"How did it happen?" she asked through the handkerchief.
"Someone walked into the suite a little before six this morning and shot him at point-blank range with a police Colt."
"Did he suffer?" I was racking my brain to remember what movie this dialogue was from. She sniffed significantly.
"No. If you don't have to look at the body, I wouldn't recommend doing so. It's pretty gruesome."
I looked over at the girlfriend who was smiling grimly and taking a deep drag on her Parliament cigarette.
"Do you think I'll have to make a statement to the police?" Now I had it. This was from her movie last year called, Who Was It? She was quoting the scene where the grieving widow was confronted by her husband's best friend who'd found the murdered husband's body.
I tried a question that followed that dialogue. "Do you know who would want to kill Taylor?"
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the girlfriend roll her eyes.
Rhonda, who was still holding the handkerchief to her mouth, said, "Not a soul. He was so wonderful. And so generous. And he loved me, I mean, Jeffery, so much."
I was doing my best stone face, trying not to laugh.
The girlfriend stood up, stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray, and went into the bathroom where she slammed the door closed.
For a brief moment, Rhonda looked frightened. "You'll have to pardon Juliet. She had a rough night."
"Oh, really?"
"Yes." She had run out of lines to read.
"Well, Mrs. Rocha has called the police. I'm sure they will want to ask questions about where you were last night. When they ask us, we'll tell them you, Taylor, and Juliet went for a walk on the beach with a bottle of tequila. That's right, isn't it?"
She nodded.
I waited.
"The police?" She had found her line.
I nodded. "Yes. They'll be interviewing everyone, I imagine."
"Will I have to make a statement?"
For Pete's sake.
"Yes. You will."
I turned towards the door. Carter followed me. We left. She said nothing.
. . .
As we walked back to our suite, I said, "She's a great actress, ain't she?"
Carter said, "You got that right."
I looked out at the water. "It's a shame to waste such a beautiful day."
"That's kind of hard, isn't it?"
"It is. That's what murder does, sweetheart. It makes you hard. Then, when the case is over, you have to soften up again."
"That's from a movie, isn't it?"
"Yep. 1948. The Matter Was Murder. Olivia Calvet. Erwin Heller. Saw it at The Vogue with Henry. You had to work that night."
"Well, I did see it, if I remember rightly."
"Yep. We went two nights later. It was a date night. It rained."
"OK. Enough with the Raymond Chandler dialogue."
By this time we were back in the suite. I pulled Carter in, reached up, and kissed him. "Murder is awful. There's no other way to say it."
. . .
We cleaned up a little. I put on a fresh shirt. And then we headed back towards the lobby. We stopped by to pick up Carlo and Ben.
I knocked on the door. Carlo answered. He was wearing short swim trunks, an open shirt, and that same kind of sandal that Jeffery had been wearing yesterday. The combination of the trunks and shirt showed off his best features in obvious ways.
He let us in. The door to the bedroom was closed. "Ben is lying down. Seeing Taylor like that came as a shock. Maybe we're not cut out for this work."
I patted Carlo on the arm. "Don't sweat it kid. I'm sure you've seen worse as a fireman."
He nodded.
Carter said, "It doesn't get better, but it does get easier."
My husband was so smart. I liked that about him.
The door to the bedroom opened. Ben came out, dressed very much the same as Carlo. In fact, they looked like duplicates of each other. Apart from how one was fair and the other was dark, they could have been twins.
Ben said, "I'm OK now." He reached an arm around Carlo. They leaned against each other. It really was sweet.
"Let's go have breakfast." I said.
Carter said, "If y'all want to change, we can wait."
Carlo gave a small smile. "Everyone here dresses like this, Carter. You'll see."
I shrugged. We were in open collar white shirts, trousers, and our usual shoes. Just like yesterday. If we stayed much longer, we might need to find a store. But I doubted anyone made those sandals in a size 14 for Carter.
. . .
We entered the dining room and were seated by the young hostess at a table overlooking the ocean.
Once we'd ordered, I looked around the dining room. Carlo was right. There weren't many people here but most of the women were in swimsuits with long blouses that covered them and had bright sandals or clogs on their feet. The men wore swim trunks or Bermuda shorts and lightweight shirts, as well. I realized I needed to get out of San Francisco more often. And that reminded me of Jeffery.
I looked up at Carter, who was watching me observe the dining room. "What's next, Boss?"
Ben giggled.
I smiled and said, "I'm only the boss because Mike isn't here. When he's in charge, no one will be giggling." I looked at Ben with a mock severity. He straightened up.
"Should we get him down here?" asked Carter.
"I don't know." I was musing it over. We had two things to follow up on. First, where was Jeffery? My guess was that he was in San Diego waiting to get on a plane back to San Francisco. Or he might still be here. I could get Marnie to find out if he was going to back to our fair city.
