“Not having kids?”
“Adoption she finally accepted she couldn’t have her own decided she wanted to adopt was really obsessed with adopting even a kid from China Bulgaria Bolivia one of those places he didn’t want it didn’t want the commitment I said what about foster kids that way she gets to play mama then they leave and you’re off the hook and you get paid.”
“Drew like the idea of fostering?”
“He loved it said brilliant Syd you’re a genius that’s what he called me
She directed him to the juice bar, just north of Sunset, in Palisades Village. He left her cuffed and went inside.
Women who looked like Weider were all around. She sank down and lay flat on the rear seat. I asked her about Barnett Malley but she claimed to know nothing about him.
“No impressions?”
“Why would I he was the other side?”
“Daney’s theories never got you curious?”
“That was bullshit.”
“What about Malley riding the rodeo?”
“What are you
Milo returned with a giant cup and a straw. She sat up and said, “Take off the cuffs I need to hold it.” He leaned into the car and held the straw to her mouth. She said “Oh c’mon,” but drank greedily, cheeks deflating. When she stopped for a breath, a speck of froth remained on her lower lip. Milo wiped it off.
She looked up at him with fear. “Please let me hold it.”
“No more problems?”
“I promise really.”
“Gonna avoid issues with the neighbors?”
She smiled. “What do you care about that you’re a big-issue guy it’s Daney you’re after obviously he’s done something serious but I don’t even care what.”
“No curiosity?”
“I don’t live in the past the past is like a dead body just keeps rotting and stinking may I have another sip please and can you please take off the damned cuffs?”
“You and Drew don’t talk anymore?”
Hoarse laugh. “Haven’t talked to that loser in seven years what do you think I’m going to call him tell him you were here that’ll be the day if he ever tried to get near me I’d cut off his you-know-what.”
“Bet you would,” said Milo. He freed her hands and handed her the cup. She sipped, remained docile and silent during the ride back to her house.
When we got there, Milo helped her out of the car. She stood looking at her front door as if she’d never seen it before. Milo took her by the elbow and walked her up the drive. Halfway there, he hung back. She stopped, flipped hair, flashed teeth, said something that made him smile. Stood on her tiptoes and pecked his cheek.
He watched as she walked to her door, stood there as she crossed the threshold. Returned shaking his head.
I said, “What was the joke?”
“The- Oh, that. She said ‘You’re sending me off like a little birdie out of the nest chirp chirp chirp.’ ” He jammed the key in the ignition. “It caught me off guard. For a second, she seemed kinda cute.” He frowned. “That kiss. I need to wash my face.”
A block later, he said, “She’s completely nuts but everything she told us fits. What do you think of Daney’s sperm-obsession?”
“All part of his me-obsession. What interests me is that right from the beginning Daney wanted to focus blame on Malley. Why would that be unless he knew Malley before Kristal’s murder and had some reason to resent him? I brought up the rodeo to Weider and she looked at me as if
“Maybe the swinger’s scene, like you suggested.”
“Or a tamer possibility,” I said. “Now that we know we’ve got two couples with infertility problems.”
“A clinic,” he said. “They met at a damned fertility clinic?”
“Weider said Cherish had ‘finally’ given up on having her own children. That implies she had tried to conceive for a while. That had to include medical treatment.”
“Chatting in the waiting room, the old misery loves company bit.”
“Until Drew and Lara took the friendship a step further,” I said. “The two spouses who just happened to be fertile. It’s possible neither of them knew that and Lara’s pregnancy caught them by surprise. Drew had to figure she’d terminate because of the repercussions with Barnett. But she refused. Having a baby meant more to her than her marriage.”
“All of a sudden the Malleys are having a baby and the Daneys aren’t.”
“Leaving Cherish with a whole lot of frustration and anguish. Three guesses who she’d vent to.”
“She gets on Drew’s case, pushes for more fertility treatment.”
“Which would be expensive and a monumental hassle for something Drew didn’t want in the first place. Either he agreed and it didn’t work, or he refused. In either case, Cherish switched her goal to adoption. Became obsessed with it.”
“Idiot thinks he’s the cleverest guy in the world and all of a sudden his life’s getting knotted up because of a problem
“So he decided to eliminate the source of the insult,” I said. “Turned Kristal into an object lesson for Cherish. ‘See the joy babies bring, hon?’ At the same time, he was able to play out his God fantasy and free himself of any future demands from Lara. And as long as he was cleaning house, why not get a movie deal out of it?”
He hunched and scowled and gripped the wheel, as relaxed as a student driver. Salt air blew through the car’s open windows. Charming neighborhood. How long before Sydney Weider imploded?
Milo said, “Cleaning house permanently. Kristal, then Troy because he killed Kristal, then Nestor because
“Jane Hannabee, too, because Daney couldn’t be certain Troy hadn’t said something to his mother.”
“And now Rand… think Drew did any of them himself or were they contract deals?”
“Whoever did Lara did Rand. My money’s on Daney for those. Hannabee could’ve gone either way.”
“Six bodies,” he said. “And there’s something I neglected to mention. I checked for any Mirandas on Daney’s foster list. Nothing close.”
“Why would Daney take in a ward and not bill the state?”
“Why, indeed.”
“Oh,” I said.
“Now how the hell am I going to prove any of it with no evidentiary connections?”
I had no answer.
“Yeah,” he grumbled. “I was afraid you’d say that.”
