The Mercedes Coffin (22 page)

Oliver said, “Money, the kids, sex, the in-laws, lack of attention, too much attention, not talking, talking too much, working too hard, not working hard enough, being a stick in the mud, being a good-time Charlie, being too risky, being too conservative, being too cultured, being a bore, being stuck-up, being white trash.” He threw up his hands and gave him a pained smile. “My ex had an infinite list of topics to argue about.”

THE SUIT WAS CLEARLY
expensive. So were the shoes, the bag, and the jewelry. But the apparel just didn’t sit right on the woman. The shoulders were too big, the purse was small, the skirt was too long, and the heels were too high. Now the jewelry…

The jewelry was nice.

She seemed lost. Marge wondered how she had gotten past the squad room secretary. She stood up from her desk and walked over. “Can I help you?”

“Help would be nice.” Marge noticed that the woman’s eyes had gone cold. “Originally, I came to see Captain Strapp.”

“He’s over on the other side of the building. I’ll call his secretary and find out if he’s in, if you want.”

“Don’t bother,” the woman said. “He isn’t. I’m not pleased.” She reached in her clutch, pulled out a note, and gave it to Marge along with a hard stare. “I was told that this man was in charge?”

Marge read the note and glanced in the direction of Decker’s office. “Uh, have a seat and I’ll check to see if Lieutenant Decker’s in.”

“You’re staring at an open door so it’s obvious that he’s in.” She snapped her clutch shut. “It’s good to know that someone is running the department. Apparently, your captain has an absentee problem.”

Marge said, “Whom am I speaking to?”

“Genoa Greeves.”

The name meant nothing to Marge. “If you’d just sit tight, Ms. Greeves, I’ll go check if the lieutenant’s in. Often his door is open, but he’s somewhere else.”

“Thank you.” Genoa busied herself in the contents of her purse.

Decker was in. Marge said, “There’s some weirdo named Genoa Greeves asking to speak with you.”

“Genoa Greeves?” Decker stood up and put on his suit jacket. “Where is she?”

“In the squad room.” Marge was taken aback. “Should that name register something?”

“She’s the billionaire who reopened the Little case.”

“Well, that explains the ’tude.”

“Strapp will want part of this. You want to call him for me?”

“He’s not in.”

Decker made a face. “Not good. Find out where he is and get his ass over here ASAP. Otherwise, he’s going be pi-issed.” He spotted his target and walked over with an extended hand. She graced it with a two-fingered dead-fish shake. “I’m Lieutenant Decker, Ms. Greeves. I’m the one who’s doing most of the work with the Little case. Let’s talk in my office.”

Genoa followed him. As Decker closed the door, she said, “Not much of an office. I hope that doesn’t reflect your competence level.”

Decker smiled as he pulled out a chair for her. “This is about as big as they make them around here. And I’m sure you didn’t travel all this way just to talk architecture. What can I do for you?”

“Where’s your captain?”

“I’m sure he’ll be here momentarily. If you want to talk about progress on the case, you’re better off talking to me.”

“He shunted the case to you?”

“Captain Strapp is running the precinct. He did you a supreme favor by assigning the case to me. I’ve worked hundreds of homicides, and I’m much more familiar with handling cold cases.”

“Are you good?”

“I’m terrific.”

“When I googled you, it said you were a sergeant.”

“I got promoted. That shows you how good I am.”

“Do you have any suspects?”

“We call them people of interest. A few.”

“And how far away are you from solving the murder?”

Decker regarded her. Expensive clothes, but they didn’t sit properly. Her face was made up, but she was clearly not used to using cosmetics. Her hair was shoulder length and recently styled. It was her dark brown eyes that said it all. Cold, calculating, piercing. “I’m hoping weeks or months. It could be years.”

“Or it could be never.”

“Absolutely.”

“Would offering individual bonuses for those who solve the murder increase the incentive to work harder?”

Decker thought a moment before he spoke. “Downtown L.A. is filled with cold cases. People just like Ben Little… shot down, killed, no one ever apprehended for the murder, no one brought to justice. There are thousands of grieving families that have no idea about the last minutes of their loved ones, no idea if the monster who killed their wives, their daughters, their husbands and sons is still out murdering others. If we had a lot more people, we could do more with those cases. But we don’t have the manpower, so ninety-nine percent of the cold cases remain cold. That’s just the way it works.”

