Our second drinking hole tonight, this one a dank, would-be Irish tavern1 onPico.
Lou Giacomo took in the décor. “This could be Queens.”
The three of us settled in a stiff-backed booth with Naugahyde cushions. Milo asked for a Diet Coke and I had coffee.
Giacomo said, “Bud, not Light, regular.”
This barmaid was young, with a lip-pierce. “I’d never take you for a Lightguy.”
Giacomo ignored her. She shot him a sharp look and left.
He said, “You guys reformed drunks or something?”
Milo spread his shoulders and took up morespace in the booth.
Giacomo massaged2 a thick wrist. “No offense3 intended, I’m not at my best,okay?”
“Sorry about Tori,” said Milo. “I meanthat.”
“Like I told you the first time, I already knew. Now the wife claims sheknew, too.”
“How’s she doing?”
“She wants me home a-sap. Probably gonna greet me with another nervousbreakdown. I ain’t going back until I’m sure Tori gets a proper burial.”
His eyes watered. “What a stupid thing to say, it’s a fuckin’ skull4, how thefuck can it get a proper burial ? I went over there, to your coroner. Theydidn’t wanna show it to me, gave me all this bullshit, it ain’t like TV, youdon’t have to see it. I made ’em show it to me.”
Spade-shaped hands shaped a shaky oval in the air. “Fuckin’ thing. Onlyreason they even had it was some lady was working with it, some fuckin’ scienceproject, she’s putting holes in it, digging out the…”
His loss of composure was sudden as a stroke. Pale and sweating, he pressedhimself against the seat, gasping5 as if he’d been sucker punched.
Milo said, “Mr. Giacomo?”
Giacomo clenched6 his eyes shut and waved him off.
When the young barmaid brought the drinks, he was still sobbing7 and she wasmature enough to look the other way.
“Sorry about that faggy shit.”
“Don’t be,” said Milo.
“Well I fuckin’ am. ” Giacomo rubbed his eyes, ran his jacket sleeve overthe lids. The tweed left red trails across his cheeks. “What they told me is Igotta fill out forms so I can take it with me. After that, I’m outta here.”
He gazed at his beer as if it were a urine sample. Drank anyway.
“I got this to tell you: The few times Tori called, her mother buggedher—getting any parts, sleeping enough, dating anyone. I try to tell Arlene.Don’t bug8 her. She says ‘I do it ’cause I care. ’ Meaning I don’t. ”
Giacomo swallowed more beer. “Now all of a sudden, she’s telling me Tori wasmaybe dating someone. How does she know? Tori didn’t say so but she didn’t denyit.”
“Any details?”
Giacomo’s lip curled. “Mother’s intuition.” He rotated his mug. “That placestinks. Your coroner’s. Smells like garbage left out for a month. Any way youcan use what I just told you?”
“Not without some kind of evidence.”
“Figures—I’m not trying to bust11 your balls, but what I got to look forwardto when I get home ain’t no picnic. Dealing12 with the church, who knows what thepope’s position is on burying—my sister’s gonna talk to the monsignor, we’llsee.”
Milo sipped13 his Diet Coke.
Lou Giacomo said, “I keep telling myself Tori’s in a better place. If Ican’t convince myself of that, I might as well…”
Milo said, “If I call your wife, is itpossible she can tell me more?”
Giacomo shook his head. “But suit yourself. She was always bugging14 Tori—areyou eating, are you exercising, how’re your teeth. What she never got was Torifinally wanted to grow up. So what do you think, is Tori connected to thatother girl?”
Milo’s lie was smooth. “I can’t say that,Mr. Giacomo.”
“But you’re not not saying it.”
“Everything’s an open issue at this point.”
“Meaning you don’t know shit.”
“That’s a pretty accurate appraisal15.”
Giacomo’s smile was queasy16. “You’re probably gonna get pissed but I didsomething.”
“What’s that?”
“I went over there. To Tori’s apartment. Knocked on all the doors and askedif they remembered Tori, or seen any guy hanging around. What a dump. Mostlyyou got Mexicans living there, I’m gettin’ all these confused looks, no speakyEnglish. You could get hold of the landlords and ask ’em to pull their rentalrecords.”
“Seeing as you already tried and they said no?”
