Blakely quickly continued on, her words rushing together in her haste to explain. "See, Cait is helping me to get in shape for a show I'm booked on next month. Bachelor Bikini Island. Have you heard of it?"
I shook my head. "What's Bachelor Bikini Island?"
"Dating show. All the girls are competing for one guy's attention, and whoever doesn't get lei'd each week goes home."
I blinked at her, hoping I'd heard her wrong. Dana's face registered the same look of shock.
"You know, with flower leis," Blakely explained. "It's filmed on Oahu."
Oh. That kind of lei.
"Anyway, the whole time we're in these tiny bikinis, so I'm having to train hardcore. I practically live at the gym these days. I don't want to be the first girl to not get lei'd, you know? I haven't done any shows in, like, months. I really need the exposure."
No pun intended.
Only, Blakely looked anything but joking as her eyes went from Dana to me, almost as if gauging our acceptance of her story.
Three women in exercise gear came into the room and started stretching for their upcoming class. Caitlyn fished a set of car keys out of her gym bag. "There's a beginning Zumba class next if you ladies are interested. Sorry, I have to be somewhere."
They were quick to hurry out the door, almost as if they were afraid we might follow them.
We left the building and walked back to my minivan.
"Beginning Zumba? Please," Dana said. "Do I look like I should be in beginning Zumba?"
I laughed. "I'm sure she was talking to me." I squinted against the afternoon sunshine. "So what do we think of wives #3 and #4?"
"I think it's weird they're such good friends, especially when one slept with the other one's husband. So good that they would spend 'all day' together," Dana quoted.
"You caught that, too, huh?" I said as we got into the car. "Blakely did seem kind of nervous. But what would her motive be for killing Dog?"
"Maybe some sort of mutual ex-wife revenge?" Dana offered.
I nodded. "Caitlyn did seem bitter. I mean, not that I blame her."
"You know, we're not far from the studio," Dana pointed out. "Even if they really were training at the gym yesterday, they could have easily popped over to the studio, slipped into the backstage area at the show, substituted Dog's drink for another with the poison, and then slipped back to the gym again to set up their alibi. Caitlyn obviously knew he was hooked on the Invigorate drinks."
"It's possible." As I drove out of the parking lot, I cranked up the AC. "But if any of his wives had a good motive for murder, I'd say it's the one who put in the most time and didn't get a divorce settlement."
"Right. John's mom, Laura." She turned to me. "You didn't see her at the taping with John, did you?"
"No, but it's possible she was there." I glanced over to see that Dana had pulled out her phone. "What are you doing?"
She shot me a devilish look I knew all too well. "Looking up Laura Delmoore's address."
CHAPTER EIGHT
With a quick online search, we found an address for Laura Delmoore in North Hollywood, and about half an hour later I pulled up in front of a one-story, beige, ranch style house with an attached two-car garage. The size and style were the same as the rest of the houses in the suburban neighborhood, and while I'd seen worse parts of North Hollywood, I'd also seen better. The home across the street had a white van parked on what had once been its lawn. Muted heavy metal music came from the house next door, a large pirate flag in the window serving in place of curtains. At the end of the block sat a KFC, sending the aroma of fried chicken wafting down the street. Laura's yard was a small square of lawn flanked by rose bushes and a row of annuals that had been planted along the front. The house itself looked clean and tidy, if on the older side.
But it was a far cry from Dog's Brentwood mansion.
We walked up the concrete slabs creating a pathway to the front door and rang the bell. A few moments later the sound of a lock being unbolted came from the other side, and the door opened a crack. A slim woman in her early fifties peered out at us.
"May I help you?" Her tone was friendly enough.
"Are you Laura Delmoore?"
She hesitated before answering me. "Yes. What's this about?"
I extended my hand. "Hi, I'm Maddie Springer, and this is my friend Dana. I was with my stepfather, Fernando, at the game show taping yesterday with Doggy Z. We just wanted to come by to offer our condolences on your loss," I said, going with the angle Dana and I had agreed on during the car ride over.
