Obsession (34 page)

I said, “Bizarre in what way?”

“Teeth bared, like a…coyote. Pleasuring himself but he looked angry. Enraged. Or maybe it was just sexual intensity. Whatever it was, it grossed me out and I moved away from the window and never went back. Even when the music blasted the next day and the next.”

“The girls had no idea they were being watched?”

“Were they putting on a show for him? I’ve wondered about that.”

“Did you ever see Pete with them?”

“No, but as I said, I wouldn’t have. What you
should
be concerned about is a few weeks later, they were gone. Just like that.” Snapping his fingers. “No moving van, no truck being loaded. And when they moved in, they did use a van, had tons of stuff. I knew they weren’t sleeping in because (A) it wasn’t the weekend, (B) the lights never went on for two consecutive days, and (C) on the second day my mother took a walk by and the door to the upstairs apartment was open and a cleaning crew was working full-guns. Plus, the Corvette was still there. Parked in back next to the garage, the girls always parked in the driveway. It sat there for an entire week, then one night I heard it start up and looked out. Someone was easing it out the driveway. Driving extremely slowly, with the headlights off. I told my father and that’s when he called the police.”

Milo said, “Two days of dark windows.”

Byron Stark said, “If you want to believe they just moved to Kansas, be my guest. But maybe you should reserve judgment until I tell you the rest. The night after the car was moved, my father was walking the dog over on Fourth, I’m talking one in the morning.”

“Kind of late for a dog-walk.”

Stark smiled. “I could tell you the dog had a bladder problem but sure, Dad was curious, we all were. And it paid off. A van was pulled up to Mrs. Whitbread’s building and two guys were loading stuff. When Dad got closer he could see it was Pete and his friend and what they were hauling were garbage bags. Lots of them. When they saw Dad, they jumped in the van and slammed the door shut. Didn’t drive away, just sat there. Dad kept walking, circled the block again, stood at the corner. The van was still there but a second later it took off full-speed.”

“Did the dog react?” I said.

“Are you asking if he smelled something? Chester wasn’t a bloodhound. He was a fourteen-year-old mostly blind, deaf, senile chow mix. It was all Dad could do to get him to exercise. Anyway, Dad came home, told my mom about the van, the two of them decided something horrible had taken place, they had to persist with the police. Frankly, Galen and I thought they were overreacting. But a few weeks later, when Pete’s friend showed up dead, we started to believe them. Unfortunately,
you
guys didn’t.”

Petra said, “Let’s back up a bit, Dr. Stark. Who was Pete’s friend and how did he die?”

“An older guy, thirty or so. Tall, thin, long hair, unruly beard, kind of bummy. He drove a motorcycle but not a chopper. A Honda, not huge. I had a 350 in grad school and this one was definitely smaller. Noisy little contraption. He’d pick Pete up on it and they’d zoom off. My parents said his name was Roger but I can’t tell you where they got that and they never mentioned a last name. More like ‘that bum Roger.’ Or ‘Here’s Roger again on that stupid rattletrap.’ Their theory was he and Pete were selling dope around the neighborhood, doing the break-ins, as well. It wouldn’t surprise me, Roger looked like a doper. Emaciated, spacy, unsteady walk.”

Stark ruffled his crew cut. “I know it sounds as if Mom and Dad were obsessed but they weren’t. Granted, both of them are huge murder mystery fans and they’re into puzzles, but they’re also insightful and completely sane. My mother taught in the inner city for twenty years, so she’s not naive. And on top of his counseling background, my father was a military policeman in Vietnam and served as a reserve officer in Bakersfield before we moved to L.A. That made it especially irritating when the police here shined him on.”

Milo said, “Exactly what did he report?”

“You’d have to talk to him but my recollection is he reported the disappearance as well as the car being moved a week later, plus the van and the garbage bags.”

“Not the part about Pete masturbating near the girls?”

Stark colored. “No, I never mentioned that to anyone but my brother. Are you trying to say that would’ve made a difference? I can tell you it wouldn’t. The police were unresponsive.”

“What did the police tell your father?” said Petra.

“That Roger’s death was an overdose, case closed.”

“Please tell us about the death, Doctor.”

“From what I understand, the body was found in the gutter, right on Fourth, not far from Pete’s building. It happened in the middle of the night and by the time I was awake, the scene was clear.”

