I noticed a guy in a booth at the corner of the club surrounded by an entourage of babes and hip looking guys in sharp suits. I recognized him. Sandy hair, a two-day old beard and bright blue eyes; Danny Ketchum the actor whose marriage Carol had ruined. He looked like a regular. Interesting. I decided to have a talk with him and walked over. I walked right into a human gorilla in an Armani suit. He was bald with a diamond stud in his right ear.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he said.
“I just wanted to have a little talk with Mr. Ketchum,” I told him.
“He’s not interested in talking to you.” He blocked my way pretty effectively.
“Says who? I didn’t see you ask him.”
“I know him well enough to know who he wants to talk to.”
I took a glance at the women surrounding the actor. “I think I see who he likes to talk to. I’d like a shot at it anyway. Please, step aside.”
He shook his head. “No can do.”
“Sure you can,” I took a step back. I saw the satisfaction on his face. My foot lashed out, impacting his left knee. The joint popped sideways in a way no knee was meant to bend. He fell to the ground clutching his ruined leg to his chest like a little girl hugging a cherished stuffed bunny. His scream was almost drowned out by the music. Almost. I walked around him toward Ketchum.
“Hi,” I said to Ketchum when I stood face to face with him. The two girls who had their arms around him looked surprised. Ketchum looked pissed off.
“Who the fuck are you?” His voice was a little thin for an action star and sounded different than it did in the movies. Maybe he was a better actor than I thought.
“Milano’s the name. I’d just like to ask you a few questions.”
The gorilla struggled to his feet and lumbered over next to me. His face was blanched white, his teeth bared. Got to give him credit. That kind of pain, most people would still be down. “Sorry boss. He caught me by surprise. I’ll take care of him.”
“I was nice to you a minute ago,” I said, a little smile flitting across my lips. “Make a move on me, and you’re going to wake up handcuffed to a hospital bed.”
“All right, all right. Relax. I don’t want to end up in the tabloids with this shit. Ask your questions and fuck off,” Ketchum said.
“Sounds like a plan,” I agreed and took a seat in Ketchum’s booth.
I noticed a bottle of thousand dollar champagne in an ice bucket. It wasn’t just his fame and looks that assured him the company of good-looking women. I detested champagne, so I left it there.
“You’ve got five minutes,” Ketchum said.
“How generous. Okay. I was wondering if you were here Wednesday a week ago.”
“I’m not sure. I go out a lot, you know.” Ketchum sipped the champagne. One of the girls kissed his cheek.
“You might remember that night. A dead body was found in a toilet stall. Of someone you know, in fact. Carol Dickinson.”
He took a long pull of champagne. He inhaled and exhaled slowly. “Ah. The Bitch.”
“What ever happened to not speaking ill of the dead?” I said.
“She’s spoken enough ill about me not to care about that. She was a heartless and cold trash reporter and I’m glad she’s dead. And what business is it of yours anyway?”
“I’m someone who thinks she might have been murdered.”
Ketchum shrugged. “Wouldn’t surprise me. She ruined a lot of lives and careers. There’s a long list of people who would have gladly killed her.”
“Were you one of them?”
The gorilla put a hand on my shoulder. “Hey, watch it!”
I grabbed him by the wrist and twisted. I hurt him enough to make him go down on his one good knee.
“Last warning,” I told him. I let go of his wrist and gave him a little push that made him lose balance and end up on his back.
A bouncer arrived by my side. “I’m going to have to ask you to leave, Sir.”
I was tempted to tell him to fuck off but decided my old buddy Roddy wouldn’t be pleased with me if I kicked the shit out of his personnel. I still wanted a look at those security tapes, so I decided to play nice.
I held up my hands. “I’ll behave. I’m a friend of Roddy’s.”
The bouncer, a tall dude with a goatee and a buzzcut scowled. “Is that so?”
“Honest. Let me just finish my conversation with Mr. Ketchum, please.”
The bouncer looked at Ketchum. “Sir?”
“It’s okay. He still has two minutes.” The girls with Ketchum giggled.
“Fine,” the bouncer said and walked away.
“Thanks,” I told Ketchum.
“Yeah, sure. Listen, I hated that Dickinson bitch but didn’t kill her. That’s not my style. I drag people into court, not to the morgue.”
“Sounds like the civil way. What about that overzealous gorilla you’ve got with you?”
The gorilla grunted.
“Mason does what he’s told. He wouldn’t kill anyone without my say-so.”
“So he would with it?”
“Never asked him. I told you, I take care of my enemies in court.”
“Right,” I said. “Were you here when Carol died?”
“No, I was shooting a commercial. You can check.”
“I’m sure you’re an honest guy. If you think of anything that might help me, please give me a call.” I handed him my card.
He had a look. “Milano Security and Investigations? Maybe I should replace Mason with you?”
“Sorry, I’d be too distracted by your entourage to do a good job.” I winked at one of the babes, an Asian woman with a lot of glitter on her face and a lot of gloss on her lips.
She giggled.
“See you around,” I told Ketchum and left his booth. I could hear Mason call me some pretty bad names behind my back, but that was okay. I wasn’t there to win popularity prizes.
