“I know you’ve got some issues with her,” Brenda said. “But a couple of days together can’t be that much of an ordeal-can it?”
My phone rang before I could answer, saving me an explanation. “I should get this,” I said, pulling the phone from my pocket. “It might be her. I hope she didn’t catch an earlier flight.”
“Well hang in there,” Brenda said. “And let’s keep in touch,” she added as she pushed herself away from the table. She gathered up the dirty cups and carried them over to the garbage can near the door.
“After my mother leaves why don’t we get together and go for a sail?”
“Call me,” Brenda said, and then she headed out of the door while I flipped open the phone.
“Wes Darling here,” I said.
“Darling, this is Detective Davies. Get your ass down to the station. We need to talk, and sooner is better for you than later.”
Chapter 12
Davies had been curt on the phone and I couldn’t imagine what might have pissed her off, unless she’d just gotten off the phone with my mother. That might do it, especially if Davies told my mother she couldn’t claim Nick’s body. Mother was used to having her own way. It wouldn’t be the first time someone had taken their anger with my mother out on me.
This time Davies wasn’t outside when I arrived. When I entered the building the officer at the desk looked up from the book he was reading. I told him my name and who I was there to see. He stood and looked me up and down before asking, “You armed.”
“No.” For a moment I thought he was going to come around the desk and frisk me, but instead he turned toward the door to the back offices.
“Follow me.” He led me back to the same office where I’d met Davies the day before. When he left he added, “Linda will be with you in a few minutes.”
It was the first time I’d heard her first name, and I realized she had never mentioned it. I suspected she had done it on purpose, her way of keeping our relationship professional. I thought about the implications, and wondered once again if she suspected me in Nick’s death. Maybe I’ll ask her, I thought while I sat back to wait for her to appear. She kept me waiting for nearly twenty minutes.
“I was beginning to think you had forgotten about me,” I said when she finally walked in. She was much more casually dressed than the first two times I’d seen her; jeans, neatly pressed, and a light blue blouse. She still carried the huge purse slung over her shoulder, and she was carrying another file folder, which she tossed in front of an empty chair.
“Mister Darling, I’m glad you could make it. When you didn’t answer my earlier call, I thought maybe you were avoiding me.”
“What earlier call?” I asked, and then I remembered the call I’d received when I was with Elvis.
“It’s not important.” She sat down across from me. “What’s important is that you’re here now.” She leaned forward and I caught a hint of her perfume, something heady and exciting. It almost made me want to forget about this woman’s pock-marked face. “You don’t mind looking at a few other pictures, do you, Wes?”
I shook my head no. She leaned back and picked up the file folder. She never took her eyes off my face as she opened the file, took out an eight-by-ten publicity photo and slid it across the table to me. I tried to prepare myself for another look at Nick. I hesitated, picked up the picture, and glanced at it before tossing it back to Davies.
“That’s not Nick,” I said.
“No shit Sherlock. You really are a detective aren’t you? You do know who it is though?”
“His name is Billy. He works at Dirty Alvin’s. He was there last night in fact. What happened to him, and what does he have to do with Nick?” She had succeeded in surprising me, and I almost told her that I knew him and Destiny, but I held back. I wasn’t ready to let her in on my investigation. I didn’t like the implications. Billy was Destiny’s boyfriend, and Nick was looking for Destiny. It was a little too much to be a coincidence.
“His given name’s William Bodine,” she said, still watching my face. “He’s got a record. He has a temper, and we’ve received several complaints about him. We found him in his apartment this morning. He’d been shot in the head like your friend. By the way, Wes, where were you last night?”
My mouth went dry and I fought not to show any emotion on my face. Thanks for small favors, I thought. If I hadn’t let Destiny talk me into staying at Tanya’s I’d probably be in jail today. I could account for my time, but I wondered exactly when Destiny left Tanya’s house. I didn’t want to believe she was a murderer, but I wasn’t going to rule out the possibility. I also wasn’t ready to turn her over to the cops as a suspect.
“I asked where you were last night, Wes.” Davies’ voice hardened. “I want an answer, now.”
“I was at the bar until close. After I left Alvin’s I spent the night with friends.”
Davies nodded and pulled a notebook from her pocket. “The only reason you’re sitting here talking to me instead of behind bars is because I had a little talk with your boss, Tanya Robertson, before calling you. She told me you spent last night at her place. I’m not sure I buy it. Maybe she’s lying for you. Maybe you’re both in on this.”
“Why would I want to kill Billy? I hardly knew the guy. We talked a couple of times in the bar, nothing more. And I can’t even begin to imagine why Tanya would want him dead.”
“It could be any number of things,” she said. “It could be jealousy. Maybe he was hitting on the owner and you wanted her for yourself. Maybe the two of you were drinking and got into an argument. If you had a fight and it was self-defense, you could even get off without doing any jail time.”
“More bullshit,” I said. “From the sound of your voice, I don’t even think you believe the fantasy you laid out for me.”
“All right.” She sighed, and offered up another possibility. “Maybe you killed Billy because you found out he killed your friend, Nick.”
“I didn’t kill anyone,” I said. “And I find it hard to believe Billy killed Nick.” I’d watched the way Billy backed down from Bob and I couldn’t see how he would have gotten the drop on Nick, let alone killed him.
“Why not? We found a gun in the apartment. It’s the same caliber as the one used to kill Hastings; we’re waiting for a match from ballistics to confirm whether the bullets are the same. We also found a pistol registered to your buddy, Nick, under Billy’s bed. Hastings had a shoulder holster on him when his body was found, but the gun was missing. I figure Bodine killed Hastings and took the gun. The question is, who killed Bodine, and why? Vengeance is a strong motivator, Wes.”
She had a good point. Of course I possessed information Davies didn’t. I could only speculate about Bob. I wondered if he’d somehow tracked Billy down. If Billy wouldn’t or couldn’t tell him where Destiny was, I knew Bob was capable of killing him. I wondered if maybe Bob killed Nick and made it look like Billy did it. The trouble was, I couldn’t figure out a motivation. After all, Nick was trying to find the girl for them and I didn’t think he would hesitate to turn her over to them once he’d located her. He would have figured he was doing the job he was paid to do.
“Why would Billy kill Nick?” I asked. “It doesn’t make sense.”
Davies leaned across the table again and I was hit with her perfume one more time. There should be a law against cops wearing something so enticing.
“I was sort of hoping you could give me the answer,” she said.
“As far as I know, Nick and Billy never met. To be honest, I don’t know what the hell’s going on.”
“Call me a skeptic,” Davies said. “I don’t think you’ve told me the truth since I met you. “Get the hell out of here, but keep in touch. I still like you for Bodine’s death. You’ve got the motive, and if you didn’t have a strong alibi I’d arrest you right now. I’ll be keeping an eye on you, Darling.”
***
While I walked back to Tanya’s house all I could think about was Nick. When I’d done something wrong as a kid, he’d often run interference with my mother. He’d bought me my first baseball glove. Offered me advice before my first date. Given me my first Playboy magazine. I had an empty space inside of me, and it wasn’t going away anytime soon. When I thought about Nick’s death I realized I was going to have to make amends with my mother. Life was too short to carry grudges.