“How’d you find out?”

“My father heard from a neighbor who didn’t know whose corpse it was. Dad called the police for details and of course they didn’t want to give any out. Finally, he pried out the fact that it was Roger. That got him to try again to stir up interest in the girls. But whoever he talked to kept insisting there was no evidence of any crime, the girls were adults, a missing person case hadn’t been filed, and Roger’s death was ruled accidental.”

Petra hid her frown behind one hand as she wrote with the other. “After that, did Pete cause any other problems?”

“Not that I heard. But by December I had a girlfriend, wasn’t interested in anything at home. Then I went to China as a volunteer with Operation Smile, then to Cornell. This is the first time I’ve been back in ten years.”

“Have you seen Pete recently?”

“No. What’s he done?”

She stood. “When we can tell you we will, Dr. Stark. Thanks for your time.” Flashing a smile. “Maybe you can call your parents and tell them we’re paying attention.”

“That might not help. They’re strong-willed people.”

I said, “Despite their suspicions, they didn’t move from the neighborhood.”

“No way,” said Stark. “They finally owned their own home.”

“Hard to beat that,” said Milo.

“You bet, Detective. It’s all about equity.”

Byron Stark’s narrowing of time and place made the search easy.

A coroner’s file on Roger “Kimo” Bandini was unearthed in the archives at Mission Road and the fax came through to Petra by four p.m.

White male, twenty-nine, six two, one forty. A multitude of old needle tracks, fresh puncture wounds, and a tox screen that shot back a generous amount of speed and a monumental dose of diazepam had all screamed overdose, no need to autopsy. Missing was any record of where Bandini had been buried, or even if his body had been claimed.

By five thirty, Petra had gotten a Wilshire Division detective to unearth the corresponding police file, a slim affair, most of which was a photocopy of the coroner’s findings. Sergeant J. Rahab, the coordinator at the scene, noted that an anonymous call at 3:15 a.m. had prompted the call to Fourth Street.

Embedded in Rahab’s clumsy prose was mention of a “burglar’s kit” found under Bandini’s corpse.

Searches of national databases revealed a ten-year police record and several brief incarcerations for Pete Whitbread’s friend, stretching from California to Utah: three breaking and enterings, a DUI, two arrests for possession of marijuana, three for methamphetamine, an intent-to-sell crank bust dismissed on procedural grounds the year before Bandini’s death.

Neither Peterson Whitbread nor Blaise De Paine showed up on Bandini’s buddy list, but Leland Armbruster and Lester Jordan did.

Petra said, “All of them into the Hollywood dope scene. But no cross-reference to Armbruster’s homicide file so Isaac never picked it up. Boys, we are still living in the Dark Ages.”

Milo said, “Little Petey doesn’t respect his elders. They let him in the game and end up dead.”

I re-read the coroner’s report. My breath caught and jammed up in my chest. I let air out slowly.

Milo said, “Something we missed?”

“The anonymous call was never followed up on. Someone just happening upon a body at that hour is unlikely. Wouldn’t you be curious?”

“I’d follow it up,” said Petra.

Milo said, “Bandini being a low-life crank-head, no one cared who spotted him. Why do you?”

“Bear with me,” I said. “With a passerby being unlikely, the logical assumption would be a neighbor. Bandini’s body was found one building east of Patty’s duplex. Patty wouldn’t want Tanya waking up and seeing that.”

Petra said, “And Patty would know a body was lying out on the street because…”

I said, “‘Killed a man close by.’”

Milo and Petra looked at each other.

He said, “The terrible thing.”

“Hot-shotting Bandini would qualify,” I said. “Think about it: His blood was swimming with speed and Valium. He’d been shooting crank for years but there’s no mention of downers anywhere in his jacket. Valium
is
a common hospital drug.”

Milo rubbed his face.

I said, “Something else Isaac’s data search wouldn’t pull up because it was classified as an accidental death.”

Petra said, “What would be Patty’s motive? And how are you suggesting it happened?”

“Unless we find De Paine and he talks, we may never know the details. My guess is he and Bandini were pressuring Patty for prescription drugs. He knew she was a nurse from when she cared for his father and now that she was his mother’s tenant, he tried to exploit that. He could’ve started off wheedling, met resistance, and turned up the pressure. The most effective way would’ve been a threat against Tanya, veiled or otherwise.”

