Lorraine leaned forward. ‘What did Anna Louise ask you about? Was she worried about something? Was she scared of something?’
Juda sighed but did not answer. Lorraine was becoming angry at her inability to get Juda to talk. She tried a different tactic, almost pleading.
‘I am trying to find her, Mrs Salina, so if there is anything she said to you that would give me an insight into a problem she may have had, even a relationship . . .?’
Juda turned away.
‘Was she seeing someone? Mrs Salina, don’t give me any more clients’ confidentiality, et cetera. Please, Anna Louise has been missing without trace for eleven months.’
‘I have been interviewed over and over again and if there was anything, don’t you think I would have already told the police, told the other private dicks? But there is nothing, and what I saw for Mrs Caley has nothing to do with anything.’
‘Okay. What did you see for Mrs Caley? Please.’
Juda licked her lips. ‘I saw nothing good, I saw she needed to go to a rehab clinic, I saw she would have marriage problems, I saw that she might have a resurrection of her career, a lot of publicity, but not good . . .’
Lorraine wanted to snatch the dark shades off her fat face, but instead she gave up. ‘You know, people like you make me sick.’
‘I think you made that clear the last time, honey, but to be honest I am not struck by you all that much. You think you can push your way into my home, make threats, only because you’re being paid a lot of cash to do so. You ain’t offerin’ any to me, and even if you did I’d throw it back in your smug face. I suggest you start taking lessons in politeness because you are a rude bitch. Like I said before, I got nothing to say or add to what I already told the police and what I told you the last time you came burstin’ into my home.’
Lorraine walked to the door, opened it. ‘You still see a big bright aura round Anna Louise Caley? You still telling that poor woman to keep up hope? Well, I may be pushy, I may be getting paid for my job but it’s sure as hell a lot better than being paid for spouting bullshit to poor desperate people who could probably do with a good shrink. Thanks for nothing.’
Lorraine didn’t wait for Juda to show her out but she slammed the front door hard to let the whale of a woman know she had left.
Juda remained sitting in her chair, her hands clasping the arms. She sure as hell could feel Lorraine Page’s presence; one part was obvious, the bitch was a pushy ex-cop. But the other part confused Juda. To begin with she had been positive she’d felt something bad, really bad: was it because she was different from all the other PIs? After all, she was digging that much deeper. Or was it because she knew that someone with the initial L was going to be in bad trouble, like a clock whose tick-tick-ticking was about to stop, for good?
Juda had felt it the moment she had met Lorraine, that something inside that lady was about to escape from control. What it was she couldn’t put her finger on, but it unsettled her and she began to be afraid, as she knew she would have to go deeper and she feared that the consequences would suck her into the darkness herself.
Lorraine stepped out on to the pavement, which was shimmering in the blistering sun. As she headed for her rented Buick parked at a meter, a limo drove out of the parking lot. She could not see the driver because of the dark tinted windows, but she recognized the car. When she had seen Phyllis get out of it earlier that morning, she’d assumed it was Elizabeth Caley’s. Now as the driver’s window glided down, she knew she had been wrong: Raoul, in his mirrored shades, looked towards her, smiling.
‘You were on Rodeo Drive this morning with Phyllis Collins.’
He looked nonplussed.
‘Mrs Caley’s companion,’ Lorraine said, as she walked towards him.
Raoul gave an even wider smile. ‘Maybe I was, but to tell you the honest truth, ma’am, I am new around town so I don’t know where I am or who’s in the back . . .’
Lorraine moved closer until she could see her own face in his mirrored shades.
‘How long have you been staying with your aunt?’
‘Oh, a while, maybe a few weeks.’
‘You came here from New Orleans?’
‘Yes, ma’am, I did, no work back home.’
‘Did you know Anna Louise Caley?’
He turned off the engine and removed the keys. ‘Who?’
‘Anna Louise Caley, you know who I’m talking about.’
He sucked at the small monkey-like mascot dangling on the end of his key ring. ‘I know, well, I read about her but I never met her. I seen her photographs, ma aunty show-n them to me, and I know she was real pretty.’
‘Didn’t you meet her in New Orleans?’