Genoa was annoyed. “I’m not here for a sob story, Lieutenant. Only results.”

“And I’m not giving you a sob story, so please just hear me out. Normally, a cold case wouldn’t be assigned to an active lieutenant running a detectives division. But for Dr. Little, I got word to do it personally because you’ve promised a large sum of money.”

“If the case is solved.”

“Exactly. If the case is solved.” Decker paused. “Believe me, we can use money. I can use money. And you can promise me more money if you want. And if I solve it, I’ll take the money. I like money. But I swear to God, Ms. Greeves, I can’t work any harder than I’m working on it already. And frankly, I don’t need any kind of incentive. The solve is my incentive. I don’t like unfinished business.”

Genoa stared at him with steely eyes. “You’re blowing me off.”

“I’m telling you the truth.”

“I bet you were a real bully when you were a kid.”

“And I bet you don’t know a thing about me, although you probably figured out that I played high school football because of my size. Would you like me to bring you up to date on the case? Maybe if I tell you a couple of things, you can even start remembering Ben Little and your past and help me out.”

The woman held his stare, but then finally blinked. “All right.” She made herself comfortable in the chair. “What do you have?”

“Would you like some water or coffee before I start? It may take a while. I’m sure you’ll have questions.”

“Water would be nice. Normally, I carry around a backpack with all my staples.” She smoothed her skirt. “Normally I dress in jeans and a T-shirt. I don’t know why, but I felt impelled to dress up for this occasion.”

“Not for LAPD’s sake, I hope.” He gave her a genuine smile. “It’s been a long time since you’ve been back in Southern Cal.”

“I hate it here. It’s only bad memories.” She regarded him neutrally. “You seem pretty sharp. I suppose I shouldn’t be antagonizing you.”

“I’ve had a lot worse. Honestly, I’m a pretty nice guy.” He presented her with a plate of Rina’s cookies. “Want one? Freshly baked by my wife.”

“Your wife is the milk and cookies type?”

Decker laughed. “If only life were that simple. Help yourself. I’ll get your water.” When he had returned, she was on her second cookie. By the time Decker was just about done with his recitation, Strapp made his entrance. The captain appeared cool and collected, but Decker knew the man well enough to see the nervousness. Strapp held out his hand. “I’m sorry I missed you, Ms. Greeves. Next time, if you’ll tell me when you’re coming, I’ll be sure to be here.”

“That’s precisely why I didn’t tell you,” Genoa answered. “I wanted to see what’s going on before you had a chance to prepare for me. Your lieutenant here was just bringing me up to date. He’s working hard but as of yet, it hasn’t produced much. Maybe you could get him more help in locating Rudy Banks.”

“I’ll look into it,” Strapp said.

But his eyes were blanks. The captain only had a vague notion as to what was going on with the case. He had no idea who Rudy Banks was or how he fit into the picture.

Decker said, “I was just explaining to Ms. Greeves that since we found blood in Mr. Banks’s apartment, Hollywood had become interested in his disappearance.”

“Because the place is in their division and because of the Ekerling case,” Strapp ad-libbed.

“Exactly,” Decker said. “I’ve contacted Ekerling’s girlfriend. She had Primo’s old toothbrush. We’re in the process of extracting the DNA. But even if we find something, the case will probably go to Rip Garrett and Tito Diaz. They’re the primaries on Ekerling.”

Strapp nodded.

Genoa said, “And what about the thugs behind bars for the Ekerling case?”

Decker said, “They claim they’re innocent of everything except the car theft.”

“And what do you think?” Genoa asked.

“Honestly, I haven’t decided yet. I’m looking into them, but I have to do it discreetly. Ekerling is not my official case.”

“That’s ridiculous. You people should be working together, not worried about territorial claims.”

“It is ridiculous, but the structure was in place long before I arrived,” Decker said. “We do what we can.”

Genoa rolled her eyes. “Would it help if I promised Hollywood some financial incentive if they cooperate with you?”

Decker smiled. “As well intentioned as that might seem, Ms. Greeves, it might build a little resentment. Would you mind if I tried it my way a little longer?”

