Tacked to Death (22 page)

"Do you think they could've been
arguing over Sterling?"

"It's possible. I don't trust Mario,
though. He kinda looks mean, if you ask me."

"Yeah."

"Why all the questions about this?"
Tommy asked.

"I'm sorry. You have to realize that I
am under a lot of stress with all of the scrutiny. The police don't
seem to be listening to all the people out there insisting that I
didn't do it. I'm trying to do what I can to find out on my own.
I'm trying to clear my name."

He nodded. "I understand."

"Thanks. I was wondering if maybe you
could tell me about last summer?"

"What do you mean?"

"Last summer Sterling went to see his
family in Santa Barbara, and you went?"

Tommy nodded. "I went with him for a
couple of weeks. Zach came down for a few days, too. We had a great
time, but his family…a bunch of uptight jerks, if you want my
opinion. We didn't hang out much at their place. That brother of
his runs the show. His dad passed away not that long ago and their
mom is pretty ill, I heard."

"How about Carolyn Taber? Did you meet
her?"

"Sterling's sister-in-law? Briefly. She
was a snob, too."

"Did Sterling ever say anything about
her to you?"

"No. He couldn't stand Carolyn or his
brother."

"Really?"

"Yes. Why?"

"I have reasons to think that maybe
there was more to Carolyn and Sterling's relationship than what he
might've let on."

"No way. He thought she was a total
bitch."

"He never said anything to the
contrary, like maybe he wanted to sleep with her? I wasn't born
yesterday. I know guys talk like that, and she's an attractive
woman. I saw her at the funeral yesterday and, I don't know, there
was something that I picked up on that made me think she had more
than just a sisterly type of interest toward him."

Michaela didn't want to tell him about
the tapes. She wasn't sure she could trust him yet and she thought
she'd let the police see them before she said anything.

He laughed. "Look, Sterling liked
women. He liked a lot of women, but I can guarantee that his
sister-in-law was not one of them."

This line of questioning was getting
her nowhere. Obviously Sterling hadn't found Carolyn too
off-putting, but he hadn't let on to Tommy that he was involved
with her. Or maybe they hadn't gotten together until after the
summer, when Sterling's stipend had been cut in half. "How about
Rebecca Woodson?"

"You read some old papers." Tommy
frowned. "I met her." He shook his head. "Talk about a wild one.
Once she hooked into Sterling, man, she wasn't about to let
go."

"She was not from a well-to-do
family?"

"Not that I was aware of. My impression
was that she'd gotten connected with a group of rich kids out there
and glommed on to the party scene with them. The rumor was she had
some old guy who was keeping her in the cash as long as she was
keeping him happy. He was supposedly married, so he didn't have
much say as to what she did on her own time."

"Did you ever get the name of that
guy?"

"No, why would I? I really didn't care.
She was a party girl, a kind of…you know…how do you say it nicely?
I mean, she put out pretty easily."

"So Sterling wasn't really dating
her?"

He laughed. "Like I said, she put out.
Sterling was a guy. She was hot. Problem was, as soon as they
connected and she found out how loaded his family was, I think she
saw a better deal than having to pay homage to the old guy. You
know, I shouldn't be talking about her like that. It's not cool. If
you read the paper, then you know that the poor girl died, too. She
drowned."

"I heard that. Sterling was there that
night, wasn't he?"

"We both were. It was a crazy party out
at some mansion on the beach. Tons of people."

"What happened?"

"Like I said, it was crazy, you know,
like out of the movies. Rebecca and Sterling…well, everyone was
drinking a lot. I was super buzzed. There were a lot of drugs, too.
I'm not into that, but I had my share of booze. They got into a
fight. He wanted her to back off and leave him alone. It was a
pretty nasty scene. She left the party, and the next thing we know
the police are at Sterling's house the next morning because they
found Rebecca washed up on the beach near the party
house."

"Was it an accident?"

Tommy shrugged. "I think it probably
was. She had a bump on her head, they said. Her body was found
right off the pier. It looked as though she'd leaned against some
old railing, it broke, she fell, hit her head, and rolled into the
water off the embankment, then drowned."

"But the cops thought there might have
been foul play?"

"I know you're trying to clear your
name, but why all the questions about Rebecca and Sterling and what
happened in Santa Barbara? The police finally closed that case,
said that it was an accident."

"But there's still speculation that it
wasn't. And Zach told me that Sterling's family nearly disowned him
after this took place, because the girl's relatives brought a civil
suit against Sterling, and his folks didn't want the media
attention or bad publicity."

"That's true. But still, why are you
asking? I mean, are you going anywhere with this?"

"Honestly, I'm not real sure. But I
have to wonder if maybe someone in Rebecca's family or even
Sterling's own family didn't have something to do with his murder,
and if it doesn't all lead back to the night that she died. Or is
it even possible that the older guy who was paying for her company
might not have sought revenge?"

"Oh. Wow. That's a good point." He
nodded. "Yeah, Rebecca's family went berserk. Like I said, I never
knew who the old man was that she hung out with. I'm sure some of
the kids we partied with might know."

"Do you know anyone that I might be
able to call?"

"Jeez, I don't know. I'd have to check
my book. You know, that was just a party scene. It wasn't like I
was making lifelong friends out there. I might, though. I met a
couple of girls out there and took their numbers. I can call you if
I find them."

"That would be great."

"What about Rebecca's
family?"