‘No, ma’am.’
Lorraine stepped back, sure he was lying. ‘Thanks for letting me into the apartment.’
‘That’s okay, you have a nice day now.’ As she walked off he shouted out to her, ‘Hey! Miss! Hey!’
She turned back to him; he was leaning out of the window, his elbows resting along the rim, still sucking the key ring.
‘You shouldn’t be so mean to my aunt.’
‘What?’
‘She is not the kind of person you want to get on the bad side of. Trust me, you be nice to her.’
‘Why?’
‘Maybe she’s seen bad things for you, she’s got the . . .’ He tapped the centre of his forehead. ‘You cause any trouble for her and she’ll make bad things happen, she’s got the sight, know what I mean? Bye now, ma’am, and lemme tell you, you got real nice legs.’
He eased back inside the car and she heard loud music begin to thud out, some kind of screaming reggae, then the window slowly closed. She felt uneasy, because, although it was the middle of the day and hot, she suddenly felt icy cold.
She unlocked her car and got inside. She could still see the car parked up ahead of her; Mrs Juda Salina was obviously not that short of money. She started the engine, pulling her safety belt on. She stayed there for another five minutes and physically jumped when the phone rang.
‘Hi, it’s me, just checking in.’ It was Rosie. Lorraine kept her eyes on Juda’s limo up ahead.
‘Rooney’s here and wants a word,’ Rosie said, sounding loud and perky. Rooney came on the line.
‘We got to get over to New Orleans real soon, I don’t wanna talk to my contacts there over the phone, better face to face. You got anything?’
‘I want anything you can get, from anyone you can get it from, on this Juda Salina bitch, the so-called psychic’
‘I think we got as much as we could. She’s a joke, isn’t she?’
Lorraine saw Juda exit from the apartments and get into the waiting car. ‘She’s got a young nephew staying, Raoul, from New Orleans, comes on like a young Lothario, à la Robert de Niro. Get him checked out, try the same surname for starters. If you get nowhere, use the licence number; fat woman can’t drive and the car’s got Louisiana plates.’
Rooney jotted down the registration. ‘Okay, but you know we got to get over there. Time’s moving fast, we only got two weeks – three days down already.’
‘Yeah, yeah, I know. Ask Rosie if she’s gonna go to a meeting this evening and if it’s one Phyllis attends . . . shit, hold on.’
Lorraine saw Raoul drive off, honking his car horn as he inched into the traffic. She swerved out, narrowly missing an oncoming car that hooted at her. She waved her hand in apology, the phone tucked under her chin.
‘Hi, it’s me. It’s Rosie,’ came her bellow.
‘You meeting tonight?’ asked Lorraine, heading up Doheny about four cars behind Raoul.
‘Yep, you want to come?’
‘I will if Phyllis will be there.’
‘She will be – she usually is.’
‘Okay, see you later, bye now.’
Rosie replaced the phone. ‘She’s got a thing about this Juda Salina. Dunno why, waste of time, I think. I mean, I was there, I met her, and Nick checked her out.’
You think sh
e’s a flake too?’ Rooney asked.
‘Well, I have to be honest – I couldn’t tell you. She was sort of strange, gave me a weird feeling like when she looked at me she was seeing through me. She’s got strange eyes, very deep and dark, or maybe it was just the false eyelashes.’ She chuckled.
‘I’ve lost four pounds,’ Rooney said.
Rosie clapped her hands. ‘That’s wonderful. I have lost, well, not as much as I’d like. Do you think I’m looking thinner?’
Rooney gave her a long, studied appraisal, and then nodded. ‘There is just one thing, Rosie – when we get to New Orleans can we forget the diet? I mean, they have the best food in the world, and I’m not going there to eat raw fish. It might mean a few extra pounds going on, but . . .’
She held out her hand. ‘It’s a deal – we diet now, but we come off it when we get to New Orleans.’ They shook hands, and Rooney felt suddenly embarrassed. He’d never had this kind of intimate conversation with a woman before, even with his poor wife, who had been stick-thin when he married her and stick-thin the day she died.
‘Can I tell you something?’ he asked hesitantly, and she looked over at him.