I drank a beer and talked to some other patrons. I got nothing. When the place closed down, I looked up Roddy.
I found him at the door ushering out the last two customers.
“Hey, Noah. I heard you were causing trouble. I hate it when you do that on my watch.”
“No worries. It was nipped in the bud before blood had to be cleaned off the floor.”
Roddy shook his head. “You’re a character, Noah. Still wanna have a look at those security tapes?”
“Yep, I do.”
“Follow me.”
I followed Roddy through a door that was marked private and found my way into his cramped little office. There was a cluttered desk with a laptop on it and two chairs. Other than that, it was pretty bare. I liked my office better. At least I had my Kermit mug and Batman paperweight.
“All the tapes are digital these days. I can access them from my laptop,” Roddy explained.
“High tech. Never figured you for that kind of guy,” I said.
“In the security biz you have to be these days. Just being able to break bones doesn’t cut it anymore. You know that, Noah.”
“Yeah, sure. Half my time I spend behind the computer these days. And not just checking out dirty pictures and playing Angry Birds. With the databases available and computer security leaks these days you have to be computer literate to compete. I outsource less and less of that kind of stuff.”
Roddy pressed some keys on the laptop. “Okay, I found the footage of the night Carol Dickinson died. I can call up videos from several cameras.”
“Show me the video made by the camera closest to the bathroom.”
“Will do.” Some more buttons being pressed and a few mouse clicks.
The camera was positioned close enough to the bathroom door that I could make out pretty well who went inside and who came out. The overall quality of the footage didn’t disappoint either. Not the grainy stuff you often get.
“Thanks, Roddy.”
“Sure. Are you going to sit here watching the entire footage of that evening?”
&nbs
p; I shrugged. “If you can get me some coffee…”
Roddy sighed. “I need to close up some time. Maybe I should just burn you a copy so you can have a look at your office.”
“Don’t you enjoy my company?”
Roddy groaned.
“All right, all right. Burning a copy of it on DVD sounds like a great plan, buddy. I appreciate it.”
FIVE
The next morning, I watched the footage on the laptop at my office. I was having some coffee and donuts for breakfast. The stereo was playing Journey. I was in a classic rock mood that morning.
I was professional enough not to freeze the frame every time a good looking girl walked into view. I was becoming more mature every day.
After an hour, I saw Carol walk into view. She was alone. I paused the video and pressed play again only this time in slow motion. I wanted to see the look on her face, her body language. It might give me a hint whether she was aware of danger or looked worried. She walked in a brisk manner, no eyes for her surroundings. More than anything, she looked annoyed when she went out of sight and into the bathroom.
Ten minutes later I spotted a familiar figure walk into view. I used to love her husband’s music. Her name was Lia Brand and at one time had been married to Andy Brand. Andy had been fronting a glamrock band called Firebrand until an overdose of heroin took his life. That seemed to be a disturbing coincidence. I paused the video and Googled Andy’s name together with Carol’s. I found out something interesting.
Carol had written a few stories in which she accused Lia of supplying heroin to Andy while he’d been in rehab a few years back. His career was going to hell until his manager finally had enough with the rockers big ticket no-shows and being too high to perform. He’d forced Andy into rehab. Fresh out of rehab, Andy had recorded a new album and started dating Lia Kaminski who was playing bass in an all-female punkrock band still struggling to get a record deal. He helped her out a bit and soon they were married and living together. Lia was known to drink too much and use coke and heroin. It was only a matter of time before Andy had fallen off the wagon. Carol had accused Lia of taking him down to hell with her and had written that if she really loved him, she should have kept the drugs away from him. She also accused Lia of being a heartless gold-digger and that she had married Andy only to kick start her career. Lia had taken offense of Carol’s reporting and tried to sue. The first amendment won, with truth being the perfect defense.
In other words, Lia had a major hard-on for Carol. Her appearing at the same club as Carol and heading for the little girl’s room minutes after her coupled with the heroin connection made her a major suspect. Foul play was looking more likely all the time.
I watched the rest of the footage. I watched Lia leave the bathroom about fifteen minutes later. Four women left before her. Two just a few minutes after. Lia seemed to be in a hurry. It took half an hour before one of Roddy’s men walked into view accompanied by an attractive redhead. She’d probably discovered Carol’s body. That was when the whole circus started and more bouncers walked in together with Roddy. A cop appeared just ten minutes later, fifteen minutes before the paramedics. I stopped the video and leaned back in my chair.
I polished off the last of my donuts and thought about what to do next. I figured it might be a good idea to talk to Lia. I was also interested in the ladies that visited the bathroom before and after her. Too bad I had no idea who they were or how to find them. Maybe Roddy could help me out. I decided to give him a call.
“Noah? Up so early?” He sounded sleepy and annoyed.
“It’s ten o’clock, Roddy. You sound like you’re still in bed.”
“With all these nights working late I need my beauty sleep.”
“If they’re for the benefit of your beauty, please go to sleep again right after my phone call.”
“If you need anything, you’d better watch your jokes. You’re not exactly buttering me up.”
“I know you hate a kiss-ass, Roddy. I just need a little bit of help.”
