Chapter 28

Erica Weiss phoned back while I was in the shower. I dried off and reachedher at her office.
“What an experience, Doctor. You okay?” Like many referrals, she was just aphone voice to me. Fast-talking, high-energy, peppy as a cheerleader.
“I’m fine. Any word on Hauser?”
“Haven’t checked yet. What exactly transpired¹?”
When I finished the re-tell, she was peppier. “His malpractice carrier willbe thrilled to learn the ante just got upped. Idiot just cooked his goose well-done.When can I depose² you?”
“Everything’s in the police report,” I said.
“Even so. When’s convenient for you?”
Never. “How about tomorrow?”
“I was thinking more like today.”
“It’s short notice.”
“Those poor women could use their settlements, Doctor.”
“Try me late in the afternoon.”
“You’re a doll,” she said. “I’ll come to you with the court reporter. Justname the place.”
“Let’s talk later.”
“Commitment-shy? Sure, whatever works, but please make it sooner rather thanlater.”
 
Billy Dowd’s address was on the south side of Beverly Hills, a short walk to Roxbury Park. Last year, I’dwitnessed a shoot-out at the park that had never made the papers. This was Beverly Hills, with itsaura of safety and ninety-second police response.
Lots of Spanish-style duplexes from the twenties on the block. Billy’s waspink with leaded windows, a red-clay roof, and exuberant³ plaster moldings. Anunfenced gateway⁴ led to a tile-inlaid stairway that climbed to the secondfloor. The overhang created a shaded entry nook for the ground-floor unit.
The wrought-iron mailbox inside the left-hand gatepost was unmarked. Iclimbed to the upstairs unit and knocked on a heavy carved door. Thepeep-window was blocked by a wooden slat but it stayed closed as the dooropened.
A brunette in a white nylon uniform dress looked at me while combing herhair. Coarse hair chopped boyish meant short brisk strokes. She was fortyishwith a dangerous tan, a beakish nose, and close-set black eyes. Santa Monica Hospital name tag above her left breast:A. Holzer, R.N.
A strange man showing up unannounced didn’t perturb⁵ her.
“Can I help you?” Some kind of Teutonic accent.
“Billy Dowd lives downstairs?”
“Yes, but he’s not here.”
I showed her my police consultant⁶ I.D. Expired six months ago. Very fewpeople are detail-oriented. A. Holzer barely glanced at it. “Police? AboutBilly?”
“One of Billy and his brother’s employees was involved in some trouble.”
“Oh—you wish to speak to Billy about that?”
“Actually, I’m here to see you.”
“Me? Why?”
“You look after Billy?”
“Look after?” She laughed. “He’s a grown man.”
“Physically he is,” I said.
The hand around the hairbrush turned glossy⁷. “I don’t understand why you areasking these questions. Billy is all right?”
“He’s fine. These are routine questions. Sounds as if you like him.”
“Of course I do, Billy is very nice,” she said. “Listen, I am very tired,got off shift early this morning. I would like to sleep—”
“Eleven-to-seven shift your usual?”
“Yes. That’s why I would like to sleep.” New smile. Frosty.
“Sounds like you deserve it. What unit do you work on?”
“Cardiac Care—”
“Eight hours of CCU care, then all the time you spend with Billy.”
“It’s not—Billy doesn’t require—why is this important?” She placed a hand onthe door.
“It probably isn’t,” I said. “But when something really bad happens, lots ofquestions need to be asked. About everyone who knew the victim.”
“There was a victim. Someone was hurt?”
“Someone was murdered.”
Her hand flew to her mouth. “Gotten Himmel—who?”
“A man named Reynold Peaty.”
Head shake. “I don’t know this person.”
“He did janitorial⁸ work at some of Brad and Billy’s buildings.” I describedPeaty.
When I got to the muttonchops, she said, “Oh, him.”
“You’ve met him.”
“Not a meeting, just seeing.”
“He came here,” I said.
She plucked at her badge. Gave her hair a few more whacks⁹.
“Ms. Holzer—”
“Annalise Holzer.” Lower voice, soft, guarded. I half expected a rank andserial number.
I said, “Reynold Peaty came to see Billy.”