Her hazel eyes looked me over without comment, but she opened the door farther. Laura was pretty in a delicate manner, with dark hair and an olive complexion that was just starting to wrinkle and sag in places. She was dressed simply in jeans and a Dodgers jersey.
"Thank you," she said quietly. "It's been quite a shock. You knew Dog well?"
"My stepfather knew him," I said, stretching the truth a little. "Fernando was so upset to hear of his passing." At least that part was true if, again, stretching.
"Uh, please, come in," she said, stepping back to allow us entry. "My son and his fiancée are here as well."
Dana and I stepped into the foyer then followed Laura the few paces to a small living room off the entry. The cream colored walls held several collages of photographs, mostly depicting pictures of John at various stages in his life. An 8 by 10 photo in the center showed John on his graduation day, in traditional cap and gown, his mother's arm around him.
John and the woman we'd seen him with at the Jeopardy! taping were seated next to each other on a chocolate brown sofa. The television in front of them was tuned to a baseball playoff game, but neither of them appeared to be paying much attention. John rose politely when we came into the room.
"This is my son John and his fiancée Chloe," Laura said, the pride imminent in her voice as she made the introductions. "This is Maddie Springer. Her stepfather was a contestant on Jeopardy! yesterday before your father—" She didn't finish the sentence, putting a hand to her mouth as if to hold back a sob.
"It's nice to meet you." John's dark, penetrating eyes stared curiously at me as he shook my hand and then Dana's. Up close I could see he had more of a resemblance to his father than I'd originally noted. His features were the same as his father's, if softened by youth, though his dark hair was more like his mother's.
"Hello," Chloe said quietly but made no attempt to rise from her seat. She was attractive, with porcelain-like skin and straight hair the color of honey. Her large cornflower eyes were red and looked puffy from crying.
"We're very sorry for your loss," Dana said to the pair.
John nodded solemnly. Chloe's eyes looked like they were filling with tears again. While few people we'd encountered so far seemed broken up about Dog's death, it was clear this family was grieving.
"Please sit down." Laura gestured to two matching armchairs across from the sofa, where she settled herself next to John. "You said your father knew Dog?"
I nodded, feeling just the teensiest bit bad about lying to them. "I'm sure he would have come to offer his condolences himself, but he was just too upset."
"Fernando is the hairdresser, right? How thoughtful of him." Laura folded her hands primly in her lap.
"I didn't see you at the taping," John noted, his eyes still holding a note of suspicion in them.
"We were in the audience," Dana said quickly. "We didn't want to make Fernando nervous by hanging around backstage."
"I remember seeing you there," Chloe piped up. "You were with that red-haired woman who kept shouting, right?"
I cringed. Mrs. Rosenblatt did stand out in a crowd. "A family friend," I mumbled.
"We did go backstage after the show wrapped, but I believe you and your father were already gone by then," Dana added.
"Yes. He wasn't feeling well," John said, a frown falling over his features.
I bit my lip, hesitant to tell him that was because someone had poisoned him. "Have
the police been by to talk to you?" I asked in what I hoped was a casual, conversational tone.
John eyed me curiously. "Yes, but they honestly didn't tell us much."
"Dog left the taping with the two of you, right?" Dana asked.
Chloe nodded. "We drove him home. But he seemed fine when we dropped him off." She blinked back tears. "I mean, a little out of it, but we figured he'd just been smoking a little. You know, for the nerves before the game show." The tears leaked over her eyelids, spilling down her cheeks.
John took her hand in his, the frown still etched on his stoic features.
I noticed Laura had been largely silent during the exchange, her eyes filled with a faraway look like she was detached from the whole thing.
"Had you seen your ex-husband recently?" I asked her softly.
She focused on me with difficulty. "Yes. We were very close." She must have seen my surprise, as she continued. "We were married for almost twenty years."
"And you share a child," Dana added.