"I wouldn't know how to get ahold of
them. I know that she had a brother who came over a few days after
they found Rebecca and tried to beat on Sterling, but he was
arrested. I think his name was Ryan. Not sure. It was an ugly scene
and I went home that afternoon, actually. Once Sterling was cleared
by the police he came back here, and we never talked about
it."

"Excuse me," the woman on the sofa
called out. "I think we want to look at the first ring
again."

"I'll be right there," Tommy said.
"Hey, sorry, I've got to help these guys out. And then Ed wants me
to run some errands."

"No problem."

"Hope I helped."

"You did. Thanks."

Tommy nodded and went back to assist
the customers. As Michaela started to leave the store, her eye
noticed a display of bracelets. She peered in through the glass and
spotted what looked to be an exact replica of the tennis bracelet
she'd found. She needed to ask Camden if anyone had come forward to
claim it. It seemed odd that no one had. She could turn it over to
the police—to Jude. Maybe not her best option, albeit logical, if
she wasn't already in over her head.

She decided to wait around a few more
minutes for Tommy. She wanted to ask him the price of the
bracelet.

A saleswoman approached. "Can I help
you with anything?"

Michaela looked at Tommy. He and the
couple were engrossed in their business. She didn't know how long
he might be. "Yeah, sure, you could help me. That tennis bracelet:
How much is it?"

"This one?"

She nodded and the gal pulled it out.
"Eight grand. Gorgeous, isn't it? I would love to have one of
these."

"It is beautiful." Michaela reached
into her purse and pulled out the bracelet. She'd hadn't gotten a
chance to ask Tommy about it, but maybe the woman could help her.
"I had no idea they cost that much. Can you take a look at this for
me? I'm curious what it's worth."

"Let me take a look," the woman said.
She held it up to the light and then placed it on a black velvet
fold and studied it through a jeweler's loupe. "This is a great
fake. Excellent really."

"What do you mean, fake?"

The woman looked again and nodded.
"Yes. These are high-quality CZs. Cubic zirconium. Really nice,
though. Didn't you know they weren't real?"

"No, I didn't. They look like the ones
there in the case. I found the bracelet, so no, I didn't know. I
placed a classified because I was sure someone would be missing
it."

"I would think that someone would claim
it, though. I know they're not real, but they still aren't cheap.
Like I said, it's a great fake. That's what is so cool about good
CZs. No one would ever know that they're not real, unless you have
a trained eye." The woman handed the bracelet back to
Michaela.

"Mitchell's doesn't carry cubic
zirconium jewelry then?"

The woman smiled. "Are you kidding?
Have you ever met Ed Mitchell? The man is super particular. Only
the best of everything. Best for his store, best food, best
clothes, best cars, best for his family."

The buzzer rang and an older,
elegant-looking woman walked in. "Good luck with that," the
saleswoman said and turned her attention to the new
customer.

"Thanks." Michaela looked back at Tommy
to say good-bye, but he was still busy with the couple.

Thirty-Three

“
I don’t think Rebecca
Woodson’s drowning was an accident," Michaela said. She'd called
Camden to see if they could meet in town for a late lunch. "Have
you found out anything on your end? Did you get ahold of anyone you
know in that Santa Barbara jet-set circle?"

Camden nodded and set her iced tea
down. "I talked with this gal whose family owns a big winery up
there. She knows a lot of the gossip. She told me that the Tabers
are real secretive."

"No kidding. But there must be someone
who knows what they're about."

"She knew a few things. The scoop is
that Charles, Sterling's brother, is a control freak and runs the
entire family. After the dad passed away, Charles took over. They
are filthy rich and everyone knew that Sterling was the black sheep
of the family. Always has been. The thing with Rebecca Woodson was
a big deal there last summer, but the Tabers have paid a lot of
cash to keep things as low-key as they could. This friend of mine
said that the rumor is they even paid off someone in the police
department. When her family filed the civil suit, the Tabers
settled with them out of court. Sterling came back here, and word
was the family didn't want him around ever again, and they stopped
giving him money to live on."

"Ten grand a month, though; he was
still getting that. They didn't cut him out completely," Michaela
said.

"When you're talking about a family
with the kind of status and money the Tabers have, then I can see
where Sterling was coming from, why he might have been
disgruntled."

"This I have to hear."

"Think about it: Here's a guy who has
been spoiled and has a sense of entitlement. Take it away from him,
even if he'd done something to cause it, and he throws a temper
tantrum."

"Imagine that." Michaela clucked her
tongue.

"There's more." Camden rubbed her palms
together briskly.

"You're scaring me. I think you're
enjoying this in some perverse way."

"As if you aren't."

"Trust me, I'm not. It's a necessity.
You like the gossip angle of it."

"Maybe a little…but listen, so there's
been talk that Sterling had been in trouble with the law when he
was a kid. He even spent some time at juvenile hall. His dad
couldn't get him out of that one and his brother wasn't running the
show at the time."

"What did he do?"

"I don't know this for a fact, only
what my friend told me. She said that he was a thief. He stole. He
would hang out at friends' houses and take any money lying around,
that kind of thing. But he got popped supposedly for stealing some
rare emerald off someone's nightstand."

"Seriously? Why would a kid with that
kind of money need to steal?"

"For the same reason any kid does
anything negative: attention. His parents were busy jet-setting,
his brother was the golden boy, and Sterling had to lash out to get
noticed. So he did it by becoming a petty thief…but it wasn't so
petty."

"He was really screwed up. It's a
shame." Michaela shook her head.

"You think he killed Rebecca Woodson?
You know, it's so weird, because I knew him, and I never figured
him for the pathological type."