“Why certainly, Detective! Let me see if I can go and rustle him on up for you.” She replied, overenthusiastically and with all that Southern Charm. She disappeared out back.
Archie sidled back over to me with a wistful look on his face.
“No,” I said, before he could say a word.
He blushed slightly. “No what? I haven’t even said anything.”
“No, you can’t date her.”
“Who says I wanna date her?” He laughed coyly.
“Your face and your walk and your general demeanor. You can’t date her, she’s too…” I gestured, unhelpfully.
“Ah yes, of course.” He repeated the gesture. “That. Good save.”
“Detective Goodman?” A voice from behind us called out.
Archie turned around with his professional smile. “Daniel Tanner?”
I mirrored it.
“One and the same. Pleasure to meet you. How can I help?” The giant man replied as he approached us. He carried himself with an air of something I figured was meant to be confidence. It came across to me like he was full of himself, and I wondered if Archie felt the same.
“I was hoping I could talk to you about Pamela Guss; this is my associate, Ana Delgado.” Archie pulled out his badge and showed it to Tanner and I held out my hand. He shook it with a firm grip.
“Wow, Pamela Guss, I haven’t heard that name in a while. Shall we go somewhere a bit more private?” He gestured out back and led us through a door and down a short hallway to a small office space behind the reception. It was pleasantly decorated, continuing the theme from the lobby. Glass covered the wall by the door; the rest of the walls were painted a light blue color. There was a desk with an ergonomic chair where Tanner made himself comfortable. Archie and I sat in two smaller armchairs opposite.
“So, where are you from, Mr. Tanner?” Archie began.
He looked a little confused by the question, but responded naturally. “Kansas, originally, but my parents moved the family here when I was about thirteen.”
“You mind me asking why?”
He shook his head. “I was getting into trouble at my school, getting into fights and that kinda stuff. For some reason, my parents decided that moving to the city would help me figure myself out. I thought that was weird ’cause people generally do the opposite move to help troubled kids... But anyway, we moved to L.A. and I joined a local dojo and the rest is history.” He smiled.
“What kind of martial arts did you study?” I asked.
“Jujutsu. The classes were close to our neighborhood, it seemed cool to me, I liked it. It stuck. It changed my life, honestly.”
I could dig that; my childhood had been kind of similar. I looked down and noticed a gold band on Tanner’s ring finger. “You married?” I asked.
He looked down with a smile. “I am. Twelve years.”
“Long time,” Archie commented, smiling.
“Yeah, it hasn’t always been easy, but we’ve got a beautiful son and we make time for each other, you know?” Tanner looked like he was getting a little antsy with all the questions about himself and started twisting the wedding band.
“How old is your boy?”
“He’ll be three later this year,” he responded. He opened his mouth and I was pretty sure he was gonna ask what the hell all this had to do with Pam, but Archie had it.
“Cute age,” he replied. “So, tell me about Pamela. How did you meet?”
Tanner took a deep breath. “Uhhm, we met here, actually. She came in looking to join, and we talked about Jujutsu, self defense, the dojo in general. She was interested in learning to protect herself. It sounded like she had had some kind of a bad experience. Maybe a couple.”
“Did she tell you anything about what that bad experience might have been?” Archie asked as he began to furiously scribble notes into his little book. I leaned over to take a look. Illegible.
“Not at first. It took her a long time to warm up, not that she wasn’t ever friendly. She was just a closed book.”
“So you two must have got close?”
“You could say that. We’d get coffee before class, stuff like that. I kind of became a bit of a mentor to her, I think. She trusted me.” His chest puffed before he paused, awkwardly. “Can I ask a question? What’s this all about? Why are you here?”
Archie sighed deeply, then forced himself to make eye contact. “I’m afraid Pamela was murdered, last week at her apartment.”
“What?” Daniel literally recoiled in his chair, looking between the two of us like he was trying to figure out from our expressions if we were playing some nasty trick on him. “No, how?”
He was reacting stronger than I had originally expected him to. Certainly stronger than would be warranted by your average student-teacher relationship.
“It looked like she was pushed and she fell. Hit her head. Then she was stabbed.” Archie replied.
“Stabbed?” Tanner said quietly. “I…” His eyes welled with tears and he brought the heels of his hands up to his eyes to brush them away fiercely.
“Daniel, I know this is upsetting, but can you think of anyone who might have wanted to hurt Pam? Someone that might have motivated her to come and join your dojo, maybe?” I asked, leaning forward to study his face.
He blanched a little. “I—I don’t know, I mean…” He shook his head. I could see that the tears were still brimming in his eyes. “She was tied up with some kinda rowdy people. The type of guys I remember from my childhood. The type of guys I like to stay away from these days. Mixed up in some dirty stuff.”
“Do you know who any of them were?” Archie asked.
“No, I mean, I never met them and she never told me. I just, she told me some stories. She didn’t give names. It was always ‘this guy’ and ‘his friend’. Vague details.”
“You said ‘not at first’ when I asked you if she had given you any information about what might have happened to cause her to want to join the dojo. Can you elaborate on that?”
