Web of Evil

'How did you find out Monique's death is now classified as a homicide?' Ali asked. 'Who told you?'

'Ken Nickerson is one of my good old buddies from the Marines. We served together in Iraq. Now he works for LAPD.'

'Ken's the one who got you Andrea Morales's address information?' Ali asked.

'That's right. While you were talking to Clemencia, I called him up and asked him straight out if they had autopsy results back on Monique Ragsdale, and they did.'

'Already?' Ali asked.

Dave nodded. 'Preliminary,' he said. 'It may be Sunday, but since it's a high-profile case, the guys over on North Mission Road really got their rears in gear on this one.'

'And?' Ali asked.

'Bruising on her arms and on her back. Defensive wounds and definite signs of a struggle. No sexual assault. They took scrapings from under her nails. There could be identifiable DNA found in those. The real problem for Jesus Sanchez is that the cops found something at the crime scene that links him to Monique's death.'

'I know,' Ali said. 'Keys with his name on them. I saw them, too. According to what Jesus told Clemencia, after he was let go, he came to the house to turn in his keys. That's when he found Monique at the bottom of the stairs. I'm sure he was upset at seeing her like that, and I don't blame him. I know how I felt when we found her later on. He must have panicked and dropped his keys. Later on, when he realized what had happened, he knew the cops would find them and come looking for himwhich they did. That's probably why he took off.'

'The big question is, were the keys under the victim or were they beside her?' Dave asked. 'If they were under, it means the keys and Jesus were probably there either before she fell or at the same time. In that case, things are looking pretty grim for poor old Jesus. If the keys were found nearby, they could have been dropped at the same time or either before or after the fact.'

Ali thought about that. 'I don't know,' she said finally. 'I don't remember seeing them until after the EMTs put Monique on the stretcher. It could be they were right there in plain sight the whole time, and we just didn't notice them.'

'One way or the other, why is it you think it's your responsibility to hire a defense attorney for Mr. Sanchez?'

'Shut up and drive,' Ali returned.

The fact that Dave Holman did so made Ali like him better.

'And that's not all,' he said a few minutes later.

'There's more?'

'Actually, yes. It turns out your Sumo Sudoku pal's Web site bio didn't tell the whole story.'

'What did he leave out?'

'That when he was eighteen he went to prison for grand theft auto. It's not the kind of thing somebody puts on a resume when he's out trolling for well-heeled investors.'

'What if Paul suspected something was going on between April and Tracy? What if he started looking into McLaughlin's background and found out some of this stuff?' Ali asked.

'Sounds like possible motive to me,' Dave said.

'Except the cops aren't looking in that direction.'

'Not yet,' Dave said. 'But there's no reason we can't point them that way.'

Without missing the critical merge, it didn't take nearly as long to get back to the hotel as it had taken to drive to Pico Gardens. 'Are you coming up?' Ali asked, as they drove up to the entrance.

'I think I'll take a pass,' Dave said. 'I want to go back to my place and call my kids. I try to talk to them on Sunday afternoons.'

'Just drop me at the front door then,' Ali said. 'At this point I don't care if the lobby is teeming with reporters. I'm tired of sneaking around. I'll just brazen it out.'

'Good girl,' Dave said. 'I'm glad to hear it. Maybe you can afford to keep handing over those terrific tips. I can't.'

The hotel lobby was completely devoid of reporters as Ali made her way upstairs, leading her to conclude that something more interesting must have turned up as fodder for that evening's news broadcasts. Back in the room she was surprised to find her mother wasn't there. Ali tried calling Edie's cell phone. When the call went to voice mail, Ali hung up. Maybe Edie had decided to take advantage of being in L.A. by going to a movie. Edie preferred what her husband called 'arty' films to his shoot-'em-ups, but the former seldom made it to the screens of Sedona's single multiplex.

Kicking off her tennies, Ali returned her Glock to the safe and raided the honor bar for a Diet Sprite. While there she noticed something odd. Her mother carried her daily allocation of vitamins in a series of ziplock sandwich bags, which she carefully saved each day, packing them away for future use. One of those plastic bags lay in the armoire next to the TV remote. It contained a single cigarette butt.

Ali picked up the bag and examined the contents. The filtered stub was unremarkable in every way. There was no lipstick residue that might indicate that whoever had smoked it was a female. For Edie, a lifelong vociferous nonsmoker, to see fit to keep the remains of a cigarette in what was a clearly designated nonsmoking room could only mean Edie was playing detective in her own right.

Replacing the bag, Ali took her soda to the couch, sat down, picked up her computer, logged on, and googled Richard Dahlgood, Velma T's nephew. There were several hits, all of them concerning appearances in state and federal courts on behalf of various clients. From everything Ali was able to glean from those reports, Dahlgood seemed like the real deal.

The first e-mail she sent was to Velma T in Laguna.

Dear Velma,

A friend of mine may well be in need of your nephew's services. Please let him know that if he is contacted in regard to defending someone named Jesus Sanchez, he should be in touch with me so arrangements can be made for handling any necessary retainer. My contact phone number is listed below.

ALI

Next Ali wrote to Andrea Morales.

Dear Andrea,

I spoke to your aunt, Clemencia Sanchez, earlier today. It seems likely that your uncle, Jesus, may require the services of a defense attorney. A friend of mine has recommended someone named Richard Dahlgood. Although I don't know the man personally, he does appear to have a considerable defense practice here in the L.A. area. His contact information is listed below.

If your aunt and uncle are interested in engaging Mr. Dahlgood's services, please let me know so I can make arrangements for payment of any required retainer. Also, please let your uncle know that he is back on my payroll at the moment regardless of whether or not he is able to return to work. Also tell him the house on Robert Lane is currently off-limits to all of us due to the ongoing police investigation. I will need to know where his pay envelopes should be delivered.

Also, if he has any information concerning the whereabouts of Henrietta Jackson, the cook who was fired along with him, or of my former cook, Elvira Jimenez, I would appreciate knowing how to reach them. I'm concerned that Elvira may have been let go under circumstances similar to what happened to your uncle.

REGARDS,

ALI REYNOLDS

Several readers weighed in on Ali's legal issues. Those she responded to briefly and let go. Several others addressed her earlier post about her mother.

Dear Babe,

I read several blogs a day and have been a fan of yours for some time. Not all mothers are created equal. You're lucky. Your mother sounds wonderful. Mine was poison. I'm glad she's dead.

ALMA

That one Ali posted. As she kept reading, she found that the people who had written in were divided almost fifty-fifty on either side of the good mother/bad mother spectrum. By the time she had worked her way through that set of correspondence and added several more posts, Ali found herself agreeing with Alma's assessment. Ali