“No, no, not to see, to bring things back.”
“Things?”
“Things Billy forgets. At the office. Sometimes Mr. Dowd brings themhimself, sometimes I guess he sends this man.”
“Reynold Peaty.”
“Billy didn’t kill him, that is for sure. Billy opens the windows to letflies out so he doesn’t have to hit them.”
“Gentle.”
“Gentle,” Annalise Holzer agreed. “Like a nice little boy.”
“But forgetful,” I said.
“Everyone forgets.”
“What does Billy forget?”
“The watch, the wallet. Lots of times the wallet.”
“Mr. Peaty came by and gave you the wallet?”
“No,” she said. “He tells me Billy lost the wallet and he is returning thewallet.”
“How many times did that happen?”
“A few,” she said. “I do not count.”
Lots of times the wallet. I raised an eyebrow¹⁰.
Annalise Holzer said, “A few times, that’s all.”
“Those times, did Mr. Peaty go inside Billy’s apartment?”
“I don’t know.”
“You watch him.”
“Nein,” she said. “Not watching, not babysitting. Mr. Dowd asks me to helpif Billy needs something.”
“Sounds like a good job.”
Shrug¹¹.
“Good salary?”
“No money, only less rent.”
“Mr. Dowd’s your landlord?”
“Very nice landlord, some of them are like…snakes.”
Milo hadn’t mentioned any Beverly Hills properties in the Dowds’ holdings.
I said, “So you get a discount on the rent in return for looking in onBilly.”
“Yes, exactly.”
“What does that involve day to day?”
“Being here,” said Annalise Holzer. “If he needs something.”
“How does Billy get around?”
“Get around?”
“Go from place to place. He doesn’t drive.”
“He does not go out much,” said Annalise Holzer. “Sometimes I take him to amovie on Sunday. Century City, I drop him off,pick him up. Mostly I rent him DVDs from the video store on Olympic near Al-mont Drive.Billy has a big flat-screen TV, better than a movie theater, no?”
“Anyone else ever drive him?”
“Mr. Dowd picks him up in the morning and brings him home. Every day theywork.”
Wide circuit from Santa Monica Canyon¹² to Beverly Hills and back to the beach city. Brad’s unpaid¹³ job.
“Is there anyone else?”
“What do you mean?”
“Taxi, car service?”
“Never do I see that.”
“So Billy doesn’t go out much.”
“Never by himself,” said Annalise Holzer. “Never do I see him go out, evento walk. I like to walk, when I ask him does he want to walk with me, he tellsme, ‘Annalise, I did not like gym in school. I’m a big couch potato.’” Shesmiled. “I joke with him that he is lazy. He laughs.”
“Does he have any friends?”
“No—but he is very friendly.”
“A homebody,” I said.
The word puzzled her.
“He comes home and stays here.”
“Yes, yes, exactly. Watching the flat screen, DVDs, eating—I cook,sometimes. He likes some things…sauerbraten—special veal¹⁴ meat. Spaetzle, it isa kind of noodle. I cook for two, bring it downstairs.” She looked over hershoulder. The room behind her was tidy and bright. White porcelain¹⁵ figurinescrowded the ledge¹⁶ of an arched, tiled mantel.
In the current market, the rent would be three, four thousand a month. Steepon a nurse’s pay.
“You live alone, Ms. Holzer?”
“Yes.”
“You’re from Germany?”
“Lichtenstein.” She pinched thumb to forefinger¹⁷. “It is a teeny tiny littlecountry between—”
“Austria and Switzerland,” Isaid.
“You know Lichtenstein?”
“I’ve heard it’s pretty. Banking¹⁸, castles, Alps.”
“It is pretty, yes,” she agreed. “But I like it here better.”
“L.A.’s moreexciting.”
“More to do, the music, the horses, the beach.”
“You ride?”
“Anything with sunshine,” she said.
“Working nights and sleeping days and doing things for Billy.”
“Work is good. Sometimes I do a double shift.”
“What are Billy’s needs?” I said.
“Very easy. If he wants takeout and it is a long time for the restaurant todeliver, I get him his dinner. There is Domino Pizza on Doheny near Olympic.Billy likes Thai food, there’s a nice place on La Cienega and Olympic. Sushi isalso on Olympic. Nice place near Doheny. Very convenient, being near Olympic.”
“Billy’s a gourmet¹⁹.”
“Billy eats anything,” said Annalise Holzer. “You must really think of himas a boy. A good boy.”
 