Genoa shrugged. “Suit yourself.” She stood up and faced Strapp. “I’ll check back in a few weeks. I offered your division more money for a quicker solution, but your lieutenant claims to be working as hard as he can.”

Strapp’s eyes twitched. “I’m sure that’s true.”

“Also, I’ve had a chance to look at your computer system. It’s a dinosaur.”

“We get castoffs,” Decker said.

“I’d like to redo your entire computer system. It would be good publicity for me, and it might even help you solve cases better.”

“I’m sure it would,” Decker said. “Any help you could give us would be terrific.”

“Really appreciated,” Strapp answered.

Genoa took out her sunglasses and put them on. “Your lieutenant seems to be a man of principle, Captain Strapp. In my dealings, that’s very rare. The last man of principle I knew was Dr. Little. Look what happened to him.”

STRAPP SCRATCHED HIS
head. “Whatever you did to calm her down, could you work your magic on the upstairs brass? They’re riding my ass something fierce.”

“Tell them that you got on her good side,” Decker said. “And to underscore the point, you can point to the promise of a new computer system.”

“They’re not going to like the favoritism. You know how the politicos work.”

“She makes an offer, we can’t turn it down. It would hurt her feelings, and she might rescind her whole reward thing.”

A hint of a smile. “Yeah, tough shit for them. Who the hell is Rudy Banks?” After Decker brought him up to date, Strapp said, “You need a couple of extra guys to hunt him down, I can do that.”

“First, let me see if I can get a bead on Banks before you start allocating men.”

“Keep me posted.” Strapp waited a beat. “You handled Greeves well, Pete. If I need to interface with her in the future, I’ll want you around.” As the captain left, he almost collided with Marge and Oliver as they were walking into Decker’s office. He looked them over. Oliver was in a blue suit and Marge wore dark slacks and a sweater. Appropriate, clean, functional… Strapp approved, although Oliver was always too much the dandy for his taste.

“Sir,” Oliver said.

“Hello, Detective.” A nod to Marge. “Sergeant.”

They waited a few moments until Strapp had left the squad room. Then Marge said to Decker. “How’d it go with Genoa? Good, bad, neutral?”

“Good.” Decker smiled. “She’s going to redo our computers.”

Oliver was impressed. “How’d you arrange that?”

“She offered.” He pointed to some chairs. “What’s up?” After Marge and Oliver recapped last night’s conversations with Jared Little and Delia Defoe, he said, “What’s the next step?”

Oliver said, “I got off the phone with Nick Little about ten minutes ago. He reacted almost identically to his brother. Yes, there had been occasional arguments between Mom and Dad, but what couple didn’t argue? Unlike Jared, he was vague about the contents of their disagreements. It was clear that although he doesn’t have much of a relationship with his mother, he’s not about to implicate her in anything bad.”

“Ben was in charge of her trust money,” Marge explained. “That has to build resentment.”

“Enough to murder?” Decker asked her.

“I don’t know. Her mom said that she always wanted to marry money. Not only didn’t she marry money, but the money she was promised wound up being controlled by her husband.”

“If she did a murder for hire, the money had to come from somewhere,” Decker said. “You say the bank accounts are clean.”

“She blazed through her insurance policy,” Oliver said. “We all think she gambled most of it away, but maybe some of it went to pay off debts for a job well done.”

Decker said, “I still don’t see what she had to gain by bumping him off. If she wanted money, she was better off keeping Ben alive. It was clear that her parents weren’t going to give her control over her money. With her husband holding the purse strings, she had more of a chance of getting something out of the deal.”

No one spoke.

Decker said, “Until we have more information about Melinda’s personal spending habits at the time of the murder, let’s not push too hard. Go over her finances again and get a clearer picture of where her insurance money went.”

Oliver said, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Marge said, “What about Phil Shriner, Scott?”

Decker said, “I thought he told you that he didn’t know her until after the murder.”

“That’s what
he
said,” Marge told him. “Neither one of us saw him as entirely truthful.”

Oliver said. “I still think they were boffing.”

Marge shook her head. “That’s the one thing I
don’t
see. Melinda is just too… I don’t know. He’s so old for her.”

“If you’re desperate for money, Marge, your taste goes out the window.” She conceded the point. “I’ll try to set up an appointment with Shriner some time this week.” He turned to Marge. “How busy are you?”