come over tonight. It’s been a while… oh, sure. I understand. No, not at all. Give her my best.” He hung up and turned to me. “She’s there.”
I got Andy Markopulis on the phone. He was at home. The guys who were watching Judy Garland had no radio in their car. Even if they were outside of Cassie’s place in Santa Monica, they’d never think she was in any danger inside. They’d work at keeping people out.
“Warren,” I said. “Go home. I’ll call you as soon as I know anything.”
The drive to Santa Monica took about fifteen minutes. I ran lights and kicked well past the speed limit. When I got to Cassie’s house, the lights were on. I cut my lights and let the car glide in neutral down the hill. The sound of the surf covered the clinks of the Ford. I wanted a surprise knock or a chance to sneak in and get Judy Garland out. If Cassie saw me coming, she might use her knife act again.
Everything was going well. I parked against the shadow of a hill and got out. Moving as slowly as I could, I went down to the beach and into the sand to approach the house from the ocean. I was about ten feet from the porch leading to the beach when they jumped me. They were both good at that. One hit me high. The other low.
The surf covered the sounds of our grunts and groans as we rolled over, getting sand in our ears and eyes. My main fear was that my stitches would open. I wanted to end the fight before that happened.
I got to my feet by backing away on my behind and starting to run. Then I turned on them. Their faces were clear in the moonlight. One of the two wore a smile and was rangy. The other one was solid. The rangy one got to me first. I put both of my hands together in a double fist and drove them into his stomach. He went down with an “ooph” sound. The second guy hit me running, and we tumbled over again. I threw my elbow into his neck and he groaned.
I stood over them, gasping for air.
“You two Woodman and Fearaven?”
The rangy one got to his knees and said he was Fearaven. The only fight I’d won in weeks had been with two guys on my side. I helped them both up, telling who I was, giving Andy’s name and showing my wallet. It convinced them, but they were all for rushing the house and taking Cassie by surprise. I admitted that it might work, but convinced them there was a better way.
The better way involved my walking up to the front door and spinning a tale while they found a way in through the back. If Cassie wasn’t armed, there was no problem. If she was, we needed the surprise.
We brushed each other off and moved. I went up the beach to the front of the house. I couldn’t see Woodman and Fearaven, but through the window I could see Cassie and Judy Garland seated at the table near the window. They were having coffee, but the dishes weren’t cleared yet and there was a steak knife in front of Cassie.
Cassie’s color for the day was brown. Judy Garland was wearing a skirt and fluffy blouse. Her hair was in pigtails, probably to contrast with that grownup role she was living in her movie and probably trying to live in her life.
I knocked three quick raps and stood back to see the reaction. It wasn’t what I wanted. Cassie didn’t get up. She just shouted, “Come in!”
The door was open, and I stepped in.
Cassie smiled at me with a look of true love. Judy Garland looked slightly surprised.
“Sorry to drop in without calling,” I said, “but I need help.” I plopped in a chair.
“Can I get you anything?” said Cassie, with a voice filled with concern.
“I could use a drink,” I said.
Something in the way I said it must have tipped her off or made her suspicious. Her voice had changed, dropped a tone or two when she said, “It’s by the wall. Help yourself.”
Judy Garland had fallen for the act and started to get up, but Cassie firmly motioned her to sit down. The motion was maternal and friendly, but to deny it was to disobey.
“What are you doing here, Toby?” Cassie demanded. “The police are looking for you for the murder of that man Grundy.”
Judy Garland rose a little in concern.
“Mr. Peters, did you?”
“No,” I said, “but I know who did. So does Cassie. Don’t you, love?”
“I have no idea,” she said, looking as perplexed as innocence should look. I almost faltered. Maybe I was all screwed up, seeing things that weren’t there, backing away from a show of commitment.
“You killed Grundy, Cassie.”
Cassie laughed, and Judy Garland’s mouth dropped open. Cassie poured herself a fresh cup of coffee from the steaming pot in front of her and asked if I wanted some. I said no.
“Cassie, what’s he talking about?” Judy said, looking at both of us and wondering why we were so calm in the face of flying accusations. Judy had never played this one before.
“Let’s tell stories,” I said. “You want to start, Cassie?”
“I think not,” she said, sipping her coffee and throwing back her head. The gesture was perfect. The light caught the black of her hair and sent out moonbeams.
“O.K., I’ll start. You, Grundy, Cash, and Peese were in business together-the porno movie business. Everything was going well until one of your partners wanted to know why his share of the profits was so low. I’ve seen the way Cash lived. If there was gravy in this, he wasn’t getting any. He found out that Peese was living high, and they argued on Friday morning just before Grundy was set to shoot a scene. Cash started to talk about getting out, about telling the cops or M.G.M. You couldn’t have that so you put a knife in him. Right so far?”
Cassie didn’t answer. She just looked at me tolerantly. Judy’s eyes were wide and fixed on her.
“You and Grundy worked out the scheme to frame Wherthman,” I went on. “Peese must have remembered that the two of them had picked on the Swiss bookworm. The foul-up came when Judy called me, and Mayer thought I had connections. When I got too close to figuring out that the calls to Judy and to me were by someone without an accent, and couldn’t be Wherthman, Grundy panicked. I can’t see you breaking under so little pressure, but Grundy would. Then I started to get close to Peese. It was pretty clever of you to come up with his name and give it to me. You knew I’d get it from Wherthman or someone around the studio. You got more information out of me the other night, too. I think you were really surprised the first time I told you that someone had tried to kill me.”
“I was surprised,” she said softly.
“But the second time, when Grundy followed me to Hearst’s Castle, was no surprise. I told you where I was going. You gave him the information. He botched it again. Then I got to Peese a little faster than you expected. Grundy was right behind me. What was Peese holding over you to rate that place downtown-the film?”
Cassie just kept drinking coffee.
“Well, Grundy got the film, and I was in the wrong place at the right time. You started to figure that it was only a matter of time till the cops or I figured out that Grundy was involved. When I got the film from Grundy, you made up your mind. You got me to the studio, called Grundy, watched a few feet of the porno film with me and pulled your shocked act. I think the act came so I’d stop looking at the picture. I have a feeling there’s something on that film that connects you to Grundy, Cash, and Peese.”
“Like what?” she asked innocently.
“Like maybe this house being used as a location?”
She stiffened enough for me to see, but she didn’t break. I didn’t think she would.
“I’ll go on. You had Grundy waiting for me at my car after you lulled me to sleep with your soft couch and body. Grundy was ready to kill me, or I’d kill him. You would have been all right either way. When he knocked me out you didn’t know whether I was dead or alive. You had Grundy carry me to the prop room, and then you repeated your knife act. You got rid of Grundy, and if I didn’t die, chances were good that the cops would blame me. You had the roll of film and there were no witnesses. But, Cassie, the cops were bound to start turning up people you used in your movies. And how long did you really think you could fool Hoff?”
That got her. She put the cup down. I got up as if I were stretching my legs and kept talking.
“Now all this would be good guess work on my part if it weren’t for one thing.”
“And what’s that?” asked Cassie.
“I talked to Hoff and we found the film, exactly where you hid it.”
