D is for DEADBEAT

by Sue Grafton

  I parked this time near the Naval Reserve Building, in the lot adjacent to the harbor. There didn’t seem to be much foot traffic in the area. The sky was overcast, the air heavy with the staunch smells of fresh fish and diesel fuel. I ambled along the walk that skirts the waterfront, with its eighty-four acres of slips for eleven hundred boats. A wooden pier, two lanes wide, juts out into the water topped with a crane and pulleys for hoisting boats. I could see the fuel dock and the city guest dock, where two men were securing the lines on a big power boat that they’d apparently just brought in.

  On my right, there was a row of waterfront businesses – a fish market with a seafood restaurant above, a shop selling marine and fishing supplies, a commercial diving center, two yacht brokers. The building fronts are all weathered gray wood, with bright royal blue awnings that echo the blue canvas sail covers on boats all through the harbor. For a moment, I paused before a plate glass window, scanning the snapshots of boats for sale – catamarans, luxury cabin cruisers, sailboats designed to sleep six. There’s a small population of “live-aboards” in the harbor-people who actually use their boats as a primary residence. The idea is mildly appealing to me, though I wonder about the reality of chemical toilets in the dead of night and showering in marina restrooms. I crossed the walk and leaned on the iron railing, looking out across the airy forest of bare boat masts.

  The water itself was dark hunter green. Big rocks were submerged in the gloomy depths, looking like sunken ruins. Few fish were visible. I spotted two little crabs scuttling along the boulders at the water’s edge, but for the most part, the shallows seemed cold and sterile, empty of sea life. A beer bottle rested on a shelf of sand and mud. Two harbor patrol boats were moored not far away.

  I spotted a line of skiffs tied up at one of the docks below and my interest perked up. Four of the marinas are kept locked and can only be entered with a card key issued by the Harbor Master’s Office, but this one was accessible to the public. I moved down the ramp for a closer look. There were maybe twenty-five small skiffs, wood and fiberglass, most of them eight to ten feet long. I had no way of knowing if one of these was the boat Daggett had taken, but this much seemed clear: if you cut the line on one of these boats, you’d have to row it out around the end of the dock and through the harbor. There was no current here and a boat left to drift would simply bump aimlessly against the pilings without going anyplace.

  I went up the ramp again and turned left along the walkway until I reached Marina One. At the bottom of the ramp, I could see the chain-link fence and locked gate. I loitered on the walk, keeping an eye on passersby. Finally, a middle-aged man approached, his card key in one hand, a bag of groceries in the other. He was trim and muscular, tanned to the color of rawhide. He wore Bermuda shorts, Topsiders, and a loose cotton sweater, a mat of graying chest hairs visible in the V.

  “Excuse me,” I said. “Do you live down there?”

  He paused, looking at me with curiosity. “Yes.” His face was as lined as a crumpled brown grocery bag pressed into service again.

  “Do you mind if I follow you out onto Marina One? I’m trying to get a line on the man who washed up on the beach Saturday.”

  “Sure, come on. I heard about that. The skiff he stole belongs to a friend of mine. By the way, I’m Aaron. You are?”

  “Kinsey Millhone,” I said, trotting down the ramp after him. “How long have you lived down here?”

  “Six months. My wife and I split up and she kept the house. Nice change, boat life. Lot of nice people. You a cop?”

  “Private investigator,” I said. “What sort of work do you do?”

  “Real estate,” he said. “How’d you get into it?” He inserted his card and pushed the gate open. He held it while I passed through. I paused on the other side so he could lead the way.

  “I was hired by the dead man’s daughter,” I said.

  “I meant how’d you get into investigative work.”

  “Oh. I used to be a cop, but I didn’t like it much. The law enforcement part of it was fine, but not the bureaucracy. Now I’m self-employed. I’m happier that way.”

  We passed a cloud of sea gulls converging rapidly on an object bobbing in the water. The screeches from the birds were attracting gulls from a quarter of a mile away, streaking through the air like missiles.

  “Avocado,” Aaron said idly. “The gulls love them. This is me.” He had paused near a thirty-seven-foot twin-diesel trawler, a Chris-Craft, with a flying bridge.

