The house was a one-story redwood and glass box set in a low spot along the leafy road, well back from the street. The wealth of vegetation made it hard to make out where the property began and ended.
High-end box, with polished-copper trim and a porch supported by carved beams. Carefully placed spots illuminated flower beds and luxuriant ferns. The wooden address plate imbedded in the fieldstone gatepost was hand-painted. A gray or beige Porsche sat in the front of the gravel driveway. Hanging succulents graced the porch, which was set up with Adirondack chairs.
Brad Dowd stood near one of the chairs, one leg bent so that his shoulders sloped to the right. He wore a T-shirt and cutoffs, held a long-necked bottle in one hand.
“Park right behind me, Detective.”
When we got to the porch, he hoisted the bottle. Corona. The T-shirt said Hobie-Cat. His feet were bare. Muscular legs, knobby, misshapen knees. “Join me?”
“No, thanks.”
Dowd sat, gave another wave. We repositioned two chairs and faced him.
“Any problem finding me?”
“None,” said Milo. “Thanks for calling.”
Dowd nodded and drank. Crickets chirped. A hint of gardenia blew by and dissipated.
“Pretty out here, sir.”
“Love it,” said Brad. “Nothing like peace and quiet after a day dealing with leaks, short circuits, and various other minor disasters.”
“Trials and tribulations of being a landlord.”
“Are you one, too, Detective?”
“God forbid.”
Brad laughed. “It beats honest labor. The key is to keep things organized.”
He’d left the front door cracked six inches. Serape throws on chairs, a kilim ottoman, lots of leather. Propped in a corner was a white surfboard. Longboard, the type you don’t see much anymore.
The knobs on Dowd’s knees made sense. Surfer’s knots.
Milo said, “There was something about Dylan Meserve you wanted to tell us.”
“Thanks for waiting. I didn’t want Billy to hear.”
“Protecting Billy,” I said.
Dowd turned to me. “Billy needs protection. Sometimes it’s hard for him to put things in perspective.”
“Something about Meserve bother him?” said Milo.
Brad Dowd’s brow creased. “No, I just like to keep him away from what he doesn’t need to know...sure I can’t get you guys one of these?”
“We’re fine,” said Milo. “You take care of Billy.”
“He doesn’t need special care— he’s not retarded or anything like that. When he was born, there was an oxygen problem. We used to live together, then a couple of years ago I realized he needed his independence, so I got him his own place. A nice lady lives upstairs. Billy thinks they’re just neighbors, but she gets paid to be there for him. Anyway, about Meserve, it’s no big deal. My sister had a thing for him and I consider him a first-class sleazeball.”
“A mutual thing?”
Dowd stretched his legs, pointed his toes, massaged a knot. Maybe calcium explained the wince. “In some ways, Nora can be a bit of an adolescent. All the time she spends with young people doesn’t help.”
I said, “Dylan wasn’t her first thing?”
“I didn’t say that.”
I smiled.
Brad Dowd drank beer. “No sense bullshitting. You know how it is, a woman gets to a certain age, the whole youth culture thing. Nora’s entitled to her fun. But with Meserve it was getting a little out of hand, so I talked to her and she realized I was right.”
“You didn’t want Billy to hear this because...”
Brad Dowd’s mouth got tight. “It was a bit of a hassle. Convincing Nora. She’d have been a lot more upset if Billy got involved. If he tried to comfort her or something like that.”
“Why’s that?” said Milo.
“Nora and Billy aren’t close...the truth is, when we were kids, Billy was a source of embarrassment to Nora. But Billy thinks they’re close— ” He stopped. “This is family stuff you don’t need to know.”
Milo said, “So Nora broke up with Meserve?”
“It didn’t require a formal declaration because the two of them were never officially...” He smiled. “I almost said ‘going steady.’ ”
“How’d Nora end it with Meserve?”
“By keeping her distance. Ignoring him. Eventually, he got the point.”
“How was their relationship getting out of hand?” I said.
Brad frowned. “Is this really relevant to that poor girl’s murder?”
“Probably not, sir. We ask all sorts of questions and hope for the best.”
“Is Meserve a suspect?”
“No, but close friends of the victim are considered individuals of interest, and we haven’t been able to locate Meserve to talk to him.”
“I understand, Detective. But I still don’t see why my sister’s private life needs to be aired.”
I said, “Was there something about Meserve that bothered you more than her other ‘things’?”
Dowd sighed. “In the past, Nora’s relationships were short-lived. Mostly because the men who interest Nora aren’t the type with long-term plans. Meserve seemed different to me. Manipulative, as if he was planning something. That hoax he pulled proves it, right?”
Milo said, “Planning what?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“You suspected he was out for Nora’s money.”