“Hey—”
Milo said, “Don’t worry about it, just tellme what they said.”
“They said diddly.” Giacomo handed over a scrap17 of paper. Holiday Inn stationery18.A name and a 323 number.
Milo said, “Home-Rite Management.”
Giacomo said, “Bunch of Chinese, I talked to some woman with an accent. Sheclaimed they didn’t own the building two years ago. I try to explain to herthis is important but I got nowhere.” He ran his hands along the sides of hishead. “Stupid bitch—it’s like my brain’s gonna explode. I’m bringing Tori backhome in a fuckin’ carry-on. ”
We drove him back to the Holiday Inn, let the engine idle, and walked him tothe hotel’s glass doors.
“I’m sorry about that alkie crack, okay? That other time, that Indian place,you guys had tea, I was just…” He shrugged19. “Out of line, none of my business.”
Milo placed a hand on his shoulder. “Noapologies necessary. What you’ve gone through, I couldn’t hope to understand.”
Giacomo didn’t repel20 the contact. “Be straight with me: Would you considerthis a bad one? Compared to most of them that you get?”
“They’re all bad.”
“Yeah, of course, sure. Like someone else’s kid ain’t as important as mine.But my kid’s what I’m thinking about—think I’ll ever be able to not think aboutit?”
Milo said, “People tell me it gets easier.”
“Hope so. You find anything, you’ll let me know?”
“Of course.”
Giacomo nodded and shook Milo’s hand. “Youguys are all right.”
We watched him enter the hotel lobby, pass the desk without word, and standfidgeting in front of the elevator without touching21 the button. Thirty secondslater, he slapped his temple and pushed. Turned around, saw us, and mouthed theword “stooopid.”
Milo smiled. We got back in the car anddrove off.
“‘People tell me it gets easier’,” said Milo.“Pretty therapeutic22, huh? Speaking of lies, I need to get to the office, chartall that stuff Little Brie thought was off the record. Don’t wanna bore you.”
“Want me to meet you at Michaela’s apartment tomorrow morning?”
“Nah, that could be boring, too. But how about you phone Tori’s mom, see ifa Ph.D. helps. The ex-husband, too. Here’s the numbers.”
I made the calls the following morning. Arlene Giacomo was a thoughtful, sanewoman.
She said, “Lou drive you nuts?”
“Not yet.”
“He needs me,” she said. “I want him home.”
I let her talk for a while. Eulogizing Tori but providing nothing new. WhenI brought up the dating issue, she said, “A mother can tell, believe me. ButI’ve got no details, Tori was really into being free, no more girl talk withMama. That was something her father couldn’t grasp, he always bugged9 her.”
I thanked her and punched in Michael Caravanza’s number. A woman answered.
“Hold on—Mii-keee!”
Moments later a slurred23, “Yeah?”
I explained why I was calling. He said, “Hold on—one second, babe. This isabout Tori? You found her?”
“Her remains24 were identified yesterday.”
“Remains—oh, shit, I don’t wanna tell Sandy,she knew Tori.”
“Did she know her well?”
“Nah,” said Caravanza, “just from church. What happened?”
“That’s what we’re trying to figure out. Did you have contact with her aftershe moved to L.A.?”
“We were divorced, but we were getting along, you know? Like they say,amicable. She called me a coupla times, maybe the first month. Then itstopped.”
“No more loneliness.”
“I figured she hooked up with someone.”
“She say that?”
“Nah, but I know—knew Tori. When she had that voice it meant she was excitedabout something. And it sure wasn’t her acting25 career, she wasn’t getting shit.That she told me.”
“No idea who she was seeing?”
“You think he did it to her?”
“Any lead would be helpful.”
“Well,” said Michael Caravanza, “if she did what she said she was gonna do,she hooked up with some movie star. That was the plan. Go to Hollywood, the right clubs, whatever, meetsome movie star and show him she could be a star, too.”
“Ambitious.”
“Ambitious is what split us up. I’m a working guy, Tori thought her shitwas—she thought she was gonna be Angelina Jolie or something—what’s that—holdon, babe, just a sec—sorry, Sandy’smy fiancée.”
“Congratulations,” I said.
“Yeah, I’m gonna try the marriage thing again. Sandy’s nice and she wants kids. No bigchurch deal, this time, we’re just gonna do it with some judge then go off to Aruba or something.”