“Patty would give in to that?”

“She might’ve, out of fear,” I said. “She could’ve developed some serious suspicions—just like the Starks.”

Petra rubbed her temples. “She wondered about the missing girls?”

“If De Paine silenced Jordan because he knew about the girls, where would Jordan have found out in the first place? Patty talking to him about his wayward son.”

“It’s starting to shape up like a whole bunch of people knew about the girls.”

Milo said, “When the Starks complained, the department flipped them off, why would anyone else come forward? Jesus.”

Petra looked as if she’d swallowed a grub. “Makes me proud to be a sworn law enforcement specialist…Alex, you really think Patty could’ve overdosed someone premeditatedly? And same question: How’d it go down?”

“Let’s say Bandini and Pete were behind the hot-prowl break-ins and that Bandini tried the same thing with Patty. Brought his kit late one night, picked her lock, started searching for drugs. Patty woke up, confronted him, used her gun to back him down. She didn’t call the police because that wouldn’t solve the problem permanently. Bandini would be out eventually, maybe return to get even. So she defused the situation by making a peace offering Bandini couldn’t refuse.”

Milo said, “I’ll dose you up now, and if you behave yourself there’s more in the future. But don’t come creeping around my place at night…yeah, a hungry crank fiend might go for that. He sits in the kitchen, she fixes a needle, Bandini’s expecting a jolt of speed, but instead she cocktails him.”

“With no extensive downer experience, that much Valium could’ve stopped his heart cold.”

Milo said, “Valium I can see her having, easy to swipe from the hospital. Where would she get meth?”

“The tox screen said amphetamine, unspecified. Any number of prescription stimulants could produce that result. Secondary tests could’ve teased out the specifics but no one saw any need for that.”

“I’m still picturing it,” said Petra. “She doses him, sits there, watches him die?”

“Bandini broke in,” said Milo.

“That’s still cold. And if she had uppers and downers ready, well planned.” The room grew silent.

Milo said, “Patty came right out and told Tanya she killed a guy. We were the ones pretending she meant something symbolic. And hell, if Alex is right about what led up to it—hot-prowl break-ins, missing girls, maybe threats to Tanya—I’m happy calling it justifiable.”

Petra said, “Whatever happened, the lady’s long gone, no sense judging…back to the scene for a sec. Bandini croaks, Patty’s got a DB to deal with, she drags him out to the street, waits awhile, calls it in…guess it fits.”

Milo said, “It sure doesn’t
not
fit.”

She smiled faintly. “You and your grammar, Mr. English Major.”

“Lieutenant English Major.”

The two of them bantering, so as not to think about Patty.

I said, “Here’s something else that fits: Bandini’s break-in tools were found under his body, which is consistent with someone wanting to make it look like a bad guy O.D.’ing. But there was no mention of a needle on his person in either the coroner’s or the police file. Or anyone looking for a needle.”

Petra scanned both reports. Shook her head. “Fresh needle mark in the guy’s arm and no one checks it out. Oh, man, this is law enforcement at its finest.” To Milo: “You know this Rahab guy?”

“Nope.”

“Maybe Stu does…not that it’s worth churning dust over…another question, Alex: If Patty killed Bandini, I can see her leaving his tools in order to show he was a bad guy, maybe set up a little additional distraction. But why wouldn’t she do the same for the needle?”

“Her prints were on it,” I said. “She might’ve worried they wouldn’t clean off totally, or there’d be some way to trace it back to Cedars and her. Or maybe she simply forgot. She was an amateur in over her head.”

“Protecting her kid…Mama bears do get aggressive,” said Petra.

Her own mother had died birthing her.

Milo said, “Let’s get back to the logic of killing Bandini in the first place. If she was out to protect Tanya, why leave Petey alive?”

“He was young and he wasn’t directly involved in the break-in,” I said. “Having someone else do his dirty work is consistent with everything else we know about him. Maybe Patty got that, figured he wouldn’t hassle her on his own.”

“Plus,” said Petra, “the personal connection to him through his father.”

Milo said, “The old mayhem hierarchy. It’s okay to shoot a coyote but your neighbor’s poodle gets nasty, you have second thoughts.”