A window on the other side of the glass offered a view clear to Boyle Heights and beyond. It took a while to find the call button: a tiny stainless-steel pimple blending mischievously with the surrounding segment of metallic wall.
Milo pushed. No sound.
A female voice, lightly accented, said, “Masterson.”
“Hi, again. Lieutenant Sturgis.”
“I gave your message to Mr. Kotsos.”
“Then it’s Mr. Kotsos I’ll talk to.”
“I’m afraid-”
“You should be. If I have to come back, it’ll be with a subpoena.” Hunching like an ape, he beat his chest.
“Sir-”
“And I’ll be needing your name for the paperwork.”
Silence. “One second.”
She’d underestimated, but not by much. Twelve seconds later, a pudgy little man came out, beaming.
“Gentlemen, so nice. Markos Kotsos.” Deep voice, starting somewhere in the digestive tract and emerging belch-like. Different accent from the receptionist. Thicker, Mediterranean.
Given the cold-blooded lobby and what he did for a living, I’d expected a wraith dressed in all-black, sporting Porsche-design eyeglasses and a complex wristwatch. Markos Kotsos had on an intensely wrinkled white caftan over baggy brown linen pants, sandals without socks, a steel Rolex. Middle-aged, five five, two hundred pounds, give or take, he wore his too-dark hair in a modified perm. Deep tan, too saffron around the edges not to be enhanced by bronzer.
He dropped into one of the granite chairs, folded his hands atop an ample lap. “Sorry for any inconvenience, gentlemen. What can I do for you?”
Taking care of business in the lobby, because no visitors were expected.
Milo said, “We’re here because of a-”
“Elena told me, a murder on Borodi.” Kotsos sighed. “That project was ill fated from the beginning. Believe me, we regret taking it on.”
“Who was the client?”
“Who was murdered?”
Milo said, “I’d prefer to ask the questions, sir.”
“Ah, of course,” said Kotsos.
Silence.
“Sir?”
Kotsos shook his head, sadly. “I’m afraid I cannot help you with specifics. There was a confidentiality agreement.”
“Between?”
“The client and us. Following cessation of construction.”
Milo said, “Who sued who?”
Kotsos licked his lips. Stumpy fingers drummed a larded thigh. “It is extremely unusual for us to take on residential projects. Extremely. We are as much developers and conceptualizers as we are architects, thus the projects we choose to accept are massively scaled, complex, more often international than not.”
“ Middle East international?”
Kotsos crossed a leg, held on to the heel of his sandal. “You’ve been to our website, yes? So you know that Dubai has been a major focus of our work because it is a fascinating locale where financial realities intersect with aesthetic adventurousness in a quite unique manner.”
“Good ideas and the bucks to make them happen.”
Kotsos smiled. “Which is why the Al Masri Majestic Hotel will be unique and spectacular, an awe-inspiring feat of structural engineering, ten stars and beyond. We are drilling a quarter mile into the Gulf in order to support pylons the size of buildings.”
“The rendering was pretty impressive,” said Milo.
Smoooth operator.
“The reality will be groundbreaking, Lieutenant. Literally and figuratively. We have found a way to support a carrying weight of unprecedented-but you don’t care about that, you’re here about a murder.” Transforming the word into something trivial. “At a project with which we haven’t been involved in years.”
Milo said, “Desmond Backer.”
Not an eyeblink. “Who?”
“One of our victims.”
“One? There is more?”
“Two, sir.”
“So sorry. No, I don’t know the name.”
“He was an architect.”
“There are many architects,” said Kotsos.
Milo said, “This one died at your project.”
“Former project.”
“The permit was pulled by DSD, Incorporated.”
“If that’s what the record says, then it is true.”
“Any reason for us to believe otherwise?”
Hesitation. “No.”
“Sir?”
“The record speaks for itself.”
“Tell us about DSD.”
Kotsos shook his head. “I’m sorry, as I told you, the terms of the confidentiality-”
“You can’t even say who they are?”
“I’m sorry.”
Milo said, “That was a civil agreement, this is criminal.”
“Lieutenant, I would truly love to help you, but the terms are absolute and the stakes are sizable.”
“Big money.”
Silence.
Milo said, “You sued DSD for a substantial unpaid balance. They settled but are paying in installments, will use any excuse to stop payment.”
Kotsos sighed again. “It is not simple.”
“Is there any reason we should suspect DSD-or anyone connected to DSD-of criminal behavior?”
Kotsos thought awhile, brightened and clapped his hands together. “Okay, I tell you this because I do not want you thinking I am hiding anything important. In terms of murder, I cannot honestly point a finger at anyone. Absolutely not, if I could, I would, no one likes murder, life is precious. If, on the other hand, you are investigating financial…” Smiling and running a finger across his mouth. “I have said enough.”
Milo produced his notepad. “Homicide, Mr. Kotsos. Financial doesn’t interest me. Now, how about some names of people who worked for DSD?”
Kotsos’s head shake seemed genuinely rueful.
“Here’s another name for you, Mr. Kotsos: Helga Gemein.”
“Who is that?”
“Desmond Backer’s boss. The firm is Gemein, Holman, and Cohen.”
“Never heard of them,” said Kotsos.
“They’re into green architecture.”
Kotsos snorted. “Silly stuff.”
“Green is silly?”
“Isolating green as a profound concept, as if it’s new, Lieutenant, is pretentious and idiotic. The Greeks and the Romans-and the Hebrews and the Phoenicians and the Babylonians-every civilization of note has integrated natural elements into design, from Solomon’s Temple to the Mayan pyramids. That is the natural human way. It is in our chromosomes. And shall we discuss the Renaissance? Would you consider the tri-level church in Rome anything other than deliciously synchronous and organic, despite the unexpected turns of events that led to its sequential nature?”
“You took the words out of my mouth.”
Kotsos said, “What I am saying, Lieutenant, is that everything good about design relates to harmony. All this flabber about natural materials is… air.” Waving pudgy hands. “Cement is natural, it comes from sand. Sandstone is natural. Does that mean cement and sandstone are the optimal materials for every purpose? Shall we use sandstone for our pylons in Dubai?” Throaty laugh. “Any architect deserving of his degree considers his surroundings and attempts to integrate.” Leaning toward us. “Do you know what ‘green’ has become, Lieutenant?”
“What, sir?”
“A cult of the ignorant. Using recycled cardboard as if it is platinum. Exposing ducts, planting grass on the roof, substituting raw wood for fine finishes. Reprocessing sewer water entitles one to a badge of ascetic honor? A cult, Lieutenant. Self-consciously ironic and aesthetically phony.”
“Smog doesn’t bother you?”
Kotsos said, “Ugly will not solve smog. There is nothing new under the sun. The only meaningful question is who gets to hold the reflective lens.”
Passion had propelled him closer to the edge of the chair. Pink had spread under his tan.
Milo said, “So you’ve never heard of Gemein, Holman, and Cohen.”
“I have not. Where are they located?”
“ Venice.”
“I go to Venice, Italy. Now, if you’ll excuse me-”
“You’re a large firm,” said Milo. “How many partners do you have?”