“I started to get concerned when Nora gave him a paid job at the PlayHouse. Creative consultant.” Dowd snorted. “You need to understand: Nora doesn’t charge a penny for her classes. That’s a crucial point, tax-wise, because the PlayHouse— the building, the upkeep, any supplies— is funded by a foundation we set up.”
“You and your sibs.”
“Basically, I did it for Nora, because acting’s her passion. We’re not talking some huge financial undertaking, there’s just enough endowment to keep the classes going. The building’s one of many we inherited from our parents and the rent we forego is a nice deduction against the profit from some other rentals in our portfolio. I’m the nominal head of the foundation so I approve expenditures. Which is why when Nora came to me wanting salary for Meserve, I knew it was time to talk. There was simply nothing in the budget to accommodate that. And it confirmed my suspicions that Meserve was out for something.”
“How much did she want to pay him?”
“Eight hundred a week.”
“Very creative consultant,” said Milo.
“No kidding,” said Dowd. “That’s my point. Nora has no concept of finances. Like a lot of artistic folk.”
“How long ago did she ask for the money?”
“After she offered him the job. A week or so before Meserve and the girl pulled that stunt. Maybe that’s why he did it.”
“What do you mean?”
“Trying to win Nora’s affections with a creative performance. If that was the idea, it backfired.”
“Nora wasn’t pleased.”
“I’d say not.”
“Was she upset at the hoax or something else?”
“Such as?”
“Meserve being with another woman.”
“Jealous? I seriously doubt it. By that time Nora was finished with him.”
“She gets over ‘things’ quickly.”
“Nothing to get over,” said Brad Dowd. “She saw my point, stopped paying attention to him, and he stopped hanging around.”
“What bothered Nora about the hoax?”
“The exposure.”
“Most actresses like publicity.”
Brad placed his beer on the porch deck. “Detective, the extent of Nora’s acting career was a single walk-on part on a sitcom thirty-five years ago when she was ten. She got the part because a friend of our mother’s was connected. After that, Nora went on audition after audition. When she decided to channel her efforts into teaching, it was a healthy move.”
“Adapting,” said Milo.
&n
bsp; “That’s what it’s all about, Detective. My sister has talent but so do a hundred thousand other people.”
I said, “So she prefers to stay out of the public eye.”
“We’re a private bunch.” Dowd took a long swallow and finished his beer. “Is there anything else, guys?”
“Did Nora ever talk about Michaela Brand?”
“Not to me. No way she was jealous. Gorgeous young people stream in and out of Nora’s world. Now, I really think I should stop talking about her personal life.”
“Fair enough,” said Milo. “Let’s concentrate on Meserve.”
“Like I said, a gold digger,” said Dowd. “I meddled but sometimes meddling is called for. In the end my sister was grateful not to get involved with someone like that. Maybe you should be looking at him for the girl’s murder.”
“Why’s that, sir?”
“His view of women, he had a relationship with the victim, and you just said he’s missing. Doesn’t running away imply guilt?”
“What view of women are we talking about?” said Milo.
“You know the type. Easy smile, cruising on looks. He flirted with my sister shamelessly. I’ll be blunt: He kissed up and Nora bought it because Nora’s...”
“Impressionable.”
“Unfortunately. Any time I’d drop by the PlayHouse, he’d be there alone with Nora. Following her around, flattering her, sitting at her feet, shooting her adoring glances. Then he began giving her cheap little gifts— doodads, tacky tourist junk. A snow globe, do you believe that? Hollywood and Vine, for God’s sake, when’s the last time there was snow in Hollywood?” Dowd laughed. “I’d love to think it was Nora’s soul and inner beauty that attracted him, but let’s get real. She’s naive, menopausal, and financially independent.”
I said, “How’d you convince her Meserve’s intentions weren’t pure?”
“I was calm and persistent.” He stood. “I hope you catch whoever killed that girl, but please don’t involve my brother and sister in it. You couldn’t find two more harmless people on the face of the earth. In terms of Reynold Peaty, I’ve been asking tenants and the only complaints I’ve received are along the lines of not emptying garbage in a timely manner. He shows up diligently, minds his own business, has been a first-class worker. I’ll keep my eyes open, though.”
He cocked his head toward the open door. “Coffee or a soft drink for the road?”
“We’re good,” said Milo, getting up.
“Then I’m hitting the sack. Buenas noches.”
“Early to bed?”
“Busy day ahead.”
“Beats honest labor,” Milo said.
Brad Dowd laughed.
CHAPTER 17
Milo took Channel Road down toward the coastline. “There’s time till the class at the PlayHouse. How about we grab a couple of beers at a place I know.”
“Coronas?”
“Good brand.”
“As long as Brad Dowd’s not offering.”
“Never fraternize with the citizenry. What’d you think of our grown-up surfer dude?”
