Serpentine
- Автор: Келлерман Джонатан
- Серия: Alex Delaware #36
- Год: 2021
- Язык: английский
- Год: Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine Books
- ISBN: 978-0-525-61855-3
- Жанр: Криминальные детективы
Электронная книга - «Serpentine». Краткое содержание книги:
This murder warrants an immediate call. Milo’s independence has been compromised as never before, as the department pressures him to cater to the demands of a mogul: a hard-to-fathom, megarich young woman who is obsessed with reopening the coldest of cases — the decades-old death of the mother she never knew.
The facts describe a likely loser: a mysterious woman found with a bullet in her head in a torched Cadillac that has overturned on infamously treacherous Mulholland Drive. No physical evidence, no witnesses, no apparent motive. And a slew of detectives have already worked the case and failed. But as Delaware and Sturgis begin digging, the mist begins to lift. Too many coincidences. Facts turn out to be anything but. And as they soon discover, very real threats lurking in the present.
This is Delaware/Sturgis at their best: traversing the beautiful but forbidding place known as Los Angeles and exhuming the past in order to bring a vicious killer to justice.
“When there was contact,” she said. “When they started hanging around for prolonged periods, walking to and from the pool and the tennis court in bikinis and skimpy outfits, it embarrassed me. Again, the nannies rushed me along but they didn’t have to. I thought it was gross — all that jiggling. But the funny thing is, I was in so much denial I never consciously associated Father with it. As in, This is what he wants. Pretty stupid, huh? I guess I needed to see him in the best image possible. Even with that ridiculous beard and those clothes.”
I said, “Were the nannies also tutors?”
“Was I homeschooled? Oh, no. I went to Evangeline — a girls’ academy over the hill in Studio City. It’s no longer there, got absorbed into Hollyhock and Bel Air Prep decades ago.”
“So you wouldn’t have been home for a good part of the day.”
“Did I miss seeing something? It’s certainly possible. All I can tell you is that I never witnessed anything violent or even conflictual. Just the opposite. Father seemed to be happier than he’d ever been, but it was an unsettling happiness for me. As if he was pushing himself too hard to be different. When I was older and learned what was going on in the world out there, I began wondering if that happiness had been helped along. If you know what I mean.”
I said, “Drugs.”
“Or alcohol. Or both. He could get spacy-looking and his smiles could get... the best word is flaky. Like he wasn’t really there. I talked to my brothers about it and they laughed at me and said, ‘What do you think? He’s probably stoned out of his gourd.’ But I saw no firsthand evidence of it. No joints or pills lying around and certainly no needles or anything truly gross. There was drinking. Beer, wine, cocktails. But everyone did that. Our home ec textbooks at Evangeline showed well-dressed families sitting around with the parents nursing from Martini glasses.”
Milo said, “The clan that imbibes together, jibes together.”
Val Des Barres, still standing close to him, took his hand again. “You’re a witty man, Lieutenant Sturgis. You’ve made this experience tolerable.”
Then she tiptoed, as if ready to kiss him, thought better of it and settled back on flat shoes.
Two people blushing.
I amended my bet. The initial comment would be My week for Mr. Romeo. If they only knew.
He let some time pass, asked if there was anything else she wanted to say.
“Just that I hope you find out what happened to Ellie’s mother. No matter where that leads.”
“You’re a brave woman.”
“That’s kind but I don’t think so,” she said. “If I was brave, I’d get out more.”
Chapter 26
We watched her drive away at twenty miles per.
Milo wagged a finger. “Don’t say it.”
“What?”
“My newfound animal magnetism.”
I said, “If they only knew.”
“Hey, don’t dismiss it, either.” He clapped me on the back. “Maybe all the time I’ve been hanging with you, something’s rubbed off.”
We got back in the car. He backed onto Mulholland and headed west. “Letting the devil in. Think he was talking about himself or one of his femmes getting fatale with Arlette and Dorothy?”
