case Eugenia was still in hearing range. “Ellie has a
stack of speeding and parking tickets as high as the
Hollywood Hills. Ben got busted a couple of times for
possession.”
“Of what?” Judith asked, getting plates out of the
cupboard.
“Weed.” He shrugged. “Dirk has been arrested four
times for assault, but the charges were always
dropped.”
“Does that include the incident with Bruno at Marina Del Rey?” Judith asked.
Joe nodded. “It seems Mr. Farrar has to prove his
macho image on both sides of the camera.”
“Unsure of his manhood? Low self-esteem?” Judith
murmured.
“Rotten disposition, no self-discipline.” Almost
forty years as a cop had caused Joe’s patience with
people’s foibles to erode long ago.
Judith placed the silverware settings next to the
plates on the counter. “What about the others?”
“I’m not finished with Dirk,” Joe said, taking a
break from his cook’s duties to refill his coffee mug.
“He was also involved in a messy paternity suit a year
or two ago. He lost, and is paying for the kid’s upbringing.”
“Is Mom anyone we know?”
Joe shook his head. “Dirk was on location in Spain
when he met Mom. She was an extra in a Basque uprising.”
“No help there,” Judith said.
“Only in terms of support payments.” He offered
more coffee to Judith. “Dade’s had a couple of DWIs.
He wiped out a Rolls-Royce on Sunset Boulevard and
ran his Range Rover into a palm tree in Benedict
Canyon. Not recently, though.”
“He doesn’t seem like much of a drinker,” Judith remarked as she set out a dozen juice glasses.
“You never can tell,” Joe said, reaching for a chafing dish high up in the cupboard. “Here’s one you expected —Angela La Belle’s been busted three times for
coke possession. Bruno was arrested twice. On one occasion, they were together.”
“That’s not surprising,” Judith said, “since Bruno
supposedly got Angela hooked in the first place. Did
they do time?”
“No,” Joe replied, reaching for a second chafing
dish. “Their clever lawyers—Vito, maybe?—got them
off with fines, community service, and promises to go
into rehab.”
“Anything on Vito himself?”
“Nothing criminal,” Joe replied, “though I suspect
that like any successful L.A. attorney, he may have a
