‘Hi, sorry I’m late.’
He shook her hand, half lifting his butt from the seat as she slid into the chair opposite. ‘You want a cup of coffee?’
‘Diet Coke — hot out there today.’
Sharkey signalled to the waiter and ordered two Cokes, then looked back at Lorraine. She removed her dark glasses and tossed her head back. He noticed how well cut and silky her hair was — nice, like a shampoo ad. ‘Looking in good shape,’ he said.
‘Thanks. Wish I could say the same for you.’
He laughed. ‘How’s old Bill?’
‘He’s on honeymoon.’
‘What?’
‘Yeah, I don’t know if you remember Rosie, used to work with me. Sort of curly hair, cute face. They married after his wife died.’
The waiter brought their Cokes, and Sharkey dipped his straw in. ‘Dunno why I asked for this, I hate the stuff, but I’m not drinking.’
‘Makes two of us.’
Sharkey looked at her face. He could see no signs of the dissipation, the rough ride she’d been on with the drink and drugs, just a few lines at the corners of her eyes and mouth. Lorraine was aware that he was scrutinizing her, but chose to ignore it, looking instead at the other tables under the awning, with their Formica tops and plain, functional crockery. If the place was basic, at least everything looked well-maintained and clean.
Sharkey took her matches and lit her cigarette. ‘We got a new lieutenant, name of Burton, heading up the detective division — he’s a real son-of-a-bitch.’
Lorraine exhaled, turning her head away so the smoke didn’t blow in Sharkey’s face.
‘Burton, Jake Burton — you know him?’
‘Nope, but then I’ve been out of the force a long time.’
Sharkey nodded — he knew all about it, but he said nothing.
‘You want to start, or shall I?’ she asked.
He shifted in his seat. ‘Look, I came here because I wanted to get things straight. With this guy Burton looking over our shoulders, the days when we could trade off are gone, understand me? He’s got fuckin’ eyes in the back of his head.’
‘Does he know you’re meeting with me?’
‘No, no way. Shit, I think I’ll have a beer.’ He signalled for a waiter and ordered a lager, Mexican light.
‘Well, if he doesn’t know you’re here who’s gonna tell him? And maybe I’ve got something. We could just toss a few things round.’
Sharkey sucked his teeth. ‘You were hired by Cindy Nathan, right?’
Lorraine sat back as the waiter brought the beer. Sharkey waved away the glass, preferring to drink it from the bottle.
Will you start, or shall I?’ she said again softly.
He sighed, and shrugged his big shoulders. ‘Well, I might as well. I mean, we’ve got her sewn up — the gun was hers, her fingerprints were on it, and when she was brought into the station she virtually admitted it. We got enough witnesses to sink the fucking Titanic who say she threatened to shoot him, plus, as far as we can make out, she’s the main beneficiary of his estate — he’s got quite an art collection.’ Sharkey took a swig of beer and set the bottle down on the table. ‘Though from what I can make out, there’s not all that much in the way of liquid assets. Way I hear it, this so-called production company cum studio may go bust, which would soak up the cash from the collection.’ Sharkey cocked his head to one side. ‘But maybe she didn’t know that.’
‘Ah, but you do,’ Lorraine said.
‘Yeah, we checked him out. He’s got a share in a gallery run by an ex-wife, but lately he’d been living from hand to mouth.’
‘Blackmailing anyone he could,’ Lorraine added, watching Sharkey. He didn’t react.
‘Yeah, we figured that one. He was a real sleazeball, but we don’t have a suspect in that area.’
‘You sure about that?’
Sharkey took another gulp of beer. ‘Not sure of anything but the little lady. She pulled the trigger, maybe not for his money — maybe she knew he didn’t have any — but she shot him. We’ve got a few statements from Mr Nathan’s ever-loving friends that he knocked her around and that she cheated on him. These Hollywood types screw anything that moves, and Nathan certainly did his share — you see any of his movies?’ Lorraine shook her head. ‘Soft porn, and apparently he always road-tested his leading ladies — mind you, so would I if I had the chance.’
Lorraine’s smile didn’t reach her eyes. She wondered how much she should tell him, and how much he was holding back.
‘You know she was pregnant?’
He nodded. ‘We also know the child may not have been his — she was screwing Raymond Vallance. He was interviewed, shitting himself, not about the shooting — he’s got an alibi, apparently—’ Lorraine registered that piece of information with interest ‘—but about it getting out, you know, harming his career. Someone should tell him he’s been on the skids for the past ten years. The only way he’s ever going to see his name in the papers again is to be up on a fucking charge.’
Lorraine gave another chilly smile. ‘You know Harry Nathan made a lot of tapes? His phone calls, and people coming to the house, plus a few... adult material movies with Vallance and his ex-wives.’
‘Oh, sure,’ Sharkey lied. This was news to him. ‘We’re checking it out.’
Well, some of the recordings have come my way, and I’ll be sending them over — don’t want to lose my PI licence for obstructing the course of justice.’ She paused a moment. ‘What I’m thinking is maybe someone didn’t like the idea of being filmed,’ she went on. ‘Maybe didn’t like it so much they pulled the trigger — and Cindy Nathan didn’t.’
Sharkey sighed, then leaned forward. ‘Look, he was garbage, but he’d been garbage for a long time. Sure he hit on everyone for money — he was a con man, he conned anyone and anything he could, it was a way of life. Once he stopped directing, he sure as hell couldn’t produce a movie. He used them to score the chicks, maybe made a few bucks at the same time but he had a big lifestyle, so he hit on his friends, even his housekeepers — their wages haven’t been paid for months. But nothing we’ve dug up, and no one we’ve interviewed, has changed my department’s opinion. We think his wife, in a fit of jealous rage — and she could apparently throw quite a performance in that area — had had enough. She took her own gun, a weapon he had given to her and shown her how to use, and she waited until he was in the pool and popped him. Like I said, she’s virtually admitted it.’
‘What about his ex-wife?’
‘Kendall Nathan?’ he asked, and drained the last of the beer. ‘She’s been questioned, and she doesn’t have a motive.’
Lorraine reached for another cigarette. ‘She inherits half of the gallery, where I visited her today — and somebody sliced through my brake cable right afterwards.’
‘Oh, yeah?’ He didn’t seem interested.
‘Yeah. She also knew about the tapes in my office, and someone broke in and poured acid over them.’
He stared at her, waiting for more.
‘I don’t think Cindy killed him. I think somebody’s fitting her up for it — maybe one of the people he was blackmailing, I dunno, and...’ Should she tell him about the second bullet? The parked jeep? He wasn’t giving her much in return.
‘And?’ he urged her.
‘That’s about it.’
‘You reported the damage to your car?’ He was checking his watch. ‘If someone slashed my brake cable, I’d be worried. Did you report it?’ he asked again.