Killer (18 page)

He saw me. “If you don’t mind standing.”

The barfly closest to me turned around. Big man, basset-faced, pushing seventy. “Belly up, thirsty traveler, we’ll give you space.” Rising painfully, he shifted his stool just enough to allow me access to the bar. The top was sprayed with a solid inch of resin, yellowed, splotched, nicked, and dull.

I said, “Thanks, next one’s on me.”

Basset pumped air with a shaky fist. He had on a shiny dark suit, a frayed white shirt, and a limp tie that looped like a scarf over his wilting lapel. A once-square jaw had melted around the edges. He looked like a CEO who’d been drummed for moral turpitude years ago, hadn’t changed clothes since the disgrace.

The drinker next to him, a woman with black frizzy hair and an off-center, verge-of-collapse nose, batted her lashes at me. “You treatin’ me, too, Good-Lookin’?”

I said, “Fill-ups for everyone.”

Scattered applause.

Basset said, “Fine man, indeed!”

The bartender looked at me. “Okay, Rockefeller, what’ll it be?”

“Got Sam Adams?”

“Got Heineken.” He filled a glass, clopped it down, moved up the bar to take orders.

Chairman Basset said, “You never been here. I know that.” Nodding in agreement with himself, as if he’d stated a profundity. “Least not Monday.”

I said, “Monday’s a special day?”

“Hell, yeah, they’re open.” He cackled, eyed the stage. “Despite.”

The bartender returned, took his glass, shot something from a hose into it. Suds foamed over the rim and landed on the bartop. Basset used his pinkie to pick up precious moisture then licked the digit clean.

I took a sip. The beer was Heineken like I was an Olympic skater. Not quite skunky but getting there.

The bartender foamed up several other mugs. Local etiquette prescribed Gulp, Don’t Sip. Maybe that helped the house brew go down easier. I glanced back at the bandstand, asked Basset who the entertainment was.

“No one tonight.” He swayed toward me, letting off a yeasty reek and whispering, “Count your blessings, traveler.”

“You’ve heard ’em, huh?”

He blotted me out with a wet cough. Glanced furtively up the bar as the bald guy approached, wiping his hands with a none-too-clean towel. “Not thirsty, Daddy Warbucks?”

I said, “Working on it.”

Basset said, “Hey, Chuck-o, you might got you a fan, here. He wants you guys to play.”

Bald’s eyebrows climbed. “You heard of us?”

I said, “Actually, a friend sent me here.”

“Who’s that?”

“Ree Sykes.”

He looked at me with new eyes. Sharper, curious. “How do you know Ree?”

Even if I’d wanted to lie, the trudge to the Valley plus stale alcohol fumes had sapped my creativity. “She had a court case I was involved in.”

Chuck-o’s posture stiffened. “You’re a lawyer?”

“Psychologist.”

“Psychologist,” he echoed, as if trying out a new word. “You’re the one testified she was a great mom?”

No sense quibbling. I smiled.

He said, “Well good for you, man. Ree talks about you like you’re God.”

Basset said, “Doncha know all doctors are God? That’s why their shit don’t stink and they get to suck all the Medi-Cal money outta the federal teat—”

“Lloyd,” said Chuck-o, “no politics today, okay?”

The woman with the precarious nose said, “Tomorrow we’re doing politics?”

“We’re never doing politics, Maggie.”

“Yeah, makes sense,” she said, showing the few brown teeth she had left. “Double boo on politics!”

Chuck-o turned back to me, flashing the weary smile of an exhausted babysitter. His teeth were perfect, white as milk. “Well, Dr. Psychologist, nice to meet you but sorry, we’re not playing till Monday. And if you were hoping to see Ree, sorry again, she doesn’t come in regularly. Having family responsibilities and all that.”

Maggie said, “That the one with that cute little baby, puts the baby seat top of the piano when she sings?”

Chuck-o frowned at her.

I forced down some beer. “You’re in the band?”

“Drums,” he said. “But finally I figured out getting the chicks didn’t provide long-term security so I became a businessman.” Waving his hand around the room.

“Place is yours?”

“This and two others, Sun Valley and Saugus. Got my sons managing.”

“Congratulations.”

“Making coin is cool, but I still live for the music.”

“So Monday.”

“ ’Less something comes up.”

“Ree sings.”