  “God, it’s a beautiful boat.”

  “You like it? I can sleep eight,” he said, pleased. He hopped down into the cockpit and turned, holding a hand out to me. “Pop your boots off and you can come on board and take a look around. Want a drink?”

  “I better not, thanks. I’ve got a lot of ground to cover yet. Is there any way you can introduce me to the guy whose skiff was stolen?”

  Aaron shrugged. “Can’t help you there. He’s out on a fishing boat all day, but I can give him your name and telephone number if you like. I think the police impounded the skiff, so if you want to see that, you better talk to them.”

  I didn’t expect anything to come of it, but I thought I’d leave the door open just in case. I took out a business card, jotting down my home number on the back before I passed it on to him. “Have him give me a call if he knows anything,” I said.

  “I’ll tell you who you might want to talk to. Go down here six slips and see if that guy’s in. The Seascape is the name of the boat. His is Phillip Rosen. He knows all the gossip down here. Maybe he can help.”

  “Thanks.”

  The Seascape was a twenty-four-foot Flicka, a gaff-rigged sloop with a twenty-foot mast, teak deck, and a fiberglass hull that mimicked wood.

  I tapped on the cabin roof, calling a hello toward the open doorway. Phillip Rosen appeared, ducking his head as he came up from down below. His emerging was like a visual joke: he was one of the tallest men I’d seen except on a basketball court. He was probably six-foot-ten and built on a grand scale – big hands and feet, big head with a full head of red hair, a big face with red beard and moustache, bare-chested and barefoot. Except for the ragged blue jean cutoffs, he looked like a Viking reincarnated cruelly into a vessel unworthy of him. I introduced myself, mentioning that Aaron had suggested that I talk to him. I told him briefly what I wanted.

  “Well, I didn’t see them, but a friend of mine did. She was coming down here to meet me and passed ‘em in the parking lot. Man and a woman. She said the old guy was drunk as a skunk, staggering all over the place. The little gal with him had a hell of a time trying to keep him upright.”

  “Do you have any idea what she looked like?”

  “Nope. Dinah never said. I can give you her number though, if you want to ask her about it yourself.”

  “I’d like that,” I said. “What time was this?”

  “I’d say two-fifteen. Dinah’s a waitress over at the Wharf and she gets off at two. I know she didn’t close up that night and it only takes five minutes to get here. Shoot, if she walked on water, she could skip across the harbor in the time it takes her to get to the parking lot.”

  “Is she at work now by any chance?”

  “Monday afternoon? Could be. I never heard what her schedule was this week, but you can always try. She’d be up in the cocktail lounge. A redhead. You can’t miss her if she’s there.”

  Which turned out to be true. I drove the half mile from the marina to the wharf, leaving my car with the valet who handles restaurant parking. Then I went up the outside staircase to the wooden deck above. Dinah was crossing from the bar to a table in the corner, balancing a tray of margaritas. Her hair was more orange than red, too carroty a shade to be anything but natural. She was probably six feet tall in heels, wearing dark mesh hose, and a navy blue “sailor” suit with a skirt that skimmed her crotch. She had a little sailor cap pinned to her head and an air about her that suggested she’d known starboard from port since the day she reached puberty.
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br />   I waited until she’d served the drinks and was on her way back to the bar. “Dinah?”

  She looked at me quizzically. Up close, I could see the overlay of pale red freckles on her face and a long, narrow nose. She wore false eyelashes, like a series of commas encircling her pale hazel eyes, lending her a look of startlement. I gave her a brief rundown, patiently repeating myself. “I know who the old guy is,” I said. “What I’m trying to get a fix on is the woman he was with.”

  Dinah shrugged. “Well, I can’t tell you much. I just saw them as I went past. I mean, the marina’s got some lights, but not that great. Plus, it was raining like a son of a bitch.”

  “How old would you say she was?”

  “On the young side. Twenties, maybe. Blonde. Not real big, at least compared to him.”

  “Long hair? Short? Buxom? Flat-chested?”

  “The build, I don’t know. She was wearing a raincoat. Some kind of coat, anyway. Hair was maybe shoulder length, not a lot of curl. Kind of bushy.”