“Sounds nice.”
“Hope so. Don’t get me wrong, Tori was a nice girl. She just thought shecould be someone else.”
“The few times she did call,” I said, “did she say anything that could helpus?”
“Let me think,” said Caravanza. “It was only three times, four,whatever…what did she say…mostly she said she was lonely. That was basicallyit, lonely. In some shitty little apartment. She didn’t miss me or want to getback together, nothing like that. She just wanted to tell me she was feelingshitty.”
“What did you say?”
“Nothing, I listened. Mostly that’s what I did when I was married. Shetalked, I listened.”
I reached Milo’s cell and reported bothconversations.
“Hooking up with a movie star, huh?”
“Maybe she settled for someone who looked like one.”
“Meserve or another PlayHouse Adonis.”
“With her level of naiveté, someone who’d been around just a bit longercould’ve seemed impressive.”
“Wonder how long Meserve’s been getting insight from Nora Dowd.”
“Longer than two years,” I said. “He was there before Michaela arrived.”
“And when Tori showed up. So where the hell is he…okay, thanks, let me tossthis around while I wait for Michaela’s landlord.”
The day floated by with all the importance of a cork26 in the ocean. Iconsidered calling Allison, then Robin27, then Allison again. Settled for neitherand filled Saturday by running and sleeping, doing scutwork around the house.
Sunday’s balm and glorious blue skies made matters worse; this was a day tobe with someone.
I drove to the beach. The sun had brought people and cars to the coastline.Golden-haired girls promenaded28 in bikini tops and sarongs, surfer dudes peeledin and out of wetsuits, tourists gawked at natural wonders of all types.
On PCH, a conspicuously29 crawling highway patrol car lowered the pace torace-walk from Carbon Beach to Malibu Road. Thesouthern entry to Latigo Canyon30 was closer butthat meant more miles of winding31 road. I kept going to Kanan Dume and turnedoff.
Alone.
I tooled up the canyon, both hands on the wheel as the twists tested the Seville’s mushysuspension. Despite being up here years ago, the sharpness of the curves and the dead drops if you steered32 wrong surprised me.
Not a spot for a leisurely33 cruise and after dark the route would betreacherous unless you knew it well. Dylan Meserve had hiked up here andreturned to play out a fraudulent kidnapping.
Maybe because of the isolation34. I had yet to encounter another vehiclechallenging the mountains.
I drove another few miles, managed to turn around on a skinny ribbon ofasphalt, hooked right on Kanan, and drove into the Valley.
Tori Giacomo’s last known address was a dingy35 white multiplex. Old cars andtrucks filled the street. True to her father’s description, the people I sawwere mostly brown-skinned. Some were dressed for church. Others looked as iffaith was the last thing on their minds.
Laurel Canyonsouth led me back into the city and Beverly Boulevard east took me to Hancock Park.No Range Rover in Nora Dowd’s driveway and when I walked up to the door andknocked, no response.
Go west, aimless man.
The weeds where Michaela had been dumped had fluffed, obscuring any historyof violence. I stared at plants and dirt, got back in the car.
On Holt Avenue,I spotted36 Shayndie Winograd and a young, sparsely37 bearded man in a black suitand a broad-brimmed hat walking four small children and steering38 a doublestroller north toward Pico. The allegedly ailing39 Gershie Yoel was the pictureof health as he tried to shinny up his father’s trousers. Rabbi Winograd fendedhim off, finally lifted the boy and slung40 him over his shoulder like a sack offlour. The kid loved it.
A short drive away, on Reynold Peaty’s block of Guthrie, I looked for SeanBinchy but couldn’t find him. Was the guy that good? Or had born-againobligations prevailed on Sunday?
As I coasted past Peaty’s building, a young Hispanic family came down thestairs and headed for a dented41 blue van. Definite church garb10, including threechubby kids under five. These parents looked even younger than theWinograds—barely out of their teens. The father’s shaved head and stone-facedswagger were at odds42 with his stiff gray suit. He and his wife were heavy. Shehad tired eyes and blond-streaked hair.
Back in my intern43 days, the psych staff had favored a smug, knowing line:Kids having kids. The unspoken tsk-tsk.
Here I was, driving around by myself.
Who was to say?