“Sometimes we let her do background. Deep background.” He grinned. “What the hell, she’s a good chick, always been righteous, I’m talking back to high school.”

“Nice for her to have that type of support,” I said.

“You bet,” said Chuck-o Blatt. “When things were sucking and we were all thinking of getting jobs she encouraged us to keep keepin’ on, telling us we had talent. And you know, something always worked out—but I don’t need to tell you that, you were her witness, you know the kind of person she is.”

When I didn’t answer, he said, “You hear me?”

I nodded.

“You didn’t say nothing.”

“She’s a nice person.”

“Not just nice, good,” he said. Steel in his voice. His neck tightened. “You’d know that if you really are the psychologist and not spying for her fucking sister.”

I held his gaze, showed him my civilian card. Doctoral degree and a professorial title that looked more impressive than it was.

He said, “Delaware. Yeah, that’s you.” More lactic teeth. “Hey, man, sorry for being paranoid but Ree figured the bitch was going to keep harassing her.”

“Even though the case resolved?”

“You know the system, right? Got the cash, make the trash. Anyone’s a rich bitch with a mean streak it’s Connie.”

He tried to return the card. Lloyd intercepted it, held it between shaky fingers. “Delaware. That was a Union state, not Confederate. But they still had slaves.”

Chuck-o said, “That’s fascinating, Lloyd.”

I regained eye contact. “Is there somewhere we could talk?”

“About what?”

I shot him a conspiratorial look. People like to be let in on secrets but he said, “Sorry, I got customers.”

“How about another round on me? Fill ’em up, then give me a couple of minutes of your time.”

“This is about Ree?”

“This is about Ree cutting town. I’d like to know that she and the baby are safe.”

I waited.

He said, “She split? When?”

“Last couple of days.”

“Well, I’m sure she had a reason.”

I didn’t answer.

He said, “Why wouldn’t she be okay?”

“There’s been a complication.”

“Like what?”

I shook my head. He faced the barflies. “Merry Christmas, this here is Santa Claus, he lost weight and he’s here for your drinking pleasure.”

Lloyd said, “Santa’s a doctor?”

A voice from the end of the bar said, “Adeste fidelis—what kind of doctor?”

The woman next to him raised her glass. “Gotta be Dr. Feelgood.”

Lloyd said, “Hear, hear,” tried to fist-pump again and lost his balance, nearly toppling from his stool.

I caught him, set him right.

He said, “Meeting you, my good man, is my lucky day!”

Chuck-o wiped his hands on a soggy towel, stepped through a half door that freed him from the confines of the bar, and pointed to the bandstand. Taking a seat behind his drum kit, he lifted his sticks and ran off a silent paradiddle on his knees before motioning me to the piano bench.

One of the barflies said, “You gonna play a sola, Chuck-o?”

“Not today.” Waiting until everyone was back drinking in earnest, he shifted both drumsticks to his right hand. “Let’s hear it for substance abuse. Never got into it myself. Not even on the road.”

“Teetotaler?”

“Moderate, one cocktail before I go to bed. That’s why I own my businesses. Including the land we’re sitting on.”

“Congrats.”

“So what’s the complication?”

“Like I said, Ree cut town. I was hoping someone here could tell me why.”

“Someone?”

“Maybe Winky or Boris.”

“You know Winky and Boris?”

“I was told they were close to Ree.”

“We’re all close. Like I said, we go way back.”

“High school,” I said.

“Junior high, actually. For me and Boris. You didn’t answer me about the complication. What, Connie’s taking her back to court? Yeah, Ree figured she’d do that, said Connie never took no for an answer.”

“No chance of that. Connie’s dead.”

“
What?
”

“Murdered,” I said. “Last night. The police are wondering if the court case had something to do with it. I’ve told them Ree’s not a violent person, but—”

“Violent? Hell, no. Ree’s got to be the most un-violent chick I ever knew. Connie’s dead? And you’re asking about Ree because—oh, man, you can’t be serious—”

“Doesn’t matter what I think, Chuck-o. The cops always begin with people close to the victim. And someone related who’s had serious conflict—”

“Oh, no, man, no possible way.”

“I went to Ree’s place before I came here. Figured I’d tell her about Connie. That’s when I found out she’d split. Cleaned out her apartment and stuck her landlady with unpaid rent.”

“Geez,” he said. “Maybe it was, you know, stress—all the shit she went through. Maybe she needs to breathe.”

