A pair of looming demons guarded the gates of this classic Thai temple, with its red roof and ornamental eaves outside, and a plump, gilded Buddha watching over the chanting monks within. I’d love to say I went there to join their meditation practice. In fact, it was the lure of mango and sticky rice, purchased from temple food stalls using funny plastic temple money, that drew me. That and the Thai Iced Tea, a divine beverage if ever there was one.
Barsotti had a different elixir in mind. I almost ran up his tailpipe when he braked suddenly and turned into a strip mall. I took a deep breath to slow my pulse, and sent a prayer of gratitude to the chubby Buddha next door. That would have been one pricey fender bender. Barsotti hurried into a Starbucks-or Fourbucks, as Bill likes to call it-phone glued to his ear. He emerged moments later with two 20-ounce Ventis nestled in a cardboard box.
Unless his car drank coffee, he was on his way to meet someone.
I sincerely hoped my gut wasn’t leading me on a crazy chase for nothing.
Traffic again formed a thick clot, and I had no trouble keeping the sports car in sight as he turned right, toward the jumble of apartment complexes and houses that sprawl for miles out there, forming separate branches of the seemingly infinite grid known collectively as “The Valley.” I found this part of town monotonous, flat, and downright depressing, but to each his own. I gave myself a mental attaboy for choosing to drive the Toyota today. A saffron Shelby Mustang would have made this part of the pursuit problematic. Happily, older Toyotas were a dime a dozen.
Coldwater quickly became Sheldon, condos became houses again, and I dropped back another two cars. His destination turned out to be a small but beautifully appointed cluster of stables and paddocks surrounding a riding ring, a jewel of a place in the East Valley. Several riders mounted on thoroughbreds trotted around the ring. A discreet sign revealed this to be the East Valley Equine Center. I knew about the enormous equestrian center in Griffith Park, but this was obviously the well-kept-secret alternative for wealthy horse-owners craving privacy. I parked across the street and watched as Barsotti maneuvered into a tight space between a Beemer and a Lexus. He carried both coffees to the riding ring, set them down, and leaned against the fence to watch the riders.
I now knew where we were, but I still hadn’t a clue what either of us was doing there.
I left my car across the street, retrieving only my binoculars-they were getting quite a workout today. I found a secure vantage point and peered at the ring, trying to guess which rider, or horse for that matter, Barsotti was visiting. I swept my field glasses past an older man with a patrician nose and a young, fresh-faced teenage girl posting up and down in spotless jodhpurs, her braces glinting as she grinned.
Then my binoculars filled with the smooth, glowing face of a beautiful young woman in her 20s. Blond curls spilled out from under her black helmet. With mental apologies to my Tibetan teachers, I lowered the glasses slightly. Yup, the rest of her equipment was equally to Barsotti’s taste, and I’m not talking about stirrups. She cantered past him, thighs gripping the sleek, chocolate-brown flanks of her horse. Barsotti’s head followed her around the ring as if magnetically connected.
As Julie would say: All righty, then.
A freckled kid on a two-wheeler screeched to a halt near me.
“Whatcha doing?” he asked.
I wasn’t going to lie. First of all, way back when, as a novice monk, I had vowed not to. Second of all, children get enough of that every day from the people they know; they don’t need strangers running cons on them, too.
“I’m watching a man watching a woman ride a horse.”
“Cool,” he said, and pedaled off. Would that all human communication were so simple.
I decided to give the binoculars a rest before I drew less agreeable attention. I let them dangle and took a slow stroll around the perimeter of the equestrian center, keeping watch on Barsotti out of the corner of my eye. As I completed one full lap around the place, staying well out of Barsotti’s line of vision, the blonde dismounted. She passed off her reins to a handler. He walked the horse toward the stables. She sashayed over to the fence and gave Barsotti a quick kiss. The giant rock on her left hand flashed and bounced light like a laser. Trophy wife, I thought. Explains the weight loss. Barsotti passed her a coffee and they shared a short conversation. As she left the riding ring, he escorted her over to, wonder of wonders, another brand-spanking-new Mercedes, this one a gleaming silver SUV. Same new plates. Same dealer. I took note of the name. One, or maybe both, of them went on a shopping spree recently, purchasing two new sets of wheels. I was betting on Barsotti, myself.
She got in her car and drove off. He got in his car and followed her. I got in my car and followed him following her. This is the exciting reality of detective work. A lot of waiting. A lot of watching. A lot of following.
They wound up parking several miles south, in an upscale condominium complex. I immediately deduced that the place had just opened-it had the freshly painted, newly planted exterior of a recently constructed building.
I heard Bill’s voice: “Right, detective. And that huge banner hanging from the roof proclaiming ‘Grand Opening, Now Leasing!’ has nothing to do with your conclusion.”
This is why my head will never get too swelled.
The two lovebirds, hand in hand, disappeared into one of the condos. I readjusted my thinking. Trophy mistress, maybe? They would be occupied for a while. I couldn’t think of anything more I could learn from the lovers, not pertaining to my case, anyway.
Assuming any of this pertained to my case.
I pulled out my iPhone, fumbled around until I opened the little pad-icon, and typed in the dealer name, as well as the unit number and address of the complex. After a few false starts, I also located Bill in my cell phone’s address book.
“Hey, partner,” he answered.
“Oh, hooray. I’m still ‘partner,’” I said.
“You must be about to ask me for a favor.”
“Dang, you’re good. Yes, I need you to run a couple of plates for me. Dealer plates. Can you do that?”
“Sure, unless they’re brand-new, as in a day or two old.”
I read him off the numbers.
“You’re in luck,” Bill said. “I’m at the office in front of the computer. Stay on the phone.”
Bill hummed a tuneless song while the keyboard clacked in the background. I already missed that habit of his, that endearing, tone-deaf drone.
“Okay,” he said. “Got something to write with?”
”I can use my phone.”
“Well, aren’t you the fancy one,” Bill said. “So, the E550 belongs to the dealership, Golden State Mercedes-Benz over in Pasadena. The SUV is registered … let’s see, uh, as of three weeks ago, to one Ramona C. Cunningham. Same dealership, though I’m guessing you already knew that.”
“Got an address for Cunningham?”
He read off a Newport Beach address, a long way from a condo on Coldwater Canyon. My mind quickly revised the front-page lede: Prosperous middle-aged lothario lures someone else’s trophy wife from her unhappy home in Newport Beach for trysts at a love nest in The Valley, with the help of a horse, a car, and a cappuccino. Catchy.
“Hey, Ten?”
“Yes, Bill?”
“Any money fall out of any tree yet?”
“Funny. Really funny.” I hung up on the sound of his laughter.
Next stop, Pasadena. Golden State Mercedes-Benz, to be exact. Three freeways later I parked at the far end of their visitor’s lot and started walking, praying to slip inside unnoticed. No such luck. Out of nowhere, a trim, eager young man in a suit and tie intercepted me. His eyes darted over my shoulder to my long-suffering Toyota, looking clunkier than ever. It slowed him down, but not for long.
“Good day, sir,” he said, offering me his hand. “Chad Willoughby, sales consultant.”