eyes clouded. “Almost two years passed between Tori and Michaela. The nasty old question resurfaces.”

“How many others in between,” I said.

“Peaty tags ’em at the PlayHouse. No curriculum, no attendance roster, people drop in and out. It’s a predator’s dream. I thought maybe Nora was being evasive when she told me that. Now, with her looking more and more like a victim, I believe her.”

“We found no additional trophies in Peaty’s apartment or the van. So maybe there are no other victims.”

“Or he’s got a storage bin somewhere.”

“Could be. I’d start with the buildings where Peaty did janitorial work.”

“Grabbing freebie storage,” he said. “Maybe that explains stashing Meserve’s Toyota in Brad’s garage. It also fits big-time hostility toward authority. All those properties the Dowds own, Peaty doing the scut. Be hard for Brad to monitor every bit of space… so what were you calling me about before I told you about Peaty?”

“Not important.”

“It was important enough to call.”

I recounted the scene with Hauser.

“You and Robin?”

“Yup.”

He worked hard at stoicism. “Guy’s a shrink? Sounds like a nut.”

“At the very least he’s an ugly drunk.”

“They arrest him?”

“Don’t know,” I said. “They took him away in an ambulance.”

“You clocked him good, huh?”

“I used discretion.”

He squinted, turned his hands to blades, chopped the air, whispered, “‘Heeyah!’ I thought you’d given up on all that black belt stuff.”

“Never got past brown belt,” I said. “It’s like riding a bike.”

“Hopefully the fool will wake up with a sore nose and realize the error of his ways. Want me to get the reports?”

“I was hoping.”

“Any detectives show up?”

“Just uniforms. Hendricks and Minette. He-and-she team.”

He phoned Pacific Division, asked to speak to the watch commander, explained the situation, listened, hung up smiling. “In the official police record, you are treated as a victim. Hauser was booked for creating a disturbance in a public place and released. What kind of car does he drive?”

“Don’t waste time cruising by.”

“A shrink, let’s see… I’m guessing Volvo, maybe some kind of Volkswagen.”

“Audi Quattro.”

“Right continent,” he said. “Yeah, I’ll cruise by, you’re welcome.”

“It’s unlikely he’ll persist, Milo. When he sobers up he’ll realize another disturbance will mess him up in civil court. If he doesn’t, his lawyer will educate him.”

“If he was that smart, Alex, he’d never have stalked you in the first place.”

“Don’t worry about it,” I said. “I’m okay and you’ve got a full plate.”

“Interesting,” he said.

“What is?”

He loosened his belt and suppressed a belch. “Your choice of gastronomic imagery.”

N
o sign of Hauser’s Audi when I got home at two a.m. The bed was made up and Robin was gone. I called her six hours later.

“I heard you leave,” she said. “Went outside but you were driving away. What kind of ugly are we talking about?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“I do. The new me.”

“The old you was fine.”

“The ostrich’s head has been lifted. What happened, Alex?”

“Someone got shot. An extremely bad guy. You could’ve stayed.”

“I got antsy,” she said. “It’s a big house.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“Last night was good, Alex.”

“Except for the chop-socky interlude.”

“Are you worried Hauser’s going to cause more trouble?”

“Maybe he’s smarter when he’s sober. The police wrote it up in my favor. About what I asked you—”

“Have a change of heart?”

“Of course not.”

“It wasn’t just the moment, Alex?”

Maybe it had been. “No.”

Couple of beats. “Would you be upset if I said I needed some time to think?”

“It’s a big step,” I said.

“It is. Which is kind of strange, given how much of our lives we’ve shared.”

I didn’t answer.

She said, “I won’t take too long.”

I left a message with Erica Weiss’s secretary, saying I wanted to talk about Patrick Hauser. Just as I hung up, Milo clicked in.

He sounded exhausted. Probably up all night on Peaty. Maybe that’s why he didn’t bother with niceties.

“Wendell A. Chong, the guy whose van Peaty ripped off, is a software consultant who used to rent office space in a building owned by the Dowds. The van was boosted from his reserved tenant slot at night, while Chong was working late. Chong collected insurance, bought himself a new car, has no interest in reclaiming it.”

“Peaty watched and seized the opportunity,” I said. “Chong have any impressions of Peaty?”

“Never saw him. Who he does remember is Billy Dowd. He’d always wondered if Billy had something to do with the theft.”

“Why?”

“Because Billy used to hang around aimlessly when Brad came by to collect rent. One time he drifted into Chong’s office and just stood there, like he owned the place. Chong asked him what he wanted, Billy got a spaced-out look in his eyes and left without a word. Chong followed Billy out into the hall, saw him walking up and down, like he was patrolling. A couple of women stepped out of an office and Billy checked them out. Pretty intensely, according to Chong. Then Brad showed up, ushered Billy away. But he kept bringing Billy along, so Chong started locking his door. Interesting, huh?”

“Billy and Peaty?” I said.

“Weirdos finding common ground. It happens, right? Brad protects Billy but he can’t be everywhere. And like you said, he overestimates his power. Maybe he takes Billy along with him when he checks out the garage at the PlayHouse. Or the PlayHouse itself. I don’t see Billy getting laid on his own.”

“Billy seemed gentle.”

“Maybe he is,” he said. “Except when he’s not. In any event, I just got permission from Vasquez’s D.P.D. to interview his client, on my way over to the jail. I’m betting on a quick plea, maybe involuntary manslaughter. Kinda nice to have one that closes easy.”

“You could name Peaty as the bad guy on Michaela and close that,” I said.

“Yet I wonder aloud about Billy,” he said. “Why? Because I’m a self-destructive fool, no sleep in two days, I’m
vulnerable,
amigo. Tell me to forget about Billy and I will.”