‘Sure, tell me what?’
‘Don’t tell Lorraine,’ he said, like a kid. Rosie waited while Rooney rubbed his head and pulled at his big nose.
‘Maybe it’s age.’
‘What is?’
He coughed, now pulling at his tie. ‘Well, don’t take this the wrong way, I mean, hell, I’m not backing out of anything, no way, but . . .’ He sighed, unsure of what he was saying and how to say it.
‘I just can’t get the energy up the way I used to, you know, that adrenalin that pumps through you on a case. I used to feel it down to the soles of my feet, itching all the time to get to the bottom of something. I wouldn’t sleep, couldn’t even eat sometimes, and I know I was hell to live with. I must have put poor Ellen through it, and I keep thinking about her, thinking what a bad husband I was. She never had much of a life.’
He seemed so vulnerable, trying to express something that he couldn’t release, and Rosie went over and put her arms round him, which embarrassed him even more.
‘I just feel so bad about her, Rosie, because she was looking forward to us going on this camper trip right round the US, and . . .’
Rosie said nothing, but just held him and rubbed his back. Rooney rested his head against her.
‘I’m sorry about this, you must think me a big old fool, but she was a nice woman, Rosie, never would hurt a fly.’
‘It’s always good to let it out, Bill, you’ll feel better, and don’t you worry about that itch – I think you’re a very special person. Too many people hide their real feelings – I know I hid mine in a bottle, but I’m getting better, much better.’
There was a moment of embarrassment as Rosie drew away and Bill blew his nose hard.
‘Lorraine should be here any minute,’ Rosie said to cover her own confusion.
‘I’d be grateful if you didn’t mention this to her, I don’t want her to feel that I’m not giving one hundred per cent.’
‘Nothing happened here, you old buzzard,’ Rosie smiled warmly, but they both knew something had happened. Perhaps they were afraid to admit it at once, but there was now a bond between them and it felt good.
Lorraine tailed the lunatic Raoul as far as she could, but he then cut across traffic and she lost him. Maybe Raoul knew she’d been on their tail, but judging by the way the kid drove, he was more than likely to cop a speeding ticket and Lorraine with him.
They were parked across the road from the AA meeting. It was almost eight.
Lorraine looked in the driving mirror. ‘Here she comes now. Okay, I’m out of here, you wait in the car.’
‘But I want to go into the meeting.’
‘Fine, can you just give me a few seconds with Phyllis?’
Lorraine crossed to Phyllis, smiled and shook her hand. Then they walked to a bench seat outside the church hall.
Phyllis clenched her hands together. ‘I really do not see that it is any concern of yours, I was simply passing the car and Mrs Salina called out to me, so I went over and—’
‘Is she still seeing Mrs Caley?’
‘Er, no, well, Mr Caley has objected to her coming to the house and so, no, she doesn’t see her anymore.’
‘Does Robert Caley know Elizabeth is pumping herself full of temazepam . . . that’s what she’s injecting, right?’
Phyllis had those two red dots in her cheeks again. ‘You don’t understand.’
‘I am trying to, Phyllis, I really am. Do you have any idea how dangerous it is? That she could induce a thrombosis and kill herself?’
Phyllis seemed ready to burst into tears.
Lorraine continued. ‘The stuff is lethal, Phyllis, and you would be partly responsible if she killed herself. You’re procuring the stuff for her, you have admitted to picking it up, so why don’t you stop lying to me? Does Robert Caley know what his wife is taking?’
Phyllis shook her head. ‘No, he has no idea. You see, when she last came out of the rehab clinic, she was no longer taking cocaine, not even alcohol, but then with all this terrible thing about Anna Louise . . . She couldn’t sleep and she became very anxious and . . .’
‘The doc prescribed the temazepam, right?’
Phyllis nodded. ‘Just a small amount to begin with and then she needed more, and . . .’ The tears came and she fumbled in her sleeve to take out a tiny lace handkerchief. ‘Oh dear, dear me, I can’t stop her. And she’s threatened to sack me if I mention it to Mr Caley, she’ll also sack me if I don’t collect them . . . it places me in such a terrible position.’