I’d stopped without meaning to in front of Peaty’s building. One of thelittle kids waved at me and I waved back and both parents turned. Shaved-headDad glared. I sped off.
No action at the PlayHouse, same for the big cantaloupe-painted complex on Overland that DylanMeserve had left without notice.
Shabby place. Rust44 streaks45 beneath the gutters46 I hadn’t noticed the firsttime. Front grid47 of stingy little windows, no hint anyone lived behind them.
That exhumed48 memories of my student days living on Overland, alone andfaceless and so full of self-doubt that entire weeks could slog by in anarcotic haze49.
I pictured Tori Giacomo mustering50 the courage for a cross-country move and endingup in a small, sad room on a street full of strangers. Fueled by ambition—ordelusions. Was there a difference?
Lonely, everyone lonely.
I recalled a line I’d used on girls back then.
No, I don’t do drugs, more into the natural low.
Mr. Sardonic51. Every so often, it had worked.
Monday morning at eleven, Milo phoned fromhis car. “Damn landlord stood me up Saturday, too much traffic from La Jolla. Finally, he tells me I can get a key from hissister who lives in Westwood. Asshole. I waited for the techies, just finisheddoing my own toss.”
“Learn anything?”
“She wasn’t living large. No food in the fridge, granola bars and canneddiet shakes in the pantry. Mydol, Advil, Motrin, Pepto-Bismol, Tums, a littlemarijuana in her nightstand. No birth control. Not much of a reader, the extentof her library was back issues of Us and People and Glamour52. TV but no cablehookup and the phone was dead. My subpoena53 for her calls is paying off in a fewdays but like I said her land line was disconnected for nonpayment and I can’tfind any cell account. One thing she did have was nice clothes. Not a lot, butnice, she probably spent all her dough54 on duds. Manager of the restaurant sheworked at said she was fine, no problems, didn’t make much of an impression. Noguys he remembers seeing her with. Meserve’s shoe-store boss said Meserve wasunreliable and could be snotty to customers. Anyway, we’ll see if anyinteresting prints come up. No signs of violence or struggle, doesn’t look asif she was killed there. How was your weekend?”
“Quiet.”
“Sounds nice.”
I told him about driving up to Latigo, left out the rest of my motor tourand the memories it had evoked55.
He said, “No kidding. I was up there myself, early in the morning. Pretty,no?”
“And out of the way.”
“I talked to a few neighbors, including the old guy Michaela scared when shejumped out naked. No one had ever seen her or Meserve there before. Also, I gotMr. Albert Beamish on the phone this morning. Saturday and Sunday he spends athis place in Palm Desert. Sunshine didnothing for his disposition56. What he was itching57 to tell me was he spottedNora’s Range Rover leaving her house Friday around nine.”
“Right after our meeting at Brad’s house.”
“Maybe Brad advised her to take a vacation. Or she just felt like some downtime and didn’t bother to tell her students because she’s an indolent richgirl. I asked Beamish to keep an eye out, thanked him for being observant. Hebarks back at me, ‘Show your gratitude58 by doing your job with minimalcompetence.’”
I laughed. “Did his powers of observation lead to checking the Rover’soccupants?”
“If only. Meserve’s car still hasn’t shown up but if he’s with Nora, the twoof them could be using hers and stashing59 his. As in Nora’s garage, or the oneat the PlayHouse. Maybe I can pry60 a door and take a peek61. On a whole othertack, Reynold Peaty is being true to his loser-loner self. Stayed in hisapartment all weekend. I gave Sean Sunday off because he’s religious, so it’spossible we missed something. But I did watch the place in the afternoon aroundfour.”
Missing me by a couple of hours. Again.
“Last and possibly least,” he said, “Tori Giacomo’s building has changedownership twice since she lived there. The original owners were a couple ofnonagenarian sisters who passed on naturally. The property went to probate, aspeculator from Vegas picked it up cheap then resold to a consortium ofbusinessmen from Koreatown. No records of any old tenants62, the aroma63 offutility fills the air.”
“When are you heading over to Nora’s?”
“Pulling up as we speak…” A car door slammed. “I am now heading for herdoor. Knock knock—” He raised his voice to an androgynous alto: “Who’s there?Lieutenant64 Sturgis. Lieutenant Sturgis who?…Hear that, Alex?”
