“Let’s talk about your other cousin,” said Milo. “Any idea how Reynold came to work for the Dowds?”
“That was me,” she said. “That bragging call from Brad five years ago. Christmas, there was lots of background noise, like he was doing some heavy partying. This was after Reyn’s trouble in Reno. I told Brad, ‘Seeing as you’re some big real estate honcho, how about helping out a country cousin?’ He didn’t want to hear about it. He and Reyn didn’t know each other, I don’t think they’d seen each other since they were kids. But I was in an obnoxious mood and kept working on him- working on his pride, you know? ‘Guess your business isn’t so big you’d need outside help,’ that kind of thing. Finally, he said, ‘Have him call me but if he fucks up once, that’s it.’ Next thing I know Reynold’s calling me from L.A., telling me Brad’s gonna hire him to manage some apartments.”
“Brad hired him to mop and sweep.”
“So I’ve learned,” said Marcia Peaty. “Real sweet, huh?”
“Reynold accepted it.”
“Reynold didn’t have too many options. Brad ever let on to anyone that Reynold was family?”
“Nope,” said Milo. “Would Billy and Nora be aware of the connection?”
“Not unless Brad told them. There’s no blood tie there.”
“Or Reynold told them. We’ve heard he and Billy hung out.”
“That so?” she said. “Hung out how?”
“Reynold dropped by Billy’s apartment, allegedly to drop off lost objects.”
“Allegedly?”
“Brad denies sending him on errands.”
“You believe him?”
Milo smiled. “They’re both your cousins but you’d prefer we focus on Brad, not Reynold. That why you came down to L.A.?”
“I came down because Reynold’s dead and no one else is going to bury him. He’s all I’ve got left in terms of family.”
“Except Brad.”
“Brad’s your concern, not mine.”
“You don’t like him.”
“He was raised in another family,” she said.
Silence.
Finally, she said, “Julie the dancer. That bothered me big time. Now you’re showing me photos of other blond girls. Reynold was dumb and sloppy and a drunk but he was never cruel.”
“So far you haven’t told us anything Brad did that was cruel.”
“No, I haven’t,” said Marcia Peaty. “And I guess I can’t because, like I said, he and I haven’t exactly been hanging out.”
“But…”
“You know, guys,” she said, “this is real weird and I don’t think I like it.”
“Like what?”
“Being on the receiving end of what I used to dish out.”
“It’s for a good cause, Marcia,” said Milo. “In terms of Julie the Showgirl, did Harold Fordebrand’s gut say anything more about Brad than he was slick?”
“You’d have to ask Harold. Once he found out Brad was my cousin he kept me out of the loop.”
“How about your gut…”
“Brad’s demeanor bothered me. Like he was enjoying some private joke. You guys know what I mean.”
“Despite that, you got Reyn a job with him.”
“And now Reyn’s gone,” she said. Her face crumpled and she turned to hide it from us. When she faced us again, her voice was small. “You’re saying I screwed up big time.”
“No,” said Milo. “I’m not trying to guilt-trip you, far from it. All this stuff you’re telling us is beyond helpful. We’re just groping around here.”
“No case yet.”
“Not hardly.”
“I was hoping I was wrong,” she said.
“About what?”
“Brad being somehow involved with Reynold’s death.”
“No indication he is.”
“I know, an altercation. You’re saying that’s all there was to it?”
“So far.”
“The old stonewall,” said Marcia Peaty. “I’ve laid a few bricks myself. Let me ask you this: The way Brad treated Reyn, giving him scut work, the Dowds owning all those properties, and they stick Reyn in a hovel. That add up to the milk of human kindness? These people are just what Mom always said they were.”
“What’s that?”
“Poison palming itself off as perfume.”
CHAPTER 40
Marcia Peaty switched the subject and Milo didn’t stop her.
Procedural questions about how to take possession of her cousin’s body. His rundown wasn’t much different from the one he’d given Lou Giacomo.
She said, “Paperwork aerobics. Okay, thanks for your time. Am I wasting my time asking you to keep me informed?”
“Something resolves, we’ll let you know, Marcia.”
“
He smiled.
She said, “That’s why I never did Homicide. Too much effort getting the optimism meter up.”
“Vice can get sketchy, too.”
“That’s why I didn’t do Vice for long. Give me a nice boosted set of wheels.”
“Chrome don’t bleed,” said Milo.
“Ain’t that the truth.” She reached for the check. Milo placed his hand on it.
“Let me pay for my share.”
“On the house,” said Milo.
“You or the department?”
“The department.”
“Right.” She put down a twenty, slid out of the booth, shot us a tight smile, and hurried off.
Milo pocketed the cash and pushed crumbs around his plate. “Ol’ Brad’s been a
“Young blondes,” I said. “Too bad Tori dyed her hair.”
“Amelia, the whole platinum bombshell thing. What, he’s killing Stepmommy over and over?”
“His own mother abandoned him, handed him over to someone who didn’t even pretend to care. He has lots of reasons to hate women.”
“He was in his thirties when Julie the Showgirl disappeared. Think she was his first?”
“Hard to say. The main thing was he got away with it, built up his confidence for the move back to L.A. After Amelia and the captain died, he managed to take over the family real estate empire. Cared well for Billy and Nora because happy sibs don’t complain. Maybe the PlayHouse is a tax dodge and a sop for Nora, but it was good for him, too. Start an acting school, who shows up?”
“Gorgeous mutants,” he said. “All those blonde auditions.”
“And rejects like the Gaidelases. Normally, Brad would ignore people like Cathy and Andy but they reminded him of Amelia and the captain, down to the captain’s effeminate manner. How’s this for a scenario: He ran into them leaving an audition. Or waiting for a tryout. Either way, it had to feel like destiny, he played nice guy,