“I mean, she kinda gave me the impression that there was a pretty awful guy; well, a couple of pretty awful guys, in her life. And she had had some kind of health problem in the recent history that had made her want to get active, get in shape. I think the guys were the real motivation, though. Sounded like she wanted to learn how to look out for herself, feel safe in her own skin, you know? She never really gave me any more than that.”
Archie and I looked at each other. We were both thinking the same thing. Carter and the miscarriage.
“Right. When was all this, can you recall?”
Tanner let out a puff of breath. “I’d say about… a year ago? Probably, at most.” He glanced down at his watch and noticed the time. “Guys, I’m really sorry, but I’ve got a class in twenty minutes and I’d like to, you know, pull myself together before I’ve got to go in and teach.” He gestured at his teary eyes and slightly blotchy face. “Would you mind if we continued this later, tomorrow?”
Archie finished his scribble and stood as he tucked the pad away in the inside breast pocket of his blazer. “That’s fine, Mr. Tanner, thank you for speaking with us, you’ve been very helpful. I’ll give you a call to set up a time for us to speak again.”
Tanner stood and rubbed awkwardly at his face as he took a deep breath. He then reached out to shake both our hands. “Thanks so much for letting me know. I just can’t, I can’t wrap my head around it, you know?”
“I know,” I replied.
He walked Archie and myself out of the office and through the corridor into the reception. “Thanks again, guys.”
Archie held up his hand in goodbye and we walked out of the lobby and back to the car. We got in, closed the doors and sat for a second as we watched Tanner head back to his office through the glass facade.
“Didn’t you find it kinda weird that he kept thanking us?” Archie asked.
“Not particularly. People are weird, especially when they’re grieving,” I replied, lost in my own thoughts.<
br />
“So you think he’s grieving? You don’t think he did it?”
I grinned and looked at Archie. “Do you?”
“I asked you first.”
“I think he gave us a lot of information.”
“Did he? Or were they ‘vague details’?” he asked, eyebrow raised.
“He told us they used to meet for coffee before class. And Cindy told us about the lunch at Jimmy’s. Maybe they were having an affair.”
“He’d have to be a real asshole to do that when he had a newborn baby back at home.”
“Tell me about it. Did you believe him?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe. That part, at least. It just seemed like he was trying a bit too hard to be Mr. Nouveau-Clean-Cut-Man-of-the-Year, you know what I mean?”
I nodded thoughtfully as he pushed the start engine button and the car sprang to life. “I do. You remember what he was saying about Pam’s motivation for joining being to get in shape, and she was hiking and all that stuff?”
“Yes! What Carter was saying, he basically confirmed it. And called Carter an awful guy at the same time.”
“Well, that part sure as hell wasn’t wrong.” My forehead wrinkled as I remembered something else. “You know what I did find a little weird?”
“Mmm?”
“His reaction when we told her she had died. That was not the reaction of a mentor.”
“Yeah, it was quite intense for someone who was just supposed to be a teacher that she had a good rapport with.”
“It just all feels a bit like smoke and mirrors to me. There’s too much conflicting stuff going on. Something isn’t right, something isn’t tracking. It’s like someone, whoever this is, is trying to make it look like something else.”
“Like, trying to conceal a deeper motive?” Archie asked as he narrowed his eyes.
“Exactly. I mean, even just the way she was murdered led me to believe something was going on. But on top of that, her apartment came across so staged, let me tell you, I seriously cannot wait for the forensics to come back.”
“Me too. But most likely, the cause of death will come back as accidental. Judging by what the M.E. was saying at the crime scene, it will be that blow to the head from the corner of the coffee table.”
“Yeah, okay,” I replied, “but what about the stab wounds? What is that about?”
“Panic? Maybe? I don’t know, but it could have been that she was pushed, she fell, banged her head and then they panicked and tried to make it look like something else. It wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened,” Archie reasoned.
“Mmm, well then, doesn’t that kind of back up my theory? Someone is covering something up.”
“Well, I guess, but that’s a pretty wide net you’re casting there.”
“Okay, hear me out. You don’t just do that if you’re some random psycho that’s climbed in through the window—another weird piece of the puzzle that also points to a setup, by the way.” I observed him, eyebrow raised.
“Sure, sure. But an accidental death means they weren’t necessarily there to kill her. Maybe this was a tough conversation gone awry. A major reason why you cover your tracks is if there’s something to hide. You do it if there’s a connection there. That’s guilt, or something nearby.”
“Okay, sure. Don’t you think, though, that it just has the potential to be so much more sinister? There’s something coordinated about this, it feels like there’s a little more to it than that.”
Archie nodded his head. “I know what you’re saying. I guess we’ll find out soon enough.” He sighed. “I’m going to head back to the precinct, write this up and see if we’ve got any results back. You want me to drop you off somewhere?”
“Jimmy’s.”
