Flesh And Blood

“Okay, Andy, let’s backtrack to the last time you saw her.”

“Last Sunday – a week ago,” said Salander. “I didn’t sleep well, got up around noon and Lo was in the kitchen.”

“How was she dressed?”

“Slacks, silk blouse – casual elegant, as always. She rarely wore jeans.”

“Did you guys talk?”

“Not much – just small talk. We had a light lunch before she left. Eggs and toast – I can eat breakfast any time of day. She left shortly after – I’d say one, one-thirty.”

“But she didn’t say where.”

“I assumed the U.”

“Her research job.”

“That’s what I figured.”

“On a Sunday?”

“She’d worked other Sundays, Detective Sturgis.”

“But this time she didn’t take her car.”

“How would I know that unless I followed her downstairs?”

“And you didn’t.”

“No, of course not-”

“When did you notice she’d left the car?”

“When I went to get my own car.”

“Which was?” said Milo.

“Later that evening, when I left for work – around seven-thirty.”

“And what did you think when you saw Lauren’s car?”

“I didn’t – didn’t think much, one way or the other.”

“Was that typical, Andy? Lauren not taking her car?”

“Not really. I just – It wasn’t on my mind. I can’t say I even consciously noticed it. When I got home she wasn’t there, but that wasn’t unusual either. She was often gone by morning. We were on different biorhythms – sometimes days would pass before we bumped into each other. I started to get a little concerned by Wednesday or so, but you know… She was an adult. I figured she had a reason for doing the things she did. Was I wrong?”

“About her having reasons?”

“About not doing something sooner. I mean, what could I have done?”

Milo didn’t reply.

Salander said, “I just wish – I feel sick – This is unbelievable.”

“Back to Sunday, Andy. What did you do after Lauren left?”

“Um, tried to go back to sleep, couldn’t, got up and went shopping over at the Beverly Center. I thought I’d buy some shirts, but I didn’t find anything, so I saw a movie – Happy, Texas. Hilarious. Have you seen it?”

Milo shook his head.

Salander said, “You should see it. Really funny-”

“What’d you do after shopping?”

“Came back, had some dinner, got dressed for work, came here. The next day I slept late. Till three. Why are you asking me all this? You can’t seriously think…”

“Routine questions,” said Milo.

“That’s so TV,” said Salander. “So Jack Webb.” Trying to smile, but his face had lost tone, as if someone had yanked out the bones.

“Okay, Andy,” said Milo. “There are police officers at your apartment. It’s going to be disruptive for a while. Legally, I don’t need your permission to search, but I’d like to know that I have your cooperation.”

“Sure. Of course – you mean my room too?”

“If the search does carry over to your room, would you have a problem with that?”

Salander kicked one shoe with the other. “I mean, I wouldn’t want my stuff trashed, or anything.”

“I’ll do it myself, Andy. Make sure everything gets put back in place.”

“Sure – but can I ask why, Mr. Sturgis? What does my room have to do with anything?”

“I need to be thorough.”

Salander’s narrow shoulders rose and fell. “I guess. Why not, I have nothing to hide. Nothing’s ever going to be the same, is it? Can I go back to work now?”

“When do you get off shift?”

“Four – then I clean up.”

“The officers may still be there when you arrive – you are planning to come home?”

“Where else would I go? At least for now.”

“For now?”

“I don’t know if I can afford the place by myself… Oh, God, this is just so nauseating – Did she suffer?”

“I don’t have the forensic details yet.”

“Who would do this?” said Salander. “What kind of twisted mind – Oh, Mr. Sturgis, I feel as if everything’s unraveling.”

Milo said, “Yeah, it’s rough.” He looked out at the traffic on Santa Monica, eyes unreadable. Then a glance at me.

I said, “Andrew, that lunch Lauren had with her mother, when she said she didn’t want to be controlled? Do you have any idea what she meant?”

“No. And even when she was upset at Mrs. A, she said she knew her mother loved her.”

“What about her father? Did he ever come up?”

“No, she never talked about him – refused to. Just clammed up the first time I brought him up, so I never did that again. It was pretty obvious she had no use for him.”

“But she never said why.”

Headshake. “There are so many reasons, though, aren’t there,” he said. “So many men who screw up fatherhood.”

“So,” I said, “you have no idea what the control issue was?”

“I just thought it was one of those family tension things, you know. I mean it’s not as if she told me about any big festering Jerry Springer thing.”

Salander rubbed the back of his head against the wall. “This is horrible, I hate this.”

“Hate what, Andy?”

“Talking about Lauren in the past tense – thinking about her suffering. Can I get back to work?”

“The show must go on?” said Milo.

Salander froze. “That was unkind, Mr. Sturgis. I cared about her, I really did. We cared for each other, loved to hang out together, but we didn’t – she didn’t confide in me. Can I help it if she didn’t confide? What I told the doctor about that lunch is all that I remember. She came back and looked miffed, didn’t want to talk about it, and I tried to get her to open up. But she really didn’t.”

“What did she say – as closely as you can remember?” I said.

“Something to the effect that she’d come this far on her own and wouldn’t be controlled – that’s it. Come to think about it, she might not have even said controlled by Mrs. A, specifically. I just assumed that’s who she was talking about, because it was Mrs. A she’d just had lunch with.” He sidestepped closer to The Cloisters’ front door.

“Let’s get back to that research job,” said Milo. “What else do you know about it?”

“Something to do with psychology – or maybe I’m assuming that, too. I’m so shook up, I don’t even know what I know.”

“When did the job start?”

Salander thought. “Soon after the quarter started – so maybe two, three months ago. Or maybe even before the quarter – I can’t swear to anything.”

“Was it a five-day-a-week job?” said Milo.