L.A. Dead

'She won't be answering any questions,' Stone replied. 'Surely, you knew that.'

'We had a tip that she was in New York,' Durkee said. 'Show her to me; I'm getting tired of waiting.'

Arrington chose that moment to enter the room. 'Stone,' she said drowsily, 'what's this about? I was asleep.'

'Sorry to wake you, Mrs. Calder,' Durkee said.

'Are you satisfied?' Stone asked.

'I guess so.'

Stone turned Arrington around and led her to the bedroom door. 'You can go back to bed,' he said. 'Are you going to want dinner later, or do you want to just sleep?'

'I want to sleep,' she said.

'Do you want Dr. Drake?'

'No, I think I'll be all right in the morning.' She left the room, and Stone closed the door behind her.

He turned back to the two cops. 'A tip? What kind of tip?'

'An anonymous call,' Durkee said. 'A woman. Said the lady had jumped bail.'

Stone shook his head. 'As long as you're here, tell me something.'

'What's that?'

'Why haven't you interviewed the gardener, Cordova?'

'We have no reason to,' Durkee said. 'He's not a suspect.'

'Do you think he might be connected to the footprint you found outside the back door to the house?'

Durkee and Bryant exchanged a glance. 'Nah,' Durkee said. 'Anybody could have made it.'

'A size-twelve Nike, and anybody could have made it?'

'Our investigation has not found the footprint or the gardener to be relevant,' Durkee said. 'Anyway, Cordova's in Mexico, and wed never find him there.'

'Have you made any effort?' Stone demanded.

'I told you, he's not relevant to our investigation. The murderer is in that bedroom.'

Bryant spoke up. 'Let's get out of here.'

'By the way, Mr. Barrington, what are you doing here?' Durkee asked, with a smirk.

'I was working in the guest house,' Stone replied. 'I'm one of her lawyers.'

'Nice work, if you can get it,' Bryant said.

Stone opened the door to the study. 'Manolo,' he called, 'show these officers the door, please.' He turned to the two detectives. 'And don't come back here again, without a warrant. You won't be let in.'

The detectives left, and when Stone was sure they were off the property, he went into the bedroom and found Arrington at her dressing table, applying makeup. 'Why are you putting on makeup?' he asked. 'I hope you don't think you're going anywhere.'

'Why don't we go to Spago for dinner?' she asked archly.

'Do you have any idea how lucky you just were?'

'Don't, Stone; I'm converted. I'm sorry I gave you a bad time.' She smiled. 'Not very sorry, though. I enjoyed my trip to New York.'

'Give me your car keys,' he said.

'Why?'

'Because I've got to get it back from the airport. Manolo can drive me.'

She dug into her purse. 'I took Vance's car,' she said. 'It's in short-term parking; the ticket is over the sun visor.'

'I'll talk to you tomorrow,' he said, kissing the top of her head.

'Won't you come back for dinner?' she asked, disappointed.

'I'm beat; I hardly got any sleep last night, remember?'

She smiled. 'I remember.' She stood up and kissed him. 'I don't think I'll ever forget.'

'Neither will I,' he said, kissing her. Then he went to find Manolo, and they headed for LAX.

It was getting dark by the time he got back to the bungalow at Centurion. He checked the answering machine on Betty's desk, saw the red light blinking, and pressed the button.

'Mr. Barrington,' Brandy Garcia's voice said, sounding exasperated. 'I call here, and the lady says call New York; then I call New York, and the lady says to call here. I've got the item you want, and I'm going to call just one more time.'

Then, as Stone stood there, the phone rang. 'Hello?'

'Mr. Barrington?'

'Yes. Brandy?'

'Hey, Stone; I found your man.'

'Where is he?'

'In Tijuana, of course.'

'All right, you found him; now how do I find him?'

'You come to Tijuana.'

'When?'

'Tomorrow afternoon; it's not a bad drive, three to four hours, depending on traffic. What kind of car you be in?'

'A Mercedes convertible, black.'

'No, no, you don't want to be driving around Tijuana in that. You park your car at the border, and walk across; I'll have somebody meet you.'

'All right, what time?'

'Say three o'clock?'

'I'll be there.'

'Wear a red baseball cap, so my man will know you.'

'All right.'

'Cordova wants a thousand dollars to meet with you.'

'For as long as I want?'

'How long do you want?'

'Maybe an hour, maybe more.'

'He'll do that, and Stone?'

'Yes?'

'Don't forget the rest of my money, too.'

'See you at three o'clock.'

Chapter 35

Stone took the freeway to San Diego and made it in three and a half hours. He had some lunch at a taco joint near the border, then put the money and his little dictating recorder into his pockets, put on the red baseball cap he'd bought at the Centurion Studios shop, parked the car, and walked to the border crossing. He was questioned by a uniformed officer.

'What's the purpose of your visit to Mexico?' the man asked.

'A business meeting.'

'What kind of business?'

'I'm a lawyer,' Stone replied. 'I'm interviewing a witness.'

'Let's see some ID.'

Stone showed his U.S. passport.

'Are you carrying more than five thousand dollars in cash or negotiable instruments?'

Stone was not about to lie about this. 'Yes.'

'How much?'