Chapter Seven
I walked into Jimmy’s at around eleven and figured I would get an early lunch in. Or a late breakfast. I didn’t feel the need to justify it. The weather was back to normal for L.A., and my eyes took a second to adjust to the different light as I stepped out of the warmth of the sunshine.
At the bar, I found Cindy and ordered a cup of coffee and a club sandwich. I figured I’d forgo the booth, since I was alone, and sat myself down at a table with vantage points of every entrance and exit, as was my habit now. In spite of knowing the place like the back of my hand at this point.
The food and coffee arrived around ten minutes later, and I was just getting started on it as Jimmy walked into the bar.
“Hey there! How you doin’, kiddo?” he asked as he walked over to give me a hug. I stood and reciprocated, mid-bite.
“I’m doing just fine, Jimmy. How are things with you?” I replied, mouth full of food.
He was used to my bad manners and bounced his head from side to side. “I have been better. But I’m keepin’ busy, trying to keep my mind occupied, no good thinking over and over it, right?”
“Right.” I didn’t know what else to say. I sat back down.
“How you doing, anyway? We haven’t had a chance to catch up.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, things have been a little… crazy, huh?” I sighed. “I’m good. I keep busy, go and stay with Grandpa up at the ranch every couple months, work on the truck, keep him company. He still misses them…”
Jimmy’s eyes softened. “I bet he does. I bet you do, too.”
I shuffled in my chair and avoided his eye by taking a sip of my coffee. Mercifully, he changed the subject.
“So what are you doing here? Come in for some lunch? I can see you’re enjoying it.” He broke a little smile for me.
“I sure did. Came for the food and stayed for the company.” I kicked the chair in front of me out for him and he sat down. I leaned back in my chair with one arm over the back. “So you remember the other day, I was in here talking to Cindy about this martial artist guy we thought might have known Pam?”
He took a deep breath. “Yeah, vaguely.”
“Well, Archie and I managed to track him down and we had a talk with him. Turns out they knew each other fairly well.” I took another bite of my food.
“Okay. You thinking he killed her?”
“Uh, no, no, not exactly. But he knew her, and it turns out he runs a martial arts place downtown. Did you know she was taking Jujutsu lessons?”
“I guess I kinda remember that, sure. Was around the time of the miscarriage.”
“Do you remember if she was still with Carter at the time?”
“Depends on what you mean by ‘with’. They were still kinda seein’ each other, far as I knew, he would still crash with her sometimes, I think. They had a weird relationship,” he said as he stared at the table and shook his head.
“Cindy said she had seen him in here before, they had been having coffee, Pam and Daniel.”
“Is that his name? I didn’t like the guy. Didn’t trust him.”
My eyebrows raised involuntarily. “So you do remember him?”
“Yeah, I remember him. I never liked him. Thought he was better than everyone else when really he came from the same place as the rest of us.” Jimmy was now picking away at the wood on a worn out corner of the table.
This surprised me. “But you were okay with Carter?”
“At least you knew what you were getting with that guy,” he responded in a gruff tone of voice.
“Okay… Do you remember anyone else she would hang around with during or just before that time?”
“There were a few so-called ‘friends’ she would hang ’round with, but they were all druggies, harmless.”
“Harmless druggies?” I asked, narrowing my eyes slightly.
“You know what I mean.” He slapped his hands on his knees and stood from the table as if to end the conversation. “I’ve gotta get going, Ana. Keep me updated with how you kids are doing with the investigation, okay?”
I stood. “Sure, Jim, of course we will.” I watched him walk away.
I sat back down and began to doodle on a napkin I had pulled out of one of the disp
ensers on the table. I needed to percolate. I had always admired Jimmy and had faith in his decision making skills, but now I was honestly feeling a little less inclined to trust his judgment. What he was saying existed so far into the land of black and white. Good vs. Bad. Elite vs. Scum. I lived for the gray.
I pulled out my phone and scrolled to Archie’s contact card and dialed. It rang three or four times before I heard a crackle.
“Goodman.”
“Hey, bud. You need some lunch?”
* * *
I was unashamed to admit that I was ready for a second lunch. I sat down to the table with Archie at around one o’clock at a classic old school diner about ten minutes from the precinct. The place looked straight out of the ’50s. The walls were painted red and white to match the booths and there were tabletop jukeboxes at each one. The waitress came over after a minute or two and we ordered two cups of coffee and two Cobb salads and then I couldn’t wait any longer. “You get the reports back?”
“I did indeed. Forensics at the apartment at least. ME’s report should be ready when I get back from lunch.”
“And?”
“Jesus, someone’s eager.” He laughed as he ran his hands through his hair and breathed out a sigh. “There was almost nothing. You showed up more than anything else. You picked the lock, you looked through the house.”
I had the class to look sheepish. “I swear nobody had touched the lock before. What about the window? No prints, no DNA? Even outside?”
“Nope. If anything, it just tied your staging idea further together. All the blood they found was hers. Anything else they found that could potentially have been suspicious was trace.”
“Are you freakin’ serious? God damn it.”
“I know. At least we have some leads to run on with the information we got from Tanner.”
Return of the Nomad Page 6