“Hear what?”
“Exactly. Okay, now I’m at the garage…no give, locked…where’s a batteringram when you need it? Tha-tha-that’s all, folks, this has been a presentationof the Useless Travel Channel.”
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tavern
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| n.小旅馆，客栈；小酒店 | |
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massaged
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| 按摩，推拿( massage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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offense
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| n.犯规，违法行为；冒犯，得罪 | |
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skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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gasping
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| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
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clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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sobbing
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| <主方>Ⅰ adj.湿透的 | |
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bug
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| n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器 | |
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bugged
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| vt.在…装窃听器（bug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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garb
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| n.服装，装束 | |
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bust
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| vt.打破；vi.爆裂；n.半身像；胸部 | |
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dealing
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| n.经商方法，待人态度 | |
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sipped
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| v.小口喝，呷，抿( sip的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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bugging
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| [法] 窃听 | |
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appraisal
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| n.对…作出的评价；评价，鉴定，评估 | |
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queasy
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| adj.易呕的 | |
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scrap
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| n.碎片；废料；v.废弃，报废 | |
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stationery
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| n.文具；(配套的)信笺信封 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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touching
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| adj.动人的，使人感伤的 | |
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therapeutic
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| adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的 | |
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slurred
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| 含糊地说出( slur的过去式和过去分词 )； 含糊地发…的声； 侮辱； 连唱 | |
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remains
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| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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cork
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robin
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| n.知更鸟，红襟鸟 | |
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promenaded
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| v.兜风( promenade的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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conspicuously
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| ad.明显地，惹人注目地 | |
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canyon
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| n.峡谷，溪谷 | |
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winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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steered
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| v.驾驶( steer的过去式和过去分词 )；操纵；控制；引导 | |
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leisurely
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| adj.悠闲的；从容的，慢慢的 | |
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isolation
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| n.隔离，孤立，分解，分离 | |
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dingy
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| adj.昏暗的，肮脏的 | |
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spotted
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sparsely
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| adv.稀疏地；稀少地；不足地；贫乏地 | |
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steering
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ailing
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| v.生病 | |
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slung
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| 抛( sling的过去式和过去分词 )； 吊挂； 遣送； 押往 | |
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dented
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| v.使产生凹痕( dent的过去式和过去分词 )；损害；伤害；挫伤（信心、名誉等） | |
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odds
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| n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别 | |
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intern
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rust
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| n.锈；v.生锈；(脑子)衰退 | |
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streaks
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| n.（与周围有所不同的）条纹( streak的名词复数 )；（通常指不好的）特征（倾向）；（不断经历成功或失败的）一段时期v.快速移动( streak的第三人称单数 )；使布满条纹 | |
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gutters
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| （路边）排水沟( gutter的名词复数 )； 阴沟； （屋顶的）天沟； 贫贱的境地 | |
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grid
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| n.高压输电线路网；地图坐标方格；格栅 | |
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exhumed
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| v.挖出，发掘出( exhume的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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haze
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| n.霾，烟雾；懵懂，迷糊；vi.(over)变模糊 | |
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mustering
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| v.集合，召集，集结（尤指部队）( muster的现在分词 )；（自他人处）搜集某事物；聚集；激发 | |
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51
sardonic
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| adj.嘲笑的，冷笑的，讥讽的 | |
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52
glamour
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| n.魔力，魅力；vt.迷住 | |
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53
subpoena
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| n.（法律）传票；v.传讯 | |
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54
dough
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| n.生面团；钱，现款 | |
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55
evoked
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| [医]诱发的 | |
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56
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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57
itching
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| adj.贪得的，痒的，渴望的v.发痒( itch的现在分词 ) | |
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58
gratitude
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| adj.感激，感谢 | |
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59
stashing
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| v.贮藏( stash的现在分词 )；隐藏；藏匿；藏起 | |
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60
pry
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| vi.窥(刺)探，打听；vt.撬动(开，起) | |
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61
peek
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| vi.偷看，窥视；n.偷偷的一看，一瞥 | |
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62
tenants
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| n.房客( tenant的名词复数 )；佃户；占用者；占有者 | |
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63
aroma
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| n.香气，芬芳，芳香 | |
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64
lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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