I moved back from the sheer edge and looked around for any sign. The laundry building sat on the middle of the roof with about 100 feet of open space on both sides, and the same 25 feet distance from the back side to the edge of the street-facing apartments. I walked around to the back side and saw two other tan bricks sitting on the roof. I could see that three bricks in total had been removed sometime earlier for an antenna. Even though most people had cable TV like Andi, I guessed residents could opt to still use the antenna for the limited number of free Los Angeles television channels.
Next to the antenna’s pole, there were several bolts and rings in the laundry building’s brick wall that must have been used for other antennae in the past.
OK - so, now I knew where the brick came from and how I was hurt. But, who did it?
Clearly, someone didn’t like me being here. I returned to the laundry room and saw no one. No washers or dryers were in use. I looked inside each machine and found no wet or dry loads of clothes.
So, what now? That brick drop could be viewed as a murder attempt. It hit me again how close my assailant came to killing me.
As I was standing in the laundry room thinking, I heard the metal pool gate shut. I raced out of the laundry room, jumped over the railing again, and peered over the side of the building. There was no one out at the pool, just like it was when I left. I looked closely and noticed that the brick was gone. It was not on the concrete pad next to my lounge chair.
I screamed, “Damn, what’s going on?”
I completely retraced my running steps over the railing, across the deck, through the laundry room, down the stairs and back through the lobby out to the pool. I heard and saw no one. At the pool I gathered my towel and mystery novel, Pale Gray for Guilt, and headed back to Andi’s apartment.
Things were eerily quiet in the mid-afternoon before rush hour. Before changing out of my swimsuit, I called the homicide Detective Lomita. I also called Torrance detective, John Savage. I didn’t reach either of them. I decided not to leave the whole story of my afternoon on their answering machines; instead my messages simply asked them to call me.
Man, I didn’t know what to do next. I was still stranded at the apartment. I admit, I locked Andi’s door and waited. I was on the couch watching the OJ trial again, icing my upper back.
Then, another strange thing occurred. I decided to make myself a sandwich. When I reached for one of the knives in the wood container on the counter top, I saw one missing. It was one of the six steak knives. That stopped me in my tracks. The knife found by Jason Kim down in the garage matched these other five steak knives.
This was getting scary! Who took this? Some one who didn’t want me to leave the apartment? Maybe it was someone who didn’t want me to speak to Detective Lomita or go to Modern Girls.
That’s when I realized I wouldn’t be able to see Bambi Deer that night at the strip club as Andi wanted to do something special for my birthday. So, I took a shot in the dark. I picked up the phone and called information. To my surprise, there was a Bambi Deer listing in Chatsworth. I wrote the number down.
I looked at the clock and it was almost 1:30. I might catch Bambi at home since she worked nights. A woman answered on the second ring.
“Hello, is this Bambi Deer?”
“No, may I ask whose calling?”
She had a soft voice with a southern accent.
“My name is Stevie Garrett. I’m investigating Sidney Gabriel’s death. May I speak to Bambi?”
“She isn’t home right now. May I have her return your call?”
“Yes, please.”
I passed on Andi’s phone number, then said, “Would you tell her I am so sorry that Sid died. I understand they were friends.”
The kind woman added, “Yes, Mr. Garrett, it has been very hard. Sid and Bambi were very close.”
I was surprised by that statement, and said, “I didn’t know that. His sudden death must be very hard on Bambi.”
“Yes, Bambi and Sid were engaged. He wanted to marry my daughter, over two years ago. But, she said no.”
Man, they were close! I quickly said, “Oh, you’re Bambi’s mother. May I ask your name?”
“My name is Audrey Deer.”
“Audrey, you said Sid and Bambi were engaged?”
She answered, “Yes, but it was about year later, after Sid first asked. She wanted to wait to see if Sid was committed to her, and their baby. But, a baby changes everything.”
Good thing I was sitting down. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.
Audrey continued. “Bambi was amazed how much Sid loved my granddaughter. He has given her support ever since my daughter became pregnant. When the emotional and financial support continued, Bambi was convinced. She accepted his ring.”
“I see.”
Audrey then spoke in a quieter voice, “Mr. Garrett, my daughter conceived my granddaughter shortly after she met Sid. It was an accident, but one she never regretted. Neither did Sid. It was clear they loved each other and I’m sure they would have married. Now, it’s too late.”
“I’m sorry, Audrey. It is sad.”
She paused and sobbed.
I was blown away by this news. I didn’t know what to say, so I asked the first thing that came to my mind, “How old is your granddaughter, Audrey?”
“Tawny is two, and will be three in December. She is our pride and joy.”
“How wonderful. Well, would you let Bambi know that I am working for the woman accused of the crime? Her name is Andi Anderson.”
Audrey gasped. I knew that I was at a moment of truth.
“Audrey, I understand this is hard. Bambi and Sid knew Andi. They were all friends. I am also a friend of Andi’s. Andi told me she absolutely did not shoot Sid and I believe her. Without giving you all the details, there is clear evidence to me that Andi could not have committed this crime.”
“I see.”
I said, “I am trying to determine who did this before they can commit other crimes or can get away with this and have Andi take the blame.”
