shucks. Anyway, I made it, waited, finally got ushered in, Doss is sitting behind this ultrawide desk, so big that I've got to reach over and kill my back to shake his hand-the guy thinks everything out, doesn't he, Alex?'
I remembered my stretch for the photos. 'So what happened?'
'My butt's just hitting the chair and his intercom burps. 'Stacy's here.' That throws Doss. Before he puts down the phone, the kid runs in, like she's about to blurt something to Daddy. Then she sees me, gives Daddy one of those we-have-to-talk-in-private looks, Doss asks me to please leave for a second. I head back for the waiting room, but the secretary's on the phone, has her back to me, so I keep the door open a crack, I know it's naughty, but…'
Detective's grin, ripe with suspicion and worst-case glee.
'Mostly what I heard was a helluva lot of anxiety. A few 'Stanford's, bunch of 'Eric's, so I knew it had something to do with her brother. Then Doss starts asking her questions-'When?' 'How?' 'You're sure?' Like what's going on is her fault. At that point, the secretary gets off the phone, turns around, shoots me a murderous look and closes the door. I wait out there another ten minutes.'
He chomped the peach, ripping golden flesh away from the pit. Went for the milk, holding the spout inches from his mouth. White liquid arced down his gullet. His throat muscles pulsed. Lowering the empty carton, he crushed it, said, 'Ahhh, does a body good.'
'What else? 'I said.
'A few minutes later, Stacy comes out looking very uptight and leaves. Then Doss emerges, tells me he can't talk, family emergency. I do the old protect-and-serve: Any way I can be of service, sir? Doss looks at me like, Who are you kidding, moron. Then he tells me to make another appointment with the secretary, goes back inside the Porcelain Palace. The secretary looks at her book, says, Nothing tomorrow, how about Thursday? I say fine. When I'm back down in the parking garage, I ask the attendant to show me Doss's car. Black-on-black BMW 850i, chrome wheels, illegally tinted windows, custom spoiler. Shiniest damn thing I've ever seen, like he dipped it in glass. There's only one exit from the garage, so I wait down the block. But Doss never comes out, so whatever the problem is, he's handling it by phone. One thing I did think of, though: a dark BMW. What Paul Ul-rich saw parked on the road the morning of Mate's murder.'
'Lots of those on the Westside.'
'True.' Jumping up, he made it back to the fridge with two giant steps, grabbed a new quart of orange juice, popped the seal, began gulping. 'But I'm still curious, so I call Stanford, locate Eric's dorm, talk to his roommate, some kid named Chad Soo. What I manage to get out of him is that Eric was looking real depressed for a few days, then he didn't come back to his room for a couple of days after that.'
'When?'
'Yesterday, but Chad didn't call till this morning. Didn't want to get Eric in trouble, but Eric had a big test he didn't show up for and that wasn't like Eric, so after the second day he thought maybe he should tell someone. He called the house, talked to Stacy.'
'He told you all this?'
'He was under the misconception that I was Palo Alto PD. So how come the kid gets depressed now, Alex? Nine months since his mother dies, but a week after Mate gets killed?'
'Mate's death could've brought up memories,' I said.
'Yeah, well… that's how I knew your morning was gonna be quiet. So Stacy never called?'
'I'm sure she will when things settle down.'
He drank more juice. I said, 'Regarding the BMW, Ul-rich said he saw a smaller model, like his.'
'Yes, he did.'
I got up. 'I'm going to try to reach Stacy. From my office.'
'Meaning I'm kicked out.'
'Meaning feel free to stay in the kitchen.'
'Fine,' he said. 'I'll wait.'
'Why?'
'Something about this family bugs me.'
'What?'
'Too secretive, too evasive. Doss has no reason to play games with me unless he's got something to hide.'
I headed for the office. He called out, 'Make sure you close the door all the way.'
Richard's secretary used her boss's very busy schedule as a weapon: the chance of talking to him today was less probable than the sudden achievement of world peace.
'I'm calling about Stacy,' I said. 'Any idea where she might be?'
'Is there a problem, sir?'
'She didn't show up for her appointment at eleven,' I said.
'Oh?' But she didn't sound surprised. 'Well, I'm sure there's an explanation… May I assume you'll be billing us anyway, Doctor?'
'That's not the issue. I want to make sure everything's okay.'
'Oh… I see. Well, as I said, Mr. D.'s not here now.
But I did see Stacy a while back and she's fine. She didn't mention the appointment.'
'Richard made it. Perhaps he forgot to tell her. Please have him call me.'
'I'll give him the message, sir, but he's traveling on business.'
'Business as usual?' I said.
Pause. 'We will honor your bill, Dr. Delaware. Bye now.'
Returning to the kitchen, I found myself hoping something-a sudden lead, anything-had spirited Milo away and I wouldn't have to wear my calm mask. But he was still sitting at the table, finishing the juice, looking too damn smug for someone working a whodunit with no clues.
'Bellyful of double-talk?' he said.
I shrugged. 'So what's next?'
'More of the same, I guess… Doss is an interesting one. Little man behind a gigantic desk, his chair's elevated on some kind of pedestal. I'll bet he's one of those guys who believes intimidation is the ultimate orgasm. The power of positive domination. Yeah, I've definitely got to take a closer look at him.'
'What about Roy Haiselden and Donny Mate?'
'Still looking for them, too. I lucked out and found Haiselden's gardener mowing the lawn. Haiselden didn't tell him to stop showing up.'
'Keeping up appearances,' I said.
'The utilities are also still on. Only the mail's been cut off. Waiting in the Westwood branch, general delivery. And Alice Z. was telling the truth about Haiselden being into laundromats. He's the registered owner of six, mostly on the Eastside-El Monte, Artesia, Pasadena.'
'Collecting coins can be a dangerous business. Did he do it himself?'
'Don't know yet. All I've got is his business registration. Roy Haiselden d.b.a. Kleen-U-Up, Inc. As far as Donny Mate goes, there was no parole, he served his full sentence, was let straight out. Petra's asking about him. Thanks for brunch.'
His hand landed on my shoulder. Lightly, very lightly, then he began to leave.
'Happy hunting,' I said.
'I'm always happy when hunting.'
CHAPTER 15
STACY'S CALL CAME at four P.M. The connection was grainy and I wondered where she was. Had Richard given her her own little silver phone?
'Sorry for the inconvenience,' she said, not sounding apologetic at all. Cool. The detachment was back.
'What happened, Stacy?'
'Don't you already know?' From cool to cold,