"We shared much more than that," Laura said. "A history, first love. We made each other who we are today. He was my best friend."
"I hope you don't mind me saying, you seem a lot more friendly than most divorced couples," I told her.
She shrugged. "We enjoyed each other's company. He was a good man."
John scoffed, quickly turning it into a cough.
"You disagree?" Dana asked him.
"Let's just say I don't share my mother's romanticized view of the man," he answered.
Laura turned a sharp eye on her son but said nothing.
"What was your view of Dog, then?" I asked John.
The frown returned to his features. "Well, for starters, have you seen where he lives?" He glanced around the room we were currently in, as if to illustrate the differences I'd noticed when we'd walked up.
"John," Laura chided softly.
"What? He gets to live like a king while he can't even spare a dime for his best friend?" John sneered.
Chloe looked distinctly uncomfortable, and I had a feeling this was not a new argument we were witnessing.
Laura picked up a coffee cup from the table. "It was never about the money between us, John, and you know that." She turned to us. "I never asked Dog for a penny when we split. I know he would have given it to me if I had. But by the time we split, his career wasn't as hot as it once had been. He was struggling a bit, and I didn't want to be a burden. I've done just fine on my own."
"Your home is lovely," Dana said, giving her a smile.
John crossed his arms over his chest, sulking. Then again, if my father had been going through a string of new wives while my mother was in NoHo smelling eleven herbs and spices all day, I might have a little resentment too.
I glanced at Laura, who was sipping silently from her coffee mug. While Dog's career might have been fizzling when he and Laura split, thanks to the cooking show, it was as hot as ever again now. I wondered if Laura might have been rethinking her decision to forgo alimony in light of how much Dog's subsequent wives were raking in with their real nice settlements.
"You recently graduated?" I asked John, pointing to the photo on the wall.
"Yes. UCLA business school."
Which I already knew from googling him, but that just seemed creepy and stalkerish, so I nodded like it was news to me.
"Thanks to Dog," Laura added. "He paid for John's entire education."
"Under duress," John added.
The bitterness in his tone was apparent. Laura returned his stare with the same look that I gave my children whenever Max had hidden my phone or Livvie got into my makeup. It was the "behave yourself" look that knew no age limit.
"It was the only term of our divorce," Laura said, "that Dog pay for John's education. Which he did, in full and on time."
"Despite the fact that I wasn't following in Daddy's footsteps," John mumbled under his breath.
"Were you studying to be in the music business too?" Dana asked.
"No," he said emphatically. "Dog wanted me to. I was supposed to be some sort of ego-driven extension of him."
"John," Laura admonished again, "he was your father."
"When it was convenient."
I shifted in my seat, feeling about as uncomfortable as Chloe looked. "It's always hard growing up with celebrity parents," I said, trying to diffuse the tension.
Laura turned a tight smile my way. "Yes. Well, Dog did the best he could. But his art was very demanding."
"Art?" John stood. "You've got to be kidding me. His music was degrading to women and insulting to the entire Scottish culture."
"Sweetheart," Chloe said with a sniff, "you're just upset. You know his music was pioneering."
John's mouth formed a thin, hard line. But clearly outnumbered, he sat back down on the sofa beside her and said nothing.
"You were a fan?" Dana asked Chloe.
She nodded, her pink lips parted into a wide smile. "Doggy Z was a music icon. And I'm not just saying that because he's John's father," she added quickly. "I've been a fan of his bagpipe rap since I was a teenager, way before the two of us even met."
Laura smiled at the girl. "He struck a chord with so many young people."
John continued to glare, and I thought I even detected an eye roll.
"It's hard to believe he's really gone," Chloe said, blinking back tears again.
Laura's smile faded, sorrow replacing it. "I wish I'd been able to say goodbye," she said softly. She turned to me. "I was supposed to be there, you know. At the Jeopardy! show taping."
"Oh?" I asked.
She nodded. "Dog got me a ticket to be in the audience with John and Chloe. But at the last minute, I-I wasn't feeling well. Migraine. Came on out of nowhere." She sent me a watery smile. "I stayed home."