I said, “Arlette’s death opened up a whole new world for Des Barres. He’d have no motive for thinning the harem but a jealous competitor would.”
“Coupla blondes take a ride in the Caddy, one comes back.”
“And even if Des Barres hadn’t played a role in Dorothy’s death, he might have figured it out. Or been told about it. Either way, it sat in his brain for decades. Then he got prostate cancer. If it impacted his sexual drive that might’ve seemed like rough justice. Soon after, his stomach went bad and he became terminally ill. On his deathbed, with the neurons scrambled, he blurted out a veiled confession.”
“Makes sense. Now try to prove it.”
As we reached Laurel Canyon, I said, “Someone like Femme, can’t see her just walking away empty-handed.”
“She blackmailed Des Barres?”
“Or just lifted trinkets from the mansion and split. It’s an enormous place, with an owner not paying attention, it might not have been that hard.”
“True,” he said. “When I was starting out I had a burglary case. Holmby Hills, housekeeper gradually stole designer gowns and furs. Took the victim fifteen months to discover it, and by that time the maid was gone.”
He phoned Petra, got voicemail, asked her to see if she could find any burglary complaints at the Des Barres residence between twenty-five and forty years ago. Clicking off, he sang the chorus from Tom Petty’s “The Waiting” in a rumbly basso. His voice isn’t bad when he pays attention.
I said, “Maybe there’s a shortcut. Give me Val’s number.”
A male voice, soft, Latin-inflected, picked up. “Des Barres residence.”
“Sabino? This is one of the men who just met with Ms. Des Barres. Can I talk to her for a sec.”
“She’s drawing, sir.”
“Just for a moment.”
“I dunno.”
“It’s important,” I said. “Police business.”
“Hold on. Sir.”
Moments later, Val came on: “Hi, Lieutenant.”
“This is Alex,” I said. “He’s driving without distraction.”
“Oh, of course. What can I do for you?”
“We’d like to know if your house was ever burgled when your dad was alive.”
Simple yes-or-no question.
She said, “I’m not sure.”
“You were too young to remember?”
“No, I remember clearly. Father did think something had happened, he was pretty upset. But to my knowledge he never called the police and the issue faded away.”
“When did this happen?”
“Not that long after your murder — maybe a month or so after? Possibly two, can’t say for sure. I do know I was young.”
“How long did it take for the issue to fade?”
“Just a day,” she said. “One night, I heard him cursing, almost growling, went to his bedroom and saw him pawing through his drawers, tossing things all over the place. Not like him, he was extremely meticulous. I asked what was going on and he said someone had taken advantage of him. I asked how. He said, ‘The Seventh Commandment, darling,’ and then he gritted his teeth. I asked who but he just shook his head. The following morning, he told me he’d been wrong, just forget about it.”
“What did he think was missing?”
“If he was rummaging in his drawers, it was probably his jewelry. He’d really gotten into chunky gold chains, had boxes of them from Beverly Hills boutiques. Rings, too — diamonds and ruby pinkie rings. After it happened, he eased off a bit on the gaudy stuff. But he never gave it up. Why’s the lieutenant asking?”
Milo said, “Just trying to be thorough.”
Another non-explanation.
Val Des Barres said, “Oh, hi. Of course, being thorough is the only way. By the way, our chat was helpful. For some reason I feel lighter.”
“That’s great,” he said.
She and Milo exchanged goodbyes and I hung up.
He said, “The timing fits. Femme gets rid of Dorothy, sticks around, finally figures snagging the boss is a lost cause, and collects some combat pay.”
“If Des Barres was implicated in Arlette’s death, he couldn’t very well report a burglary by his accomplice.”
“Let the devil in...” He redialed Petra. “Forget the previous request, kid. If this all sounds weird, call me and I’ll fill you in.” To me: “Now what?”
I said, “Only thing I can think of is trying to identify and find Femme. Maybe starting with the two blondes in the Azalea photo and seeing where that leads.”
“Put the shot on social media?”