Self-Defence

'He was a sleazeball. I didn't want anything to do with him.'

'He found out Karen had been at the party. How?'

'I don't know, but it wasn't from me,' she said. The way she looked away quickly let me know she was hiding something. I decided not to push, right now. Thinking of the unaccounted-for time between Karen's leaving the Dollar and the party the next day, I said, 'Why did Karen go up to Sanctum early?'

'The caterer needed someone to set up chairs and tables before the food got there.'

'And you picked Karen even though she wasn't reliable?'

'I felt sorry for her. Like I said, she needed the money.' She blinked several times.

'Is that the only reason?'

She took a deep breath and turned to Travis. 'You okay, honey?'

Ignoring her, he continued to study the box.

'What's the real reason you chose Karen to go up early, Gwen?'

'Someone called. Wanted us to send the best-looking waitress up early.'

'Who?'

Long silence. 'Lowell.'

'And Karen was the best-looking waitress.'

'She was cute.'

'Why would looks be important if all he wanted was for her to set up?'

'I don't know. It wasn't like he mentioned that first. More like, As long as you're sending someone, send a good-looking one, and some other stuff- crazy words I don't remember- something about eternal beauty. I don't know why, maybe he had big shots over and wanted to make an impression- it was none of my business. What difference did it make to me who set up? Karen was happy to do it.'

'Happy to be with big shots.'

'Definitely. She was still a tourist- going over to Hollywood Boulevard, looking for movie stars.'

'How'd she get up to Sanctum?'

'Someone picked her up.'

'At the Dollar?'

'No, on PCH.'

'Where on PCH?'

'PCH and Paradise Cove.'

'Right at the turnoff to the Dollar?'

Nod.

'Who picked her up?'

'I don't know.' Another look away.

'This isn't very helpful, Gwen.' Travis was staring at me. I winked at him. He laughed, and the box slipped from his fingers again. I returned it to him, then stared at Gwen. Making it a hard stare was no effort.

'I saw a car,' she said. 'We did- Tom and me. Pulling away just as we got there. But that's all. I couldn't see who was in it. I don't even know if that's the one that picked her up. She left twenty minutes before we did. Someone else could have picked her up.'

'What kind of car?'

'Tom said a Ferrari.'

'Tom said?'

'He's into cars. To me it was just a car and taillights. Tom was all excited.'

'What color?'

'It was nighttime- Tom thought it was red. He said most of them are red, it's Ferrari's racing color.'

'Convertible or hardtop?'

'Convertible, I think, but the top was up. We couldn't see who was inside.'

'Did you ever see the car again?'

She played with her earrings and twisted her fingers, as if wringing them out. 'There was one up there.'

'Up where?'

'The party. There were all kinds of fancy cars there. Porsches, Rollses. Valets parking them up and down the road, total chaos.'

'Who did the Ferrari belong to?'

'I don't know.'

I stared at her.

'I don't know,' she said. 'What do you want me to do, make something up?'

'Did it have customized plates?'

'No… not that I noticed. I couldn't have cared less, cars don't interest me. My head was into the party, making sure everything went okay.'

'Did it?'

'What?'

'Did the party go okay?'

'People seemed to be having fun.'

'What about Karen?'

'What about her?'

'Was she having fun?'

'She was there to work,' she said sharply. 'Yeah, she seemed happy.'

'All those big shots.'

She shrugged.

'Did she sleep at Sanctum on Friday night?'

'I don't know.'

'When did you go up?'

'Saturday morning.'

'Was she there?'

Nod.

'How early in the morning?'

'Seven-thirty, eight. We drove up early to start getting the food ready. She was already up and running.'

'What kind of mood was she in?'

'A good one. She'd set up the tables and chairs and was goofing around.'

'How?'

'Playing with some kids.'

'Whose kids?'

'Lowell's. At first, I thought they were his grandchildren, 'cause they were so little, but Karen said no, they were his. She was jazzed about that.'

'About what?'

'That she was playing with a famous guy's kids. That's the way she was, really starstruck. She started telling me how famous the guy was, won the Nobel Prize or something. Everything was a big deal to her.'

'Pretty impressed with Lowell, huh?'

'Yeah.'

'What else did she say about him?'

'That's it.'

'Did you get the feeling they'd spent the night together?'

'I have no idea.'

'Did she mention any other people she'd met?'

Headshake.

'How many of Lowell's kids was she playing with?'

'Two.'

'How old were they?'

'Little, three or four, something like that.'