“Yeah? Related to the DVD I guess?”
“Yep. There’s some people on that tape I would like to talk to. If I print their pictures, could you give them my card the next time they visit the club. Tell them there’s a cash reward involved.”
“That might get them interested. I don’t know about me asking them, though. It’s no problem for me, but the boss might not like it.”
“Since when did you start caring about what your boss thinks?”
“Ah, shit… You’re right. Sure, I’ll help you out. Bring me over the picture and I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks, man. I appreciate it. What you lack in looks you make up for with your kind heart.”
“Fuck you, Noah.” The phone went dead. In this business you need good people skills.
Then I called Minnie to bring her up-to-date.
“Thanks, Noah. Sounds like you might be on to something,” she said.
“Yeah, I might.
SIX
I tried to set up a meeting with Lia but was unable to get her phone number. I tried to get it through her manager, but he wasn’t too forthcoming. He promised me he would ask Lia to call me. Fat chance she would, even if he really gave her my number.
That’s why I decided to set up a meeting with the first police officer that had been on the scene according to Minnie’s files. We met up at taco stand in North Hollywood. He agreed to talk to me as long as I was buying.
His name was Henry Brigstocke and he looked like this was his first year on the force. With his red hair and freckles he reminded me of Jimmy Olsen, Superman’s pal. He was eating a quesadilla, I’d chosen a taco plate. He was drinking Coke, I enjoyed a frost-covered Corona, not being a cop on duty. That was one of the great things about being self-employed, I could have beer with my lunch. Or, hell…even my breakfast.
“Thanks for agreeing to talk to me,” I said after a bite of taco.
He shrugged. “I have to eat lunch anyway, right? Free lunch can’t be a bad idea.”
“Can’t argue with that. So, I was hoping you could give me a few details about the body found on the john at Peaches.”
“You told me on the phone you’re not a reporter. So why are you interested?”
I shoved my card towards him on the table. “I’m a security specialist. I’m doing this as a favor to a friend who is convinced Carol Dickinson’s death was not accidental or a suicide.”
Brigstocke almost spat out his Coke. “You think she was murdered?”
“The longer I work this case, the more likely that seems.”
“If you want to kill someone, it sounds easier to just shoot them.”
“That’s right. But that’ll get the cops on your tail. Making it look like another Hollywood OD will get the case shelved pretty much overnight.”
“I guess. So, what exactly do you want to know?”
“Tell me how you found the victim, under what circumstances.”
“Well, she was leaning against the toilet tank. Her legs spread, like she’d just fallen asleep against it. The needle was still in her arm, her hand still holding it.”
“Left arm, right hand?”
He thought about that while he munched his food. “Not sure. Think so. Isn’t that in the report?”
“I’m just trying to bring you back to the crime scene in your mind.”
“Oh, okay. As I said I’m not sure. I think left arm.”
“Right. She was fully clothed?”
“Yeah. Black dress. Looked expensive. High heels. Earrings.”
“Her hair look okay?”
“Okay? What do you mean?”
“Was it messed up or perfectly coiffed?”
He sighed. “Phew… Let me think. I think it was a little messed up. Yeah, yeah it was.”
“Make-up?”
“Yeah, lots.”
“You’d think that with an expensive dress, lots of make-up and high heels, she’d make sure her hair looked perfect, wouldn’t y
ou?” Another clue.
“Huh? I guess, yeah.”
“Did you see any bruises on her?”
He shook his head. “No.”
I knew there were no bruises on her from the report, but I wanted to be sure about the accuracy of Brigstocke’s memory.
“Who else was on the scene?”
“I don’t know. Some other guests. Women, you know. They were a bit… distressed. It’s not every day there’s a dead body on the can in your favorite club, right? Not even in Hollywood. The head security guy was there, I believe his name was Rodney or Roddy or something. One of his men had opened the door after some women reported she thought something was wrong in there. Turned out the stall door wasn’t even latched. That’s when the body was found.”
“If you were shooting up heroin, wouldn’t you lock the door?” I asked. Sounded like another clue to me. I was getting better at this stuff every day.
“Not sure. Never shot up heroin.”
“Seriously.”
“Guess I would lock it, yeah. Shit… That is a little odd.”
“Do you remember the lady that tipped off security?”
“A redhead. Not sure about the name. Wasn’t it in the report?”
I shook my head.
“Maybe she just didn’t want to get involved. People can be like that. In fact, I think she wasn’t around anymore when the paramedics showed up.”
I decided I definitely wanted to talk to the redhead. “Too bad.”
“That’s about all I can tell you, I guess. I probably wasn’t much help.”
“No worries. Lunch is still on me. You think of anything that might be of interest to me, call that number.” I tapped the business card on the table with my index finger.
“Sure,” he said.
SEVEN
After Brigstocke left, I drove over to Roddy’s place and dropped off a burrito to get on his good side. After he inspected the gift and approved of my selection, I handed him the printouts I made of the guests I was interested in. I pointed out to him I was especially interested in the redhead.
“Her I know. Gina Walters. Hey, I think she was the one that asked our security guys to have a look at the ladies’ room.”
The Death Business (A Noah Milano Novella) Page 2