  “Pretty?”

  She thought briefly. “God, all I remember thinking was there was something off, you know? For starters, he was such a mess. I could smell him ten feet away. Bourbon fumes. Phew! Actually, I kind of thought she might be a hooker on the verge of rolling him. I nearly said something to her, but then I decided it was none of my business. He was having a great old time, but you know how it is. Drunk as he was, she really could have ripped him off.”

  “Yeah, well, she did. Dead is about as ripped off as you can get.”

  Chapter 14

  *

  By the time I pulled out of the restaurant parking lot, it was 2:00 and the air felt dank. Or maybe it was only the shadowy image of Daggett’s companion that chilled me. I’d been half convinced there was someone with him that night and now I had confirmation – not proof of murder, surely, but some sense of the events leading up to his death, a tantalizing glimpse of his consort, that “other” whose ghostly passage I tracked.

  From Dinah’s description, Lovella Daggett was the first name that popped into my head. Her trashy blonde looks had made me think she was hooking when I met her in L.A. On the other hand, most of the women I’d run across to date were on the young side and fair-haired-Barbara Daggett, Billy Polo’s sister Coral, Ramona Westfall, even Marilyn Smith, the mother of the other dead child. I’d have to start pinning people down as to their whereabouts the night of the murder, a tricky matter as I had no way to coerce a reply. Cops have some leverage. A P.I. has none.

  In the meantime, I went by the bank and removed the cashier’s check from my safe deposit box. I ducked into a coffee shop and grabbed a quick lunch, then spent the afternoon in the office catching up on paperwork. At 5:00, I locked up and went home, puttering around until 6:30 when I left for Ferrin and Ramona Westfall’s house to meet Tony Gahan.

  The Westfalls lived in an area called the Close, a deadend street lined with live oaks over near the Natural History Museum. I drove through stone gates into the dim hush of privacy. There are only eight homes on the cul-de-sac, all Victorian, completely restored, immaculately kept. The neighborhood looks, even now, like a small, rural community inexplicably lifted out of the past. The properties are surrounded by low walls of fieldstone, the lots overgrown with bamboo, pampas grass, and fern. It was fully dark by then and the Close was wreathed in mist. The vegetation was dense, intensely scented, and lush from the recent rain. There was only one street light, its pale globe obscured by the branches of a tree.

  I found the number I was looking for and parked on the street, picking my way up the path to the front. The house was a putty-colored, one-story wood frame with a wide porch, white shutters and trim. The porch furniture was white wicker with cushions covered in a white-and-putty print. Two Victorian wicker plant stands held massive Boston ferns. All too perfect for my taste.

  I rang the bell, refusing to peer in through the etched glass oval in the door. I suspected the interior was going to look like something out of House and Garden magazine, an elegant blend of the old, the new, and the offbeat. Of course, my perception was probably colored by Ferrin Westfall’s curt treatment of me and Ramona’s outright hostility. I’m not above holding grudges.

  Ramona Westfall came to the door and admitted me. I kept my tone pleasant, but I didn’t fall all over myself admiring the place, which, at a glance, did appear to be flawlessly done. She showed me into the front parlor and removed herself, closing the oak-paneled sliding doors behind her. I waited, staring resolutely at the floor. I could hear murmuring in the hall. After a moment, the doors slid open and a man entered, introducing himself as Ferrin Westfall… as if I hadn’t guessed. We shook hands.

  He was tall and slim, with a cold, handsome face and silver hair. His eyes were a dark green, as empty of warmth as the harbor. There were hints of something submerged in the depths, but no signs of life. He wore charcoal gray pants and a soft gray cashmere sweater that fairly begged to be stroked. He indicated that I should have a seat, which I did.

  He surveyed me for a moment, taking in the boots, the faded jeans, the wool sweater beginning to pill at the elbows. I was determined not to let his disapproval get through to me, but it required an effort on my part. I stared at him impassively and warded off his withering assessment by picturing him on the toilet with his knickers down around his ankles.

  Finally, he said, “Tony will be out in a moment. Ramona’s told me about the check. I wonder if I might examine it.”