The other thing was much more difficult. I figured the police would do nothing. They wouldn't want to harass a movie star, so no one would touch Rhonda. If Juliet (what a name!) kept her head down, they wouldn't bother her. That left the four of us. We could go ahead and leave now, but that felt like the coward's way and that was never my style. We would need to solve this case, if only to prove we weren't involved. And we would need to do it quickly
I stood up. "I'm going to call Marnie and see if she can track down Jeffery. And, I'll put in a call to Mike to see what he's doing. Be right back."
I dropped my napkin without waiting for a reply because, through the open doors that led back to the lobby, I saw two policemen talking to Marge.
I walked in that direction and then stopped. I noticed that one of them was my handsome pistolero friend. I looked closer. No. It wasn't him. But maybe a brother. Or a cousin.
I resumed my walk and headed straight to Marge. She saw me coming and shook her head ever so slightly. The handsome brother cop saw this and took note of it. I walked past them and went to the reception desk. There was a very wispy young man working there. He looked bored and frustrated.
"I need to make a couple of calls to the States. How do I do that?"
He looked around and found a pad and then pulled a pencil from his pocket.
"What room are you in?"
"102."
"What's the number?"
"There are two." He sighed. "The first is San Francisco. Prospect 7777. Marnie Wilson."
"What's the other one?"
"Also San Francisco. Klondike 9921. Mike Robertson."
I waited until he had that written down. "How long will it take?"
"Probably two, maybe 3 hours."
"Tell you what. Just put in for the first one. Then I'll let you know if I want the second one."
"Whatever you want. Fine by me."
I nodded and walked back towards the dining room.
The two policemen and Rhonda were gone.
. . .
We finished up breakfast. I was signing the check when I got a tap on my shoulder. I looked up and it was the bored kid from the reception desk.
"Your call is ready, Mister. Must be because it's the slow season."
I nodded. "Be right there."
He loped back into the lobb
y.
I told Ben and Carlo to head to the beach, if they wanted, but to stay nearby and let us know if they left the hotel. They bounded out, like two eager schoolgirls.
Carter and I walked through the lobby. The kid saw us when we were still several feet away and pointed to a row of phone booths. He said, yelling across the lobby, "Number 2, Mister."
Carter whispered, "Good help these days."
I laughed as I sat down in the booth. Carter leaned against the door. I left the door open so he could hear my conversation.
I picked up the phone. I heard a couple of clicks and then a very clear female voice with a heavy accent said, "San Francisco? Ensenada is ready."
There was a brief pause and a click.
An American voice said, "You're call from Ensenada is ready, ma'am."
Two more clicks and then I could hear Marnie saying, "Hello? Nick?"
"Hi, doll. How's tricks?"
"Well, not so good."
"Really? What's up?"
"You got a subpoena to appear before the Bureau, Nick."
"When is it for?"
"Not for six weeks."
"OK. We'll cross that bridge later. Anything else?"
"Mike called."
"What did he say?"
"They fired him." She sounded sad.
"That's good news, doll."
"Yeah. I guess. Just seems like such a waste."
"The City's loss is our gain. Anything else?"
"No. Oh, yeah. I went to look for a car to buy yesterday."
"Good for you. Tell me about it when we get back."
"When are you coming back?"
"Dunno right now. We got a little problem here. But don't worry."
That was my signal to her that it was a big problem and for her to not ask about it. It was also a signal for her to start paying attention to the double-talk I was about to give her. We'd worked this out a couple of years ago when some confidential information got spilled over the phone once.
She replied correctly. "Oh, I won't Nick."
"Look, doll. You know my friend the lawyer?"
"Sure Nick. He's a swell guy."
"Right. Well, seems like he went on a trip this morning. On his way home from his vacation. Would you do me a big favor and find out when he's getting there? I want to be sure to send him a welcome back telegram and I want it waiting for him when he arrives."
"Where did he go on vacation?"
"San Diego, I think. Could have been Los Angeles, though."
"Sure thing, Nick. I'll be happy to."
"All right. Well, you call me here just as soon as you can and let me know. Thanks, doll. You're the best."
I put the receiver back and stood up.
"Was that some sort of code?" asked Carter.
"Yeah. Little thing we came up with once." I paused. "I got a subpoena from the Bureau for six weeks from now."
Carter whistled. "What for, son?"
"Who knows? Also, they fired Mike yesterday."
"We knew that was comin'."
"Yeah. Marnie took it kinda hard."
"Well, sure. What's next?"
I looked around the lobby. Marge was now at the desk. "Your turn for reconnaissance. Go turn on your southern charm with Marge and find out all you can about the two cops she was just talking to. And I think the taller of the two is related to one of the pistoleros from last night. Maybe a brother. Let her talk. She's been dying to be alone with you."
He nodded and started to walk away. "Oh, Carter."
He turned back. "Yeah, Nick?"
I smiled up at him and said, "Try not to break her heart." He smiled, turned around, and walked away.
Chapter 16
Hotel Riviera del Pacifico
Tuesday, May 26, 1953
Mid-morning
I walked back out to the suites. I wanted to see what the police were up to.
When I came around "queer row," I noticed that the other cop was standing in front of Taylor's room.
As I walked up, he said something in Spanish. I shrugged and shook my head. He put