When I was back on Olympic, I celled Milo,expecting voice mail because he was with Armando Vasquez.
“Canceled,” he said. “Vasquez’s D.P.D. had other plans but didn’t bother totell me. The prelim on Michaela’s autopsy²⁰ finally came in. I woulda been therebut they did it earlier than scheduled. Bottom line is no sign of sexual assault,cause of death was strangulation, the stab wounds on her chest were relativelysuperficial. The neck wound was a puncture²¹, pathologist can’t say what causedit. Get to Billy’s place yet?”
“Just finished with that and you’re going to feel smart. The woman upstairsis a nurse on the night shift at Santa Monica Hospital,meaning she’s gone by ten fifteen or so. Plus, she thinks L.A.’s an exciting city, likes art, thebeach, riding horses. Her tan says she’s out plenty during the day.”
“Not much supervision²².”
“On top of that, Peaty came to Billy’s apartment several times. Claimed hewas sent by Brad to return things Billy left at the office. Brad told us hethought Peaty wasn’t licensed²³ to drive. Unless he lied about that, Peatymisrepresented his presence.”
“How many times is several?”
“The woman couldn’t quantify. Or wouldn’t. She said Billy lost his wallet alot. Then she backtracked to ‘a few.’”
“What’s her name?”
“Annalise Holzer. She’s one of those people who gives you lots of detailsand ends up not telling you much. She considers Billy childlike, gracious,absolutely no problem. Some of that could be the rent-break Brad gives her. Thebuilding’s another Dowd property.”
“That so? Not on the BNB list.”
“Maybe the Dowds have another corporation or a holding company that doesn’ttrace back to their names.”
“All that real estate,” he said. “These people have got to be hugely rich,and rich people get protected.”
“Holzer was protective, all right. But I wouldn’t trust her to know thedetails of Billy’s life.”
“Meaning Peaty coulda been a regular at Darling Billy’s. I’ve got to take aserious look at the guy. After I speak to Vasquez’s wife. That’s the change inplans. All of a sudden, I can’t have access to Armando until I talk to themissus.”
“About what?”
“P.D.’s being cryptic²⁴. It’ll probably turn out to be a stupid lawyer trickbut the D.A. insists I check it out.”
“D.A.’s office has their own investigators²⁵.”
“Whom they pay. That’s why I’m figuring it for scut palmed off on me.”
“Where are you meeting the wife?”
“Right here in my office, half an hour.”
“I’m twenty minutes away.”
“Good.”

1 transpired   

（事实，秘密等）被人知道( transpire的过去式和过去分词 )； 泄露； 显露； 发生

参考例句：

• It transpired that the gang had had a contact inside the bank. 据报这伙歹徒在银行里有内应。
• It later transpired that he hadn't been telling the truth. 他当时没说真话，这在后来显露出来了。

2 depose   

vt.免职；宣誓作证

参考例句：

• The witness is going to depose.证人即将宣誓做证。
• The emperor attempted to depose the Pope.皇帝企图废黜教皇。

3 exuberant   

adj.充满活力的；（植物）繁茂的

参考例句：

• Hothouse plants do not possess exuberant vitality.在温室里培养出来的东西，不会有强大的生命力。
• All those mother trees in the garden are exuberant.果园里的那些母树都长得十分茂盛。

4 gateway   

n.大门口，出入口，途径，方法

参考例句：

• Hard work is the gateway to success.努力工作是通往成功之路。
• A man collected tolls at the gateway.一个人在大门口收通行费。

5 perturb   

v.使不安，烦扰，扰乱，使紊乱

参考例句：

• Stellar passings can perturb the orbits of comets.行星的运行会使彗星的轨道发生扰动。
• They perturb good social order with their lie and propaganda.他们以谎言和宣传扰乱良好的社会秩序。

6 consultant   

n.顾问；会诊医师，专科医生

参考例句：

• He is a consultant on law affairs to the mayor.他是市长的一个法律顾问。
• Originally,Gar had agreed to come up as a consultant.原来，加尔只答应来充当我们的顾问。

7 glossy   

adj.平滑的；有光泽的

参考例句：

• I like these glossy spots.我喜欢这些闪闪发光的花点。
• She had glossy black hair.她长着乌黑发亮的头发。

8 janitorial   

adj.管理的(janitor的变形)

