“While he was locked up, one of the guards supposedly killed his wife. Not my mother, not even a real wife, some woman he’d been living with, a barfly like him.”
“Where was he living before he was committed?”
“Oxnard. We were in Santa Monica, which sounds far enough but the things Mom told me, I was always worried he’d show up. So was she, she moved us down to O.C., trying to put some distance between us.”
“This woman who was allegedly murdered,” said Petra. “Did your mom mention her name?”
“I think Mom said Rosetta. Or Rosita, I don’t know. But don’t waste your time, Detective. The story was insane. Like a guard could poison someone? Or want to? I’m not sure the woman even existed. Or if she did, that what happened to her is what he told Mom.”
“What’s that?”
“Rosita comes to visit him, leaves, drops dead in the parking lot. He knows this guard did it to get back at him. Why I can’t tell you. Anyway, now it’s the same person who’s bothering him in Hollywood and I’m supposed to do something about it because I’m a lawyer.”
“This imaginary person has a name.”
“Petty,” he said. “Or maybe it was Pitty. My father was originally from Oklahoma, had a twang that got worse when he was agitated. His story was the guy’s popping up on the street, following him, giving him quote unquote X-ray eyes. It was a ridiculous story all those years ago and didn’t get better in the retelling but I figure you should know everything.”
“Appreciate it, Lee,” said Petra. “Would you mind if we talked to your mother? Just to fill in details?”
“I’d love if you’d talk to her because that would mean she’s alive. Unfortunately, Parkinson’s disease had other ideas.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“So am I, Detective. They say you don’t grow up until you lose your parents. Frankly, I’d prefer to be immature.”
Petra’s mother had died giving birth to her. Her father had succumbed a few years back. She said, “I’ve heard that.”
Eccles stood, checked the folds of his hankie.
“I guess,” he said, “I’m responsible for the body.”
A uniformed officer saw Lee Eccles out.
Petra said, “He has no idea what he just gave us. Marlon Quigg worked at that hospital at the same time Lem Eccles was committed there. Looks like you were right about some sort of ancient history, Alex.”
I said, “Maybe for those two but I can’t see Vita and Glenda Usfel connected to V-State that long ago. Usfel was a young child and Vita grew up in Chicago.”
“Fine,” said Milo. “So their problems with Mr. Shearling were more recent, he’s an equal-opportunity disemboweler.”
Petra said, “Eccles Junior is one angry man, that boy did not like his daddy. Can’t say that I blame him but he’s lucky Daddy’s murder is part of a serial because if I picked it up as a one-shot I’d be looking at him as my prime. And if Eccles alienated his own offspring that thoroughly, imagine what he could evoke in a homicidal maniac. Especially if the two of them went way back to V-State.”
Milo said, “Mr. Crazy, meet Mr. Curious. Where do we go with this Pitty-Patty-Petty dude? If any of it’s true, we’ve got complications because Shearling’s too young to have worked as a guard twenty-three years ago.”
I said, “The story could be partially true. Eccles knew someone named Pitty years ago, convinced himself the guy was after him. He notices someone stalking him and resurrects his old personal bogeyman.”
“You believe the stalking part?” said Petra.
“Eccles was murdered.”
Milo said, “The bumper sticker.”
“What?”
“Even paranoids have enemies.”
She laughed.
Milo said, “Even if Pitty did exist, Alex is probably right and he’s irrelevant. Eccles was schizo, had a fixation, flashed back to it. Or Pitty’s a squid in a three-piece suit or some other figment. In any event, we’ve got multiple sightings of Shearling.”
Petra said, “If Shearling was a patient at V-State, we might be able to find some known associates, family, anything that could lead us to him. Any word back from that psychiatrist, Alex?”
“No.”
Milo said, “Got his address just before Eccles Junior showed up. Social Security records, don’t ask.”
She said, “Excellent. Let’s pay him a visit, Big Guy.”
“I don’t know. He’s under no obligation to let us past the door let alone cough up patient info. We get heavy- handed, he invokes the doctor confidentiality thing. So my vote’s for having Alex try first, shrink-to-shrink.”
Petra looked at me.
I said, “He could refuse me, too, but sure.”
Milo fished out a scrap of paper and handed it over. Van Nuys address, 818 landline.
“Meanwhile, we can have Shimoff do a better drawing with Banforth and push to get it on the media along with the new info. I’ve got Sean and Moe checking out newsstands and bookstores, see if anyone remembers an asshole buying puzzle books.”
Petra said, “Raul’s been talking to street people but so far no one had a special beef with Eccles, basically everyone thought he was a general pain.” Smiling. “I’ll tell him to look for a cephalopod in a suit.”
I said, “Eccles’s last arrest, the one his son bailed him out for, was for shoving a tourist. Have you looked at the arrest report?”
“I read the summary. Your basic citizen versus nutcase.”
“Citizen have a name?”
“I didn’t make note of it. Why?”
“Maybe it’s worthwhile. On the off chance that it was Shearling.”
“Nutcase versus nutcase?” said Milo.
“Flagrant psychotic versus someone able to maintain outward control,” I said. “What was the exact nature of the charge?”
Petra said, “Eccles tried to get money from a tourist, the tourist resisted, Eccles did some screaming and pushing and shoving.”
“Did the tourist phone in the complaint?”
“No, someone on the street did and a car was a block away.”
I said, “Think what the officers would’ve found: a he said-he said between a quiet young man and an angry alcoholic with a record for aggressive panhandling whom they knew as a neighborhood nuisance.”
Milo said, “Shearling’s able to fake normal.”
“Five murders without a trace of physical evidence says he’s organized, meticulous, able to slip in and out without setting off alarms. He impressed Hedy the waitress as eccentric but didn’t scare her. John Banforth thought his behavior was odd but it didn’t trouble him too much until he learned of Vita’s murder. So we’re talking someone who’s not overwhelmingly threatening. When contrasted with Eccles’s ravings, there’s no doubt who the cops would’ve seen as the offender.”
“Monster trumps maniac,” she said. “Okay, I’ll check the complete report. And as long as we’re dotting i ’s, I’m going to call Oxnard PD and see if I can dig up something about this Rosetta woman.” Winking. “The bumper sticker and all that.”
The three of us headed for the exit.
“Crazy,” said Milo. “The only time I like it is when Patsy Cline’s singing about it.”
CHAPTER
29