“Two bad guys could explain how the Gaidelases’ car ended up twenty-five miles from Kanan Dume. Billy doesn’t seem street-smart, but Peaty could’ve helped him there. Still, it’s hard to imagine him getting away for any length of time. He and Brad seem to be together most of the day and at night there’s a neighbor watching him.”

“The ‘nice lady.’ Wonder how hard she looks. I was supposed to check that out but with all that’s happened… do you think it’s interesting that the bad stuff we know about started after Billy got his own place?”

“If the bad stuff was the product of a sick relationship,” I said, “with Peaty gone, Billy might not act out again.”

“There’s comfort for you.”

“I can drop by and talk to the neighbor.”

“That would be great, I’m tied up with Vasquez all day.” He read off Billy’s address on Reeves Drive. “Any more problems from that asshole Hauser?”

“Not a one.”

“Good.”

“I’m still wondering about something,” I said.

“Am I going to want to hear this?”

“Dylan Meserve picked Latigo for the hoax because he hiked up there. What led the Gaidelases to the same spot?”

“Aha,” he said. “Already been there and back. Maybe Peaty overheard Dylan talking about hiking up there. While the Gaidelases were waiting for their audition, they mentioned wanting to hike and Peaty overheard again and gave them advice.”

“That’s a lot of overhearing.”

“He’s a watcher.”

“Okay,” I said.

“You’re not buying it.”

“What we know about Meserve suggests lack of conscience, or at the least a weak one. Michaela’s description of his behavior those nights bothers me. Mind games, preoccupation with death, rough sex. I hate to add to your burden but—”

“It’s not my burden. The Gaidelases were never my case.”

A casual acquaintance might’ve bought that.

He said, “Peaty for the girls, Meserve for the Gaidelases? What, that damned school was a magnet for homicidal maniacs?”

“Something went on there.”

He laughed. Not a pleasant sound.

E
rica Weiss phoned back while I was in the shower. I dried off and reached her at her office.

“What an experience, Doctor. You okay?” Like many referrals, she was just a phone voice to me. Fast-talking, high-energy, peppy as a cheerleader.

“I’m fine. Any word on Hauser?”

“Haven’t checked yet. What exactly transpired?”

When I finished the re-tell, she was peppier. “His malpractice carrier will be thrilled to learn the ante just got upped. Idiot just cooked his goose well-
done.
When can I depose you?”

“Everything’s in the police report,” I said.

“Even so. When’s convenient for you?”

Never. “How about tomorrow?”

“I was thinking more like today.”

“It’s short notice.”

“Those poor women could use their settlements, Doctor.”

“Try me late in the afternoon.”

“You’re a doll,” she said. “I’ll come to you with the court reporter. Just name the place.”

“Let’s talk later.”

“Commitment-shy? Sure, whatever works, but please make it sooner rather than later.”

Billy Dowd’s address was on the south side of Beverly Hills, a short walk to Roxbury Park. Last year, I’d witnessed a shoot-out at the park that had never made the papers. This was Beverly Hills, with its aura of safety and ninety-second police response.

Lots of Spanish-style duplexes from the twenties on the block. Billy’s was pink with leaded windows, a red-clay roof, and exuberant plaster moldings. An unfenced gateway led to a tile-inlaid stairway that climbed to the second floor. The overhang created a shaded entry nook for the ground-floor unit.

The wrought-iron mailbox inside the left-hand gatepost was unmarked. I climbed to the upstairs unit and knocked on a heavy carved door. The peep-window was blocked by a wooden slat but it stayed closed as the door opened.

A brunette in a white nylon uniform dress looked at me while combing her hair. Coarse hair chopped boyish meant short brisk strokes. She was fortyish with a dangerous tan, a beakish nose, and close-set black eyes. Santa Monica Hospital name tag above her left breast:
A. Holzer, R.N.

A strange man showing up unannounced didn’t perturb her.

“Can I help you?” Some kind of Teutonic accent.

“Billy Dowd lives downstairs?”

“Yes, but he’s not here.”

I showed her my police consultant I.D. Expired six months ago. Very few people are detail-oriented. A. Holzer barely glanced at it. “Police? About Billy?”

“One of Billy and his brother’s employees was involved in some trouble.”

“Oh —
you wish to speak to Billy about that?”

“Actually, I’m here to see you.”

“Me? Why?”

“You look after Billy?”

“Look after?” She laughed. “He’s a grown man.”

“Physically he is,” I said.

The hand around the hairbrush turned glossy. “I don’t understand why you are asking these questions. Billy is all right?”

“He’s fine. These are routine questions. Sounds as if you like him.”

“Of course I do, Billy is very nice,” she said. “Listen, I am very tired, got off shift early this morning. I would like to sleep—”

“Eleven-to-seven shift your usual?”

“Yes. That’s why I would like to sleep.” New smile. Frosty.

“Sounds like you deserve it. What unit do you work on?”

“Cardiac Care—”

“Eight hours of CCU care, then all the time you spend with Billy.”

“It’s not —
Billy doesn’t require —
why is this important?” She placed a hand on the door.

“It probably isn’t,” I said. “But when something really bad happens, lots of questions need to be asked. About everyone who knew the victim.”

“There was a victim. Someone was hurt?”

“Someone was murdered.”

Her hand flew to her mouth. “
Gott en Himmel
—
who?”

“A man named Reynold Peaty.”

Head shake. “I don’t know this person.”

“He did janitorial work at some of Brad and Billy’s buildings.” I described Peaty.

When I got to the muttonchops, she said, “Oh, him.”

“You’ve met him.”

“Not a meeting, just seeing.”

“He came here,” I said.

She plucked at her badge. Gave her hair a few more whacks.

“Ms. Holzer—”

“Annalise Holzer.” Lower voice, soft, guarded. I half expected a rank and serial number.