“But forgetful,” I said.
“Everyone forgets.”
“What does Billy forget?”
“The watch, the wallet. Lots of times the wallet.”
“Mr. Peaty came by and gave you the wallet?”
“No,” she said. “He tells me Billy lost the wallet and he is returning the wallet.”
“How many times did that happen?”
“A few,” she said. “I do not count.”
Annalise Holzer said, “A few times, that’s all.”
“Those times, did Mr. Peaty go inside Billy’s apartment?”
“I don’t know.”
“You watch him.”
“Sounds like a good job.”
Shrug.
“Good salary?”
“No money, only less rent.”
“Mr. Dowd’s your landlord?”
“Very nice landlord, some of them are like…snakes.”
Milo hadn’t mentioned any Beverly Hills properties in the Dowds’ holdings.
I said, “So you get a discount on the rent in return for looking in on Billy.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“What does that involve day to day?”
“Being here,” said Annalise Holzer. “If he needs something.”
“How does Billy get around?”
“Get around?”
“Go from place to place. He doesn’t drive.”
“He does not go out much,” said Annalise Holzer. “Sometimes I take him to a movie on Sunday. Century City, I drop him off, pick him up. Mostly I rent him DVDs from the video store on Olympic near Al-mont Drive. Billy has a big flat-screen TV, better than a movie theater, no?”
“Anyone else ever drive him?”
“Mr. Dowd picks him up in the morning and brings him home. Every day they work.”
Wide circuit from Santa Monica Canyon to Beverly Hills and back to the beach city. Brad’s unpaid job.
“Is there anyone else?”
“What do you mean?”
“Taxi, car service?”
“Never do I see that.”
“So Billy doesn’t go out much.”
“Never by himself,” said Annalise Holzer. “Never do I see him go out, even to walk. I like to walk, when I ask him does he want to walk with me, he tells me, ‘Annalise, I did not like gym in school. I’m a big couch potato.’ ” She smiled. “I joke with him that he is lazy. He laughs.”
“Does he have any friends?”
“No- but he is very friendly.”
“A homebody,” I said.
The word puzzled her.
“He comes home and stays here.”
“Yes, yes, exactly. Watching the flat screen, DVDs, eating- I cook, sometimes. He likes some things… sauerbraten- special veal meat. Spaetzle, it is a kind of noodle. I cook for two, bring it downstairs.” She looked over her shoulder. The room behind her was tidy and bright. White porcelain figurines crowded the ledge of an arched, tiled mantel.
In the current market, the rent would be three, four thousand a month. Steep on a nurse’s pay.
“You live alone, Ms. Holzer?”
“Yes.”
“You’re from Germany?”
“Lichtenstein.” She pinched thumb to forefinger. “It is a teeny tiny little country between- ”
“ Austria and Switzerland,” I said.
“You know Lichtenstein?”
“I’ve heard it’s pretty. Banking, castles, Alps.”
“It is pretty, yes,” she agreed. “But I like it here better.”
“ L.A. ’s more exciting.”
“More to do, the music, the horses, the beach.”
“You ride?”
“Anything with sunshine,” she said.
“Working nights and sleeping days and doing things for Billy.”
“Work is good. Sometimes I do a double shift.”
“What are Billy’s needs?” I said.
“Very easy. If he wants takeout and it is a long time for the restaurant to deliver, I get him his dinner. There is Domino Pizza on Doheny near Olympic. Billy likes Thai food, there’s a nice place on La Cienega and Olympic. Sushi is also on Olympic. Nice place near Doheny. Very convenient, being near Olympic.”
“Billy’s a gourmet.”
“Billy eats anything,” said Annalise Holzer. “You must really think of him as a boy. A good boy.”
When I was back on Olympic, I celled Milo, expecting voice mail because he was with Armando Vasquez.
“Canceled,” he said. “Vasquez’s D.P.D. had other plans but didn’t bother to tell me. The prelim on Michaela’s autopsy finally came in. I woulda been there but they did it earlier than scheduled. Bottom line is no sign of sexual assault, cause of death was strangulation, the stab wounds on her chest were relatively superficial. The neck wound was a puncture, pathologist can’t say what caused it. Get to Billy’s place yet?”
“Just finished with that and you’re going to feel smart. The woman upstairs is a nurse on the night shift at Santa Monica Hospital, meaning she’s gone by ten fifteen or so. Plus, she thinks L.A. ’s an exciting city, likes art, the beach, riding horses. Her tan says she’s out plenty during the day.”
“Not much supervision.”
“On top of that, Peaty came to Billy’s apartment several times. Claimed he was sent by Brad to return things Billy left at the office. Brad told us he thought Peaty wasn’t licensed to drive. Unless he lied about that, Peaty misrepresented his presence.”
“How many times is several?”
“The woman couldn’t quantify. Or wouldn’t. She said Billy lost his wallet a lot. Then she backtracked to ‘a few.’ ”
“What’s her name?”
“Annalise Holzer. She’s one of those people who gives you lots of details and ends up not telling you much. She considers Billy childlike, gracious, absolutely no problem. Some of that could be the rent-break Brad gives her. The building’s another Dowd property.”
“That so? Not on the BNB list.”
“Maybe the Dowds have another corporation or a holding company that doesn’t trace back to their names.”
“All that real estate,” he said. “These people have got to be hugely rich, and rich people get protected.”