  I removed the check from my jeans pocket and smoothed it out, passing it to him for his inspection. I wondered if he thought it was forged, stolen, or in some way counterfeit. He scrutinized it, fore and aft, and returned it, apparently satisfied that it was legitimate.

  “Why did Mr. Daggett come to you with this?” he asked.

  “I’m not really sure,” I said. “He told me he’d tried to find Tony at an old address. When he had no luck, he asked me to track him down and deliver it.”

  “Do you know how he acquired the money?”

  Again, I found myself feeling protective. It was really none of this man’s business. He probably wanted to assure himself that Daggett hadn’t come by the money through some tacky enterprise – drugs, prostitutes, selling dogs and kitty cats to labs for medical experiments.

  “He won it at the track,” I said. Personally, I hadn’t quite believed this part of Daggett’s tale, but I didn’t mind if Ferrin Westfall got sucked in. He didn’t seem any more convinced than I. He shifted the subject.

  “Would you prefer to be alone with Tony?”

  I was surprised at the offer. “Yes, I would. I’d really like to go off somewhere with him and have a Coke.”

  “I suppose that would be all right, as long as you don’t keep him too long. This is a school night.”

  “Sure. That’s very nice of you.”

  There was a tap at the door. Mr. Westfall rose and crossed the room. “This will be Tony,” he said.

  The doors slid back and Tony Gahan came in. He looked like an immature fifteen. He was maybe five-foot-six, a hundred and twenty-five pounds. His uncle introduced me. I preferred my hand and we fumbled through a handshake. Tony’s eyes were dark, his hair a medium brown, attractively cut, which struck me as odd. Most of the high school kids I’ve seen lately look like they’re being treated for the same scalp disease. I suspected Tony’s hairstyle was a concession to Ferrin Westfall’s notions of good taste and I wondered how that sat with him.

  His manner was anxious. He seemed like a kid trying desperately to please. He shot a cautious look at his uncle, searching for visual cues as to what was expected of him and how he was meant to behave. It was painful to watch.

  “Miss Millhone would like to take you out for a Coke, so she can talk to you,” Mr. Westfall said.

  “How come?” he croaked. Tony looked like he was going to drop dead on the spot and I remembered in a flash how much I’d hated eating and drinking in the presence of strange adults when I was his age. Meals
represent a series of traps when you haven’t yet mastered the appropriate social skills. I hated adding to his distress, but I was convinced I’d never have a decent conversation with him in this house.

  “She’ll explain all that,” Mr. Westfall said. “Obviously, you’re not required to go. If you’d prefer to stay here, simply say so.”

  Tony seemed unable to get a reading from his uncle’s statement, which was neutral on the surface, but contained some tricky side notes. It was the word “simply” that tripped him, I thought, and the “obviously” didn’t help.

  Tony glanced at me with a half shrug. “It’s okay, I guess. Like, right now?”

  Mr. Westfall nodded. “It won’t be for long. You’ll need a jacket, of course.”

  Tony moved out into the hall and I followed, waiting until he found his jacket in the hall closet.

  At fifteen, I thought he could probably figure out if he needed a jacket or not, but neither of them consulted me on the subject. I opened the front door and held it while he went out. Mr. Westfall watched us for a moment and then closed the door behind us. God, it was just like a date. I nearly swore I’d have him home by 10:00. Absurd.

  We made our way down the path in the dark. “You go to Santa Teresa High School?”

  “Right.”

  “What year?”

  “Sophomore.”

  We got in the car. Tony tried to roll down the smashed window on his side without much success. A shard of glass tinkled down into the door frame. He finally gave up.

  “What happened to this?”

  “I was careless,” I said, and let it go at that,.

  I did a U-turn in the lane and I headed for the Clockworks on State Street, a teen hangout generally regarded as seedy, unclean, and corrupt, which it is… a training ground for junior thugs. Kids come here (stoned, no doubt) to drink Cokes, smoke clove cigarettes, and behave like bad-asses. I’d been introduced to the place by a seventeen-year-old pink-haired dope dealer named Mike, who made more money than I did. I hadn’t seen him since June, but I tend to look for him around town.