Milo said, “Mix of evasive and brazen.”
I said, “There’s an amateurish quality to all of it-playing at clever while being blatant and exhibitionistic. That fits with De Paine’s theatrical demeanor and with Fisk’s body-consciousness. It also points to a thrill motive. Jordan and Grant may have been eliminated to cover something up, but the killings took on their own meaning.”
“Once you off your daddy, the rest gets easier,” said Saunders.
“I’ve interviewed serial murderers. Several have told me after they pull off a few killings they start to feel invisible. The good part is it leads them to get careless and I can see these two headed in that direction.”
Petra said, “What’s the bad part?”
“Given De Paine’s sexual kinks, they could be gearing up for something really unpleasant.”
Petra said, “I’ve hand-checked the files. No one got brutalized on or near Fourth Street five years before or after the time Patty and Tanya lived there. I guess it’s possible something didn’t get reported but maybe we shouldn’t limit ourselves to Patty’s old neighborhoods because of some ambiguous message about the guy being ‘close by.’”
“I’m not wedded to geography,” I said, “but I’d at least canvass Fourth Street to find out if anyone’s still around from back then.”
“I agree,” said Milo. “It would need to be done without tipping off Mary Whitbread, and she knows my face and yours.”
Dave Saunders said, “A couple of tall, handsome African American gentlemen sauntering door-to-door isn’t exactly inconspicuous. Plus we need to concentrate on Grant.”
Petra played with black strands of hair and laughed. “Leaving guess-who. You really think it’s worth it, Alex?”
I said, “It might not help you find De Paine, but it could lead back to the original motive.”
She closed her eyes, massaged the lids. Opened them and aimed clear brown irises at each of us in turn. “Nothing else seems to be panning out. If Raul spots Mary leaving her house, I’ll give it a try. Maybe I’ll buy a Girl Scout uniform and sell cookies.”
She stood and gathered her files. “Talk about self-delusion.”
Milo said, “Hey, do the pigtail thing, you could pull it off.”
“My hair’s too short and you lie shamelessly,” she said. “For which I thank you.”
Robin’s note said she’d taken Blanche to her studio in Venice, would be back around six. I called Tanya and told her I needed to see her as soon as possible.
“I’ve got lab until four thirty and work-study at six.”
“Four thirty it is. I’ll come to campus.”
“Is everything okay, Dr. Delaware?”
“No emergency, but I need to touch base with you.”
“You’re worried about me,” she said. “My OCD.”
First time she’d put a name on it.
I said, “If that’s on your mind we can deal with it, too. But I’m talking about the investigation.”
“You caught someone?”
“Not yet-let’s talk in person, Tanya.”
Telling, not asking.
She said, “If you say so. Where?”
“Do you eat dinner before work?”
“Not a meal. Sometimes I buy junk from a machine and sit outside if the weather’s nice.”
“The weather looks fine. How about the inverted fountain?”
“Sure,” she said. “I like that spot.”
I hadn’t run for a few days and decided to walk the three miles to the U.
Before I left, I phoned Robin. She said, “Think you’ll be back by dinner?”
“Planning to.”
“Takeout okay?”
“Fine.”
“Any particular ethnicity?”
“I’m a pluralist.”
“I’m thinking Mexican. The place on Barrington that delivers.”
“Fine.”
“You’re preoccupied,” she said. “I could’ve said deep-fried cardboard.”
“I’ll try to be focused by six. Let me run something by you, babe. The more I learn about De Paine, the more concerned I am about Tanya’s safety. How do you feel about her staying with us, temporarily? She really has no one else.”
“Sure,” she said. “Even if she doesn’t make her own bed.”
“This one makes her bed. She might make ours if we don’t move quickly enough.”
“Hmm,” she said. “Anything else I should know about her?”
“She’s under a lot of stress but she’s a good kid.”
“Bring her over.”
“You’re a doll.”
“So they say.”
“Who’s they?”
“Mostly you say it. But every so often I have been known to evoke admiration from others. Back in high school I nearly made it in with the popular girls.”
Thinking about Blaise De Paine avoiding a police record got me thinking about Mario Fortuno. He’d said his ex-wife would be calling soon but she hadn’t. Had Fortuno ever intended to follow through? Or was the negotiation in his hotel room a pathetic distraction from the joys of protective custody?
Not my problem; Santa Barbara was a beautiful town but I had plenty to keep me busy in L.A.
I arrived at the fountain five minutes early but Tanya was already there. So was Kyle.
The two of them sat thigh-to-thigh, his arm around her shoulder, her hand on his knee. Book bags on the ground, talking earnestly. Tanya listened to something Kyle said, smiled, tilted her head back. He touched her chin, her cheek, played with her hair. They rubbed noses. Kissed lightly. Got lost in each other’s eyes. Lip-locked for a good thirty seconds.
I stood back until they came up for breath. Waited as they dove into a grinding kiss.
When they broke for air, I said, “Afternoon, guys.”
They both stiffened. Two hand-in-the-cookie-jar stares.
I sat down next to Kyle. He wore his Princeton sweatshirt, grubby jeans with non-intentional rips, the shameful yellow running shoes. Sparse black stubble dotted his chin. His fingernails were gnawed ragged.
Tanya’s jeans were pressed. Her pale blue sweater was spotless. Tiny seed pearls glinted from her ears.
I said, “What I’ve learned about Blaise De Paine and Robert Fisk makes me concerned about your safety, Tanya. If De Paine suspects your mother told you something incriminating, he could come after you. That’s far from certainty, but we are talking about someone who murdered his own father. I know you’re careful but I don’t like the idea of your living alone and it’s time to be flexible. Moving’s a hassle but it wouldn’t be long-term, what do you think?”
Tanya looked at Kyle.
He said, “We’re way past that. Tanya’s moving in with me.”
“It’s the optimal solution,” she said. “Hancock Park is an extremely safe neighborhood, Kyle’s got a premium security system, and I’d never be alone because someone’s always in the house. It wouldn’t even be a major change. I used to live there.”
Smiling at Kyle.
He said, “Every single door and window is alarmed and the system is maintained regularly.”
He tightened his grip on Tanya’s arm. She shifted closer, put one hand on the back of his neck, kept the other drumming his knee.
He said, “I’m talking alarm screens and infrared motion detectors that can be switched on in multiple zones and motion-triggered perimeter lighting all around the property.”
“Sounds like state-of-the-art,” I said.
“Grandpa was always safety-conscious but he upgraded years ago after a neighbor-a diamond dealer on June Street-was murdered. We’ve never come remotely close to being broken into.”
“Wilfred Hong,” I said.
“Who’s that?”
“The diamond dealer.”
“The police investigated that as a link to Ms. Bigelow?”
“They looked into every unsolved homicide that occurred near any of Tanya and her mom’s residences.”
“And?”
“Nothing, so far. For the moment, we’re going to narrow it to the Fourth Street area, possibly a crime that wasn’t reported. Do you recall anything new, Tanya?”