“I understand, Mr. Garrett.”
“Audrey, can you have Bambi call me? I am having car problems and would not be able to go to the club tonight.”
“I will ask her to do that.”
“Thank you, Audrey.” I gave her Andi’s phone number.
“You’re welcome, Mr. Garrett. Goodbye” and then she hung up.
Man, what news! I sat on the couch and watched more of the OJ trial, trying to decide what to do and what to tell Andi. Not sure if it was right or wrong, I made up my mind. I would pass on what I learned about Bambi and Sid. I would also talk about the sliced tire, but would not tell her about the fallen brick. I thought the tire would freak Andi out some, but not as much as me almost getting killed. Plus, I didn’t have the brick to show her. I realize now that my decision was a mistake.
A half hour later, the phone rang. It was Troy Gabriel. He was not happy.
“I hear you’ve been bothering my mother. Telling her lies.”
“You’re wrong, Troy. She agreed to meet me. I met her at a restaurant, bought her a drink and we talked. And, I told her the truth of what I saw.”
“You should mind your own business.”
“What I talked to your mother about is my business.”
He wasn’t ready to calm down. “How is my mother your business?”
“I’m trying to determine who killed your father and I’m speaking to everyone in his life. That’s why I spoke to her and why I’m speaking to you.”
“Look, Garrett, you can stop looking. Your friend killed my dad.”
“No, you’re wrong, Troy.” I repeated what I said to Audrey Deer, “Without giving you all the details, there is clear evidence to me that Andi could not have committed this crime.”
“What evidence?”
“Andi was hit on the head and knocked out for a minute, and that’s when your father was shot. She still has a big bump on her head. Then, the killer put th
e gun in Andi’s right hand and Andi is left handed. Plus, Andi got a glimpse of the killer. It was a woman. Andi was not mad at your father, like the police say. He had brought her a script for a movie. A real movie and he got Andi an audition for it. She went to that audition yesterday. It went well.”
I paused, and Troy was quiet, so I continued talking. “Of course, Andi had no reason to do it, no motivation. She and your father were still dating. The questions are, who did kill your father and why are they framing Andi?”
“I have no idea.”
“Was anyone mad at your father?”
“Not that I know of.”
“Was your father in trouble with anyone?”
“No. He had money and didn’t need to work. He loved his freedom.”
“Did he talk about any girlfriend who was upset at him?”
“No, look, Garrett, yes, my father had women in his life, but, no, he treated them nice, very nice.”
“Tell me about your Dad and Edie McCall.”
“Dad loved Edie. And, Edie loved Dad. They had their own relationship. They were into stuff that they both loved.”
“Was Edie unhappy that your Dad still had his affair going with Andi?”
“No. She was part of that, too. You know that.”
“Yes, but your Dad saw Andi after their threesome broke up.”
“Edie knew that. She was cool with that.”
I knew that wasn’t true. So, what else was Troy lying about? I asked, “What is your relationship with Edie?”
“That’s my business, Garrett.”
“You didn’t mind that your father still slept with Edie?”
“No, Garrett, that’s my business.”
“OK, so do you know Bambi Deer?”
“No, I don’t. Who is that?”
I was tempted but didn’t tell what I knew. “Someone else your father knew.”
“Look, Garrett, I got to go. I don’t know anything that would help you. I hope you don’t waste more of your time looking.” Then, he hung up.
The rental repair truck came just before 4pm. The driver made the tire change wearing work gloves and left quickly. I called the lab technician, Jason Kim. He stopped by at the end of his day, around 5:15, grabbed the tire and rolled it up the ramp with surgical gloved hands.
Andi got home minutes later.
Given it was my birthday; Andi insisted that I pick what I wanted to do that night. I chose something she never expected – we would go to a baseball game at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers were facing the New York Mets.
I made my decision earlier after I got off the phone with Troy. Given that the game started at 7pm, Andi had to change quickly. She put on the white bike pants, white sports bra and flip-flops that she wore to the airport on Saturday. However, this time she wore panties – a pink thong – which was completely visible through the sheer leggings. I didn’t say anything because she was trying to please me for my birthday and I’d had a really stressful day. The only thing I asked her to do was grab a sweater or sweatshirt as it might get cooler after sunset. She grabbed an oversized white sweater with long sleeves that would cover her bare behind. Given how she looked I decided not to rush as I’d like fewer people noticing her as we entered the stadium. Plus, I would buy the best tickets I could, hoping to get in and out easier and hoping there’d be less wandering eyes on Andi.
The ride was fairly slow through the end of rush hour traffic and we didn’t get to the ticket window until the national anthem was playing. We lucked into field box seats on the lower level, ten rows behind the Dodgers’ dugout. They cost $80, but I was happy we got such good seats.
I asked Andi to wrap her sweater around her waist, to cover her behind, as we walked to our seats. She smiled at me and agreed to do it, and said that she liked that I didn’t want anyone else seeing her.
Andi didn’t really know baseball that well so I spent most of the game explaining things to her. She listened carefully and was happy to sit next to me and hold my hand.