Dana reached out and put a hand over one of Laura's.
The room fell silent again until I cleared my throat. "I hope this isn't too personal of a question, Laura, but it seems like you still had a lot of affection for Dog. Is there a reason you two divorced?"
She smiled through her tears. "Dog was a wonderful man, but a hard one to be married to. After so many years of his wandering eye…well, I think we were better as friends."
"Wandering eye?" John piped up again. He shook his head. "He cheated on her."
For the first time, Laura had no defense for Dog, her eyes going to her hands.
"Caught him with a dancer from one of his music videos," he went on. "In my mother's own bed."
"I'm sorry," Dana said.
Laura waved a hand in dismissal. "Don't be. It was a long time ago." For the first time since we'd come to her door, I detected the slightest note of resentment in Laura's voice where Dog was concerned. I suddenly wondered if she'd really been as good friends with the man who cheated on her and left her without a penny as she was portraying.
"Seven years ago is not a long time," John said. He turned to Dana and me. "And if you read the tabloids, I'm sure you know how many wives my father has been through since then."
We did. We'd even met a couple of them.
"Relationships were hard to maintain in his line of work," Laura said quietly. "Besides, I don't blame him. Women threw themselves at Dog."
Again I noticed Chloe had gone conspicuously silent, looking small and meek caught between mother and son arguing.
"Oh sure," John countered sarcastically. "Angela just happened to throw herself right underneath him in your bed."
"Angela?" I asked, jumping on the name.
John nodded. "Angela Gold."
I blinked at him. "Wait—the Angela Gold? As in the soap actress? The one on Jeopardy! with him?"
"Yes," Laura said softly. "Why?"
"That's quite a coincidence." I glanced to Dana, the look in her eyes saying that her mental hamster was suddenly spinning his wheel as fast as mine was. Angela had suggested that she hadn't known Dog at all before their Jeopardy! appearance together. But if what John was saying was true, that hadn
't been the case.
Angela Gold had known Dog very well.
* * *
"Unbelievable," Dana muttered when we left the house five minutes later. "Is there anyone Dog didn't sleep with?"
I beeped my car unlocked, and we both got inside. "Angela made it seem as if she'd never even met Dog prior to the taping."
"Did she say that?" Dana asked, cranking on the AC. "That she didn't know him?"
I thought back to the conversation we'd had with her earlier that day. "I guess not. But she certainly didn't mention knowing him as well as she clearly did."
"Well, she had plenty of opportunity to spike his drink," Dana pointed out. "I mean, the other contestants all had access to Dog's drink backstage, right?"
I nodded, silently thinking that was another point for Tina's theory against Fernando as well. But I shoved that aside. "Angela did seem like she wasn't a fan of Dog's when we talked to her. At the time I thought it was just a turn-off to his music, but maybe it was personal?"
"Personal enough to want him dead?" Dana offered.
"I guess that all depends on how things ended between them."
"Well, I can take a guess at that," Dana said, flipping the visor down to swipe at some errant mascara. "Dog seemed to have an issue keeping his bone in his own yard, if you know what I mean."
I grinned. "Well put. But yeah, he seems like a serial cheater."
"Maybe she decided to enact some revenge at the Jeopardy! taping," Dana offered. "Or maybe she was worried about some sordid detail of their past relationship coming out. Oh, maybe he knew something about her from their past relationship and he was blackmailing her over it!"
"That is, if he and Angela even really had a relationship. I mean, for all we know, it was a one-time thing seven years ago."
"So let's go ask her," Dana said, channeling her inner Charlotte's Angel again. "We'll shake her down for the truth this time! A real interrogation until we get real answers."
"Slow down there, PI Benson," I teased. "Maybe we should leave the real interrogating to the real police."
Dana shot me a look. "You think Tina's leaving this to the police?"
Jeopardy in High Heels (High Heels Mysteries Book 12) Page 8