‘Well, she won’t be able to get any more, Dr Hayleden’s been arrested.’
‘Oh God.’ Phyllis pressed the handkerchief to her watery eyes.
‘Yeah, oh God, but you should thank God, Phyllis, because without her supply she’s not likely to kill herself, is she?’
Phyllis closed her eyes and sniffed, her mouth turned down. ‘Oh, she’ll find someone else, or something else. I don’t know if I can take much more. That’s why I started drinking, you know, she wore me out. She just never sleeps, she can’t sleep without something, and now she has an excuse. All she thinks about is Anna Louise.’
‘She took her to see Juda.’
‘Yes, I think so, but I wasn’t with them, she would never let me go with her.’
‘And Mr and Mrs Caley took Mrs Salina to New Orleans, yes? To try and help trace Anna Louise?’
Phyllis nodded, chewing at her thin lips. ‘Yes, Elizabeth insisted. You see, Mrs Salina was sure that if she was close to where she had been, in the hotel or wherever, she would pick up her aura.’
‘And?’
Phyllis shrugged. ‘Well, she was sure the poor child was very much alive and I think she stayed on for a few days after Elizabeth returned because as I recall Mr Caley sent his private plane to bring her back to LA.’
Lorraine nodded. ‘Why did he forbid her to see Elizabeth?’
Phyllis sighed. ‘Mr Caley suspected that the woman was a charlatan, building up Elizabeth’s hopes; he never approved of her, and he was deeply angry when he discovered that Elizabeth had taken Anna Louise to Mrs Salina’s apartment.’
‘Was that when he banned Juda from visiting the house?’
‘No, that was after they returned from New Orleans.’
‘But she was a calming influence!’
‘Yes, she was, but not after the disappearance. Elizabeth would become very distraught and called Mrs Salina in hysterics. She gave her hope, you see . . . Mr Caley was only doing it for the best.’
Lorraine nodded, checking the time. ‘Why did Anna Louise go to Mrs Salina’s?’
‘I don’t think she got involved in any of that mumbo-jumbo thing, it was just that sometimes Mrs Caley was not very steady. I think Mr Caley had words with Anna Louise, and she promised never to go there again . . .’
‘And did she?’
‘No, no, she wouldn’t go against her father’s wishes. She was a very obedient girl. And she had Tilda Brown staying at the time, so she had other things on her mind. The girl used to stay a lot, well, with her family being so far away, most weekends actually. In fact, Anna Louise was looking forward to going to New Orleans because . . .’
Phyllis suddenly hesitated, turning away from Lorraine. It was as if she had thought of something and was deciding whether or not to mention it. She covered by tucking her little handkerchief back up her sleeve.
‘Because?’ Lorraine said softly.
‘Er, nothing really, it’s just that the girls had a bit of a falling out, nothing serious, and Tilda went home the next morning. She was meant to stay on another day and travel with Mr and Mrs Caley but you know young girls, probably argued about a game of tennis.’
‘Must have been quite an argument to leave so abruptly, and also as they were all to travel together the following day.’
‘I suppose so, but you know young girls.’
‘Have you ever met Saffron Dulay? I think she’s a close friend of Mr Caley’s.’
Phyllis looked at her watch and stood up, smoothing down her skirt. ‘No, I have not had the pleasure. Is there anything else you wish to ask me? If there isn’t, I really should go in.’
‘No, I don’t think so. Thank you very much for your time.’
Phyllis patted her hair. ‘I am sorry if, well, I know you think I am not always honest, but you see, Mrs Page, part of me has to be so very careful. I signed a confidentiality agreement with Mrs Caley, all her staff have to . . .’
‘I understand, Phyllis.’
‘It’s just I am so scared of losing my job. I have a very elderly mother and aunt I take care of back in England. They are dependent on my income and the Caleys have been so very kind over my own little problem.’
‘Yes, I am sure Elizabeth Caley would be, considering her own.’
Phyllis gave an eerie, high-pitched titter. She put out her hand to shake Lorraine’s, rather like a little fragile claw which clasped for a moment and then released.
‘Was Juda Salina paid a lot of money?’
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