“You mean like plastic surgery?”
“Yeah, and having their stomachs stapled.”
“Ugh, gross. Who would want to do any of that?”
“Lots of people. When you’re young and have a perfect body, you don’t realize that not everybody else does. Do you know how many teenagers want nose jobs or even boob jobs?”
“I don’t have a perfect body.”
“Okay, the violins are playing, but I don’t want to hear about it and 99.9% of the rest of the world doesn’t want to, either.”
Shahla smiled. “Tony, you’re funny. So what do you do when you aren’t working or driving your noisy car?”
Or going out with women. But his love life was in a tailspin, and he wasn’t about to discuss it. “I like to hike.” Although he hadn’t been hiking for a long time. And his gut showed it.
“Where do you like to hike?”
“Have you ever been up the Palm Springs Tramway?”
“No.”
“Well, from the top of the tram you can hike up Mt. San Jacinto. It’s beautiful up there.”
“I’d like to do that sometime.”
The waitress brought their food, and Shahla dove into her pie and ice cream. Tony sipped on his decaf. After he had allowed her to take several bites, he said, “Tell me about why you think Martha might be a suspect.”
“Jealousy. Joy was the star of the volleyball team, and Martha was riding the bench, mostly. Now she’s replaced Joy in the lineup as an outside hitter. But she’s not as good as Joy and never will be.” Shahla emphasized the last sentence.
“That doesn’t mean she killed Joy. Jealousy? There must be more to it than that.”
“How about insane jealousy? They’ve known each other all their lives, and Joy has always been better at everything. School. Sports. Attracting boys.”
“How do you fit into this?”
“What do you mean?”
“You said that they’ve known each other all their lives. But Joy was your best friend. Couldn’t you be feeling a little jealousy because of their closeness?”
Shahla glowered at him and took a big bite of pie.
“Well, look who’s here.”
Tony knew who it was even before he raised his eyes. He would know his ex-girlfriend’s voice anywhere. And Carol was with a man-not a bad looking man, a prosperous-looking man. Tony felt a twinge of something inside. And she was looking good, with a skirt and sweater that didn’t hide her curves. Her short brown hair with red highlights set off a smiling and perfectly proportioned face. No need for a nose job there. And she looked happy.
“Hi, Carol,” he said belatedly. “Uh, this is Shahla. Shahla works on the Hotline with me.”
“Working the late shift, eh?” Carol said, pointedly looking at her watch. Tony realized it was almost midnight. “Hi, Shahla. I’m so glad to meet you. This is Horace.”
Tony awkwardly stood up from the booth and shook hands with Horace. He didn’t see a ring through his nose, but maybe it was invisible.
“Well, we won’t keep you,” Carol said. “It must be way past Shahla’s bedtime. But it was great to see you both.” She tucked her hand into Horace’s arm and guided him to a table in the corner.
“Who was that?” Shahla asked, her eyes wide.
“That was my ex-girlfriend,” Tony said, following Carol with his own eyes and wondering how she still had such control over his emotions.
“She’s very pretty. But…”
“Pushy? Sarcastic?”
“I didn’t want to say anything bad about her.”
“You don’t have to. I know all her faults by heart.”
“I love your house.”
Tony had driven Shahla home, and they were sitting in his car in the driveway of a roomy and modern two-story house-the kind Tony would like to be able to afford someday. A house without attached neighbors.
“Fortunately, my father had lots of life insurance. And my mom works.”
“Your father? Your father is…?”
“My father is dead.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know that.” Tony couldn’t imagine what it was like to lose a parent. Both of his parents were still alive.
“He was murdered.”
“Ohmygod.”
“It’s been long enough so that I can talk about it. Five years. But the pain never goes away.”
“It must be very hard for you.” Before taking the class he wouldn’t have known what to say. But that didn’t seem strong enough, somehow.
Shahla was silent. And Tony didn’t know what else to say. Should he ask for details? It was time for her to go into the house, but he didn’t want to push her to get out of the car. That would seem heartless. He saw a light on in an upstairs window. Perhaps her mother had heard them drive in. As Shahla had said, his wasn’t the quietest car in the world. At least Mom would know her daughter was safe.
“My father was coming home from a meeting at night,” Shahla said softly. She seemed to be speaking to herself. “He stopped at a place like a 7-Eleven to get a loaf of bread or something. A man came into the store and pulled a gun on the clerk. I don’t think he even saw my father. The clerk gave him the money, and the robber was going to take him to the back of the store, probably to shoot him. My father intervened, and the bastard shot him.”
“Oh.” When Shahla remained silent, Tony said, “And the clerk?”
“The robber lost his cool at that point. He shot at the clerk and then took off. The clerk was wounded, but he survived. That’s how we know what happened.”
“And they didn’t get him?”
“No, they did. But the police screwed it up. They didn’t read him his rights, or something. The man made a confession, but the court threw it out. It was a big mess. He never went to jail.”
“No wonder you don’t like the police.”
Tony had been looking straight ahead out the car window at the house, but Shahla was silent so long that he stole a look at her. In the moonlight he could see tears running down her cheeks. He felt very awkward. He should do something to comfort her, but what?
She laid her head on his shoulder. He didn’t dare move. He felt tense and uncomfortable. He had never felt that way with a girl before. After what seemed like an eternity, but was probably no more than five minutes, she lifted her head and said, “I have to go.”
She gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and got out of the car. After she entered the house and closed the door, Tony sat for a minute, with conflicting emotions. Then he started the car, revved the engine, and backed out of the driveway.
CHAPTER 11
Nobody stopped Tony as he walked through the door into the gymnasium. He knew that a visitor entering the high school campus was supposed to report to the administration office first, but school was over for the day and, anyway, the gymnasium was next to the parking lot, somewhat removed from the classrooms.
The inside of the building immediately brought back memories of every gymnasium he had ever been in, with its wooden pull-out bleachers and the basketball nets at either end. And perhaps a faint odor of sweat, or was that his imagination? Tony could remember his own days on his high school basketball team, vividly, although his memories consisted mostly of him riding the bench while the taller, quicker and more talented players received the playing time.
A volleyball net dominated the center of the floor. A couple of dozen fans were scattered throughout the bleachers, some students, some parents. A few may have been grandparents. He was too old to be a student and too young to be a parent. Where did he fit in? Feeling self-conscious, Tony picked a seat near the door of the gym and put his cell phone on vibrate. If he received a call, he would run outside and take the call there. He didn’t want to have the background noise of a sporting event if Mona, his boss, called. And since it was 3:30 in the afternoon, that was a real possibility.
Tony hadn’t responded positively to Shahla’s feeling that Martha might be Joy’s killer, thinking that it sounded more like jealousy on Shahla’s part. Martha and Joy had enjoyed a certain amount of intimacy over the years, in spite of the supposed differences in their ability. He had decided, however, that if he was going to actively assist in the investigation, every lead was worth following up, to determine if it should be reported to Detective Croyden. But he didn’t want Shahla present to color his judgment.