“You saw the knots, too.”
“And the board.”
“He’s the family guardian, takes well to the job.”
He reached PCH, stopped at the long red light that can keep you there for what seems to be hours. The ocean’s always changing. Tonight the water was flat and gray and infinite. Slow, easy tide, steady and metallic as a drum machine.
“Maybe I’m making too big a deal out of this, Alex, but Brad’s parting words seemed off: asking me to keep both Nora and Billy out of the investigation. We’d been focused on Nora, why bring in Billy?”
“Could be force of habit,” I said. “He lumps the two of them together because they both need protection.”
“Maybe that’s it.”
“Billy interests you?”
“Adult male with immature social skills who needs to be supervised covertly?” As we waited, he ran a DMV check on William Dowd III, hung up before the light changed. “Wanna guess how many vehicles are registered to Billy?”
“None.”
“And just like Peaty, never had a license.”
“Tagging along with Brother Brad,” I said. “When Brad drops in at the PlayHouse, Billy’s right there with him. All those good-looking starlets-in-training.”
“Getting an eyeful of girls like Michaela and Tori Giacomo, could be overstimulating.”
“Billy seemed gentle,” I said. “But crank up the id and who knows?”
“What if the real reason Brad didn’t want to talk to us in front of Billy was because he was afraid Billy would give something away? And here’s something else: Billy lives in an apartment in Beverly Hills. Reeves Drive, just off Olympic.”
“Couple of miles from Michaela’s place.”
“A guy with no wheels could walk it.”
“Same problem as Peaty,” I said. “How to transport a body. And I don’t see Billy getting away with an unregistered ride. Not with Brad that protective.”
That turned him silent until we reached Santa Monica’s gold coast. Beachside mansions, once private enclaves, were now exposed to the clamor and the reality of the public sand that fronted them. The clapboard monster William Hearst had built for Marion Davies was ready to crumble after years of Santa Monica city council dithering. A moment later, the exoskeleton of the pier came into view, lit up like Christmas. The Ferris wheel rotated, slow as bureaucracy.
Milo drove the ramp up to Ocean Front, continued onto Pacific Avenue, crossed into Venice. “So now I’ve got two strange guys with access to the PlayHouse.”
I thought about that. “Billy stopped living with Brad two years ago, right before Tori’s disappearance.”
“Why would Brad get Billy out of his house at this point in their lives? These guys are middle-aged, all of a sudden it’s time for a change?”
“Brad wanted to keep his distance from Billy? But if he suspected something, he’d tighten the leash.”
“So what’s the answer?”
“Don’t know.”
“For all we know,” he said, “Brad did try to clamp down and Billy’s a lot more difficult than he seems. Hell, maybe Billy insisted on breaking away. Brad pays some nice lady to ‘look after him,’ because he knows Billy bears watching. Meanwhile, if something does happen, he’s across town in Santa Monica Canyon.”
“Less liability,” I said.
“He thinks in those terms— foundations, tax breaks, keeping things organized. That rung of the social ladder, it’s a whole different world.”
He looked at his watch. “Let’s see how Nora reacts when I push her a bit. How long it takes for her to cry to Brother Brad.”
* * *
Over the years I’ve accompanied Milo to lots of taverns and beer joints and cocktail lounges. A couple of gay bars as well. It’s an illuminating experience watching him function in that sphere.
This was a new dive, a narrow, dark tunnel of a place called Jody Z’s, at the southern edge of Pacific, just above the Marina. Arena rock on the jukebox, silent football rerun on TV, tired men at the urethane bar, rough paneling and fishnets and glass globes.
Plastic sawdust on the floor. What was the point of that?
A short drive to Robin’s house on Rennie. In another time and place, Milo might have mentioned that. The set of his jaw said the only things on his mind were the murders of two young women.
Once we’d finished a couple of beers and rehashed what we knew, there was little to talk about and he started to blend in with the dispirited clientele.
Phoning Michaela’s landlord in La Jolla, he confirmed the appointment tomorrow morning. Ground his teeth. “Bastard’s doing me a big, freaking favor.”
He looked over at the blackboard. Three specials, including the promise of fresh clam chowder. He chanced it.
“Not too bad,” he said, spooning.
“ ‘Not too bad’ and ‘seafood’ shouldn’t be uttered in the same sentence,”
I said.
“If I die, you get the first eulogy. I wonder if Nora really gave in when Brad asked her to cool it with Meserve. Brad did raise one good point: Meserve’s nowhere to be found.”
“He seemed eager to steer you to Meserve as a suspect,” I said. “That’s in his best interest if he’s covering for Billy, but it doesn’t mean he’s wrong. Michaela told me she hated Meserve and Mrs. Winograd heard them fighting more than once.”
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