参考例句：

• Besides attending class, you will help our janitorial staff after school. 除了正常上课以外，下课后你得帮助学校的工人做做义工。 来自电影对白
• The accommodation will be cleaned 2-3 times every week by janitorial staff. 宿舍每星期更换2~3次备品，并有清洁人员清扫宿舍环境。 来自互联网

9 whacks   

n.重击声( whack的名词复数 )；不正常；有毛病v.重击，使劲打( whack的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Lizzie Borden took an axe, Hit her father forty whacks. 丽兹玻顿拿起斧头，砍了爸爸四十下。 来自互联网
• Grizzly bear paw whacks camera out of position and jettisons it downstream. 大灰熊的爪子把摄像机移出了固定的位置并且把它扔到了下游。 来自互联网

10 eyebrow   

n.眉毛，眉

参考例句：

• Her eyebrow is well penciled.她的眉毛画得很好。
• With an eyebrow raised,he seemed divided between surprise and amusement.他一只眉毛扬了扬，似乎既感到吃惊，又觉有趣。

11 shrug   

v.耸肩(表示怀疑、冷漠、不知等)

参考例句：

• With a shrug,he went out of the room.他耸一下肩，走出了房间。
• I admire the way she is able to shrug off unfair criticism.我很佩服她能对错误的批评意见不予理会。

12 canyon   

n.峡谷，溪谷

参考例句：

• The Grand Canyon in the USA is 1900 metres deep.美国的大峡谷1900米深。
• The canyon is famous for producing echoes.这个峡谷以回声而闻名。

13 unpaid   

adj.未付款的，无报酬的

参考例句：

• Doctors work excessive unpaid overtime.医生过度加班却无报酬。
• He's doing a month's unpaid work experience with an engineering firm.他正在一家工程公司无偿工作一个月以获得工作经验。

14 veal   

n.小牛肉

参考例句：

• She sauteed veal and peppers,preparing a mixed salad while the pan simmered.她先做的一道菜是青椒煎小牛肉，趁着锅还在火上偎着的机会，又做了一道拼盘。
• Marinate the veal in white wine for two hours.把小牛肉用白葡萄酒浸泡两小时。

15 porcelain   

n.瓷；adj.瓷的，瓷制的

参考例句：

• These porcelain plates have rather original designs on them.这些瓷盘的花纹很别致。
• The porcelain vase is enveloped in cotton.瓷花瓶用棉花裹着。

16 ledge   

n.壁架，架状突出物；岩架，岩礁

参考例句：

• They paid out the line to lower him to the ledge.他们放出绳子使他降到那块岩石的突出部分。
• Suddenly he struck his toe on a rocky ledge and fell.突然他的脚趾绊在一块突出的岩石上，摔倒了。

17 forefinger   

n.食指

参考例句：

• He pinched the leaf between his thumb and forefinger.他将叶子捏在拇指和食指之间。
• He held it between the tips of his thumb and forefinger.他用他大拇指和食指尖拿着它。

18 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。

19 gourmet   

n.食物品尝家；adj.出于美食家之手的

参考例句：

• What does a gourmet writer do? 美食评论家做什么？
• A gourmet like him always eats in expensive restaurants.像他这样的美食家总是到豪华的餐馆用餐。

20 autopsy   

n.尸体解剖；尸检

参考例句：

• They're carrying out an autopsy on the victim.他们正在给受害者验尸。
• A hemorrhagic gut was the predominant lesion at autopsy.尸检的主要发现是肠出血。

21 puncture   

n.刺孔，穿孔；v.刺穿，刺破

参考例句：

• Failure did not puncture my confidence.失败并没有挫伤我的信心。
• My bicycle had a puncture and needed patching up.我的自行车胎扎了个洞，需要修补。

22 supervision   

n.监督，管理

参考例句：

• The work was done under my supervision.这项工作是在我的监督之下完成的。
• The old man's will was executed under the personal supervision of the lawyer.老人的遗嘱是在律师的亲自监督下执行的。

23 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

24 cryptic   

adj.秘密的，神秘的，含义模糊的

参考例句：

• She made a cryptic comment about how the film mirrored her life.她隐晦地表示说这部电影是她人生的写照。
• The new insurance policy is written without cryptic or mysterious terms.新的保险单在编写时没有隐秘条款或秘密条款。

25 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》