“Maybe. But on the surface, it doesn’t look good.”

“Oh, man.” He used his free hand to skitter a roll on his tom-tom.

The same barfly said, “Hey, you
are
doin’ a sola—”

“Shut the fuck up!”

The man’s jaw dropped.

No one else looked back.

Chuck-o Blatt said, “Murdered? This is psycho.”

I said, “If you have any way to reach Ree, you’d be doing her a favor by telling her to check in. She can do it through me.”

He studied me. “You’re sure you’re who you say you are? I mean a card can be bogused.”

Same thing Dee Martolo had said. Suspicion born of the digital age.

I said, “Got a computer?”

“Why?”

“Go on the med school webpage, plug my name in, and see if the photo matches.”

“Fine, fine, sorry … I’m just freaked out. So how do you know what the police are thinking?”

“Sometimes I work with them.”

“Like what?”

“Consultant. But it’s common sense, a woman dies, has a sister who hates her and splits. You’d think the same way.”

“It wasn’t a matter of hate … okay, it was, but Connie deserved it. And trust me, man, Ree’s like … a … cloud. One of those soft clouds, you know?”

“As opposed to Connie.”

“Even back in high school Connie was … she was a lot older than
us. When we were still in junior high, she was in college, doing her fancy college thing. But even before that she had that … that superior thing. I’m better than you, go screw yourself.”

“Arrogant.”

“Everyone couldn’t stand her.” His eyes got big. “Oh, man. I should probably not diss her too heavy, give you ideas about me.” He smiled. “Connie bit it last night? Last night I was with my sons. Cleaning up the place in Sun Valley, had some party idiots rent it for an engagement, they trashed everything. I had to list the damage for insurance, then we cleaned up. Took like till six in the morning.”

He stood. “Not that I need an alibi, right?”

“Right.”

“But maybe Ree does.”

“It would sure help, Chuck-o.”

“Yeah, well, Ree’ll be fine, don’t you worry, man.”

I said, “How can I get in contact with Winky and Boris?”

“Why?”

“Ree mentioned them.”

“She mentioned me, too?”

“Of course,” I lied. “She talked about all of you. What good friends you were.”

“So you want to talk to Zebe, too.”

“I want to talk to anyone who can help me find Ree.”

“I got your card. Something comes up, I’ll let you know.”

“Appreciate it.”

As I turned to leave, Lloyd said, “Another round, Dr. Claus?”

I smiled, put cash on the bar.

Chuck-o Blatt counted. “This is just enough for what they already had.”

Lloyd put his palms together prayerfully. “Another libation, good sir? For the sake of the righteous?”

Chuck-o said, “Don’t push it, he
ain’t
God.”

Black in the car, check the phone. One message: Robin.

She said, “No spaghetti, the place closed down.”

“I’m out early, anyway, see you in thirty.”

“Does early mean no luck finding her?”

“Not much.”

“You going to tell Milo you looked for her?”

“He’ll find out anyway, so yes.”

“Things are getting complicated, darling.”

“Life’s little challenges.”

“Love your outlook,” she said. “Okay, I’ll cook spaghetti.”

Before I began the drive home, I sat parked near Virgo Virgo, working the iPhone and trying to locate William Melandrano and/or Bernard Chamberlain.

A W. Melandrano the right age lived nearby in North Hollywood, but no address or phone numbers were given and 411 had nothing to
add. Four Bernard Chamberlains. A man living in Hollywood seemed the most likely. That address was close to Ree’s apartment.

A couple of button pushes could instantly tell Milo if either man had a criminal history. The best I could do was try a website that trafficked in mug shots, one of those mean-spirited celebrations of other people’s misfortunes, custom-tailored for an increasingly mean-spirited world.

My hopes rose when I learned that a Bernard Chamberlain had been arrested for disorderly conduct three years ago in Tampa, Florida. The next click revealed a shot of a seventeen-year-old boy.

Time to stop fooling around.

Milo answered his desk phone. “Your pal Effo has an unassailable alibi for the time frame of Connie’s demise: partying with homeboys and homegirls at a known gang house in Pacoima, thirty people to back him up. Not that I took any of their words for it. A neighbor across the street, old lady terrified of all the scary kids going in and out, takes tons of surreptitious pictures and she captured him coming and going. So congrats.”

I said, “Doesn’t mean much. You never figured he did it himself.”