The game was low on action until near the end. It was a pitchers duel between Ramon Martinez of the Dodgers and Bobby Jones of the Mets. Andi ate a hot dog and drank a beer with me early on.
I loved being at Dodger Stadium. Even at 30 years old, it’s still a beautiful ball park and is very well maintained. The sunset was fantastic and the shadows on Chavez Ravine and the colors in the sky – reds, oranges, purples – at sunset were awesome. The crowd was big, almost 40,000 people, but fairly quiet during most of the game.
The Dodgers were down two to nothing going into the bottom of the eighth inning. Then, they scored three runs on walks, singles, including a key one by Mike Piazza, and a sacrifice fly to take the lead 3 to 2. But, the Dodgers reliever, Todd Worrell, blew the save. The Mets came back to score two runs in the top of the ninth, after being down to their last out with no one on. They did it with a home run by Jeff Kent, followed by a walk and two singles. The Dodgers couldn’t come back in the bottom of the ninth and lost the game 4 to 3.
By the seventh inning, Andi was wearing her sweater so I relaxed and didn’t worry about people looking at her. We had a good time at the game, although it seemed to me that Andi didn’t fully understand what she had just witnessed. I appreciated her being a good sport through out the evening.
On the ride home I spoke to Andi about my day.
I told her the whole story about my slashed tire. She got very unnerved when I explained it was likely her steak knife that did it. No, she told me, she hadn’t noticed it was missing.
I then went over my conversations about Bambi Deer and Troy Gabriel.
“No, I had no idea Bambi and Sid had a baby. Neither of them ever mentioned that to me. Are you sure, Stevie?”
“That’s what Bambi’s mother told me. Their daughter’s two years old.”
“Oh my God! Do you think Troy or Edie know?”
“Troy told me he never heard of Bambi. His mother, Lana, said the same thing. I don’t think Edie knew either. She was the one that first mentioned Bambi - that they had a threesome with her, a year or two before they met you, but, it didn’t last that long. She said that Sid hadn’t been with Bambi for the last one or two years. So, I think the baby and Sid and Bambi’s engagement will be a big surprise to Edie.”
Andi said, “You should ask Edie if she knew, maybe she didn’t want to tell you.”
“Yeah, I will go see her again. This is just one of the things that don’t add up or make sense. But, I can’t pull it together yet.”
“You will, Stevie.”
some modern girls
Something was odd about Andi’s job. She wasn’t clear on her company’s name. Why, if she was a white collar office receptionist, did she leave her apartment at nearly 10AM each day? And, why did she work some nights? It didn’t add up. She was hiding something.
On Wednesday, we got up and had a light breakfast. While Andi showered and got casually dressed, I wondered about all that happened; the murder, the stolen bras, my destroyed tire, Sid’s secret love child. Something was still unknown, something big.
Andi left again at 9:45am. I left too, a minute later. I secretly followed Andi’s car as she made her way east on the Pacific Coast Highway to the Harbor Freeway. There, she entered the northbound lanes and drove twenty miles to downtown. I stayed a comfortable distance behind her in my rental, but was able to keep her in sight in the heavy mid-morning traffic. She merged onto I-10 West and continued until Western Avenue, where she exited and turned north. I thought she was heading to one of the buildings on Wilshire Boulevard, but she crossed Wilshire and didn’t stop or turn. Instead, she continued north, straight to Hollywood. To my surprise she pulled into the parking garage of Modern Girls, the gentlemen’s club where Bambi worked. The club was a block north of Sunset Boulevard in a large building, and looked big and boxy. It dominated the block it sat on.
I waited a minute on the street, and thought, “Why is Andi coming here now? Maybe she wants to talk to Bambi. But, Bambi w
orks nights.” Then, it hit me like a two-by-four across my forehead. “Andi is a stripper, too!” I was convinced I was right. I guess that’s why I followed her into the attached parking garage.
This gentlemen’s club seemed like mainstream entertainment. It reminded me of a movie theater. Andi was no where to be seen. After parking my car I followed the signs to the elevator. At ground level, I walked a red carpet to the admission booth. A red rope blocked the hall ahead, with two well-dressed, large bouncer-type guys on each side.
I paid my cover and entered a sensual world of a subdued lighting, small round tables, waitresses in revealing clothes, big beefy security guys everywhere, and a well dressed crowd of 40 businessmen and women. The mix was about 5 to 1, men to women.
I sat at one of the small round tables with two chairs and a waitress came by and took my order of a vodka tonic with a lime wedge. After ordering, I realized it was still before noon and thought, “I should have had a soda”. But, instead, I got caught up in this strange, dark world.
Taking in the joint, I noticed a center boxing-like ring, with a raised runway stage that curled around the ring in a key shape - the long shaft of the key leading to backstage. Loud, techno music played from a countless number of speakers. There were five girls on stage swaying and swinging to the music - I wouldn’t call their movements dancing.
All five were Andi look-alikes, with different hair colors, but similar tall, thin, pretty bodies. Four of them also had large, enhanced breasts that barely moved. They were naked except for red g-strings and high-heeled pumps.
There were another five girls working the floor, carrying red plastic step stools. These girls were giving table-side dances while standing on the stools. They also wore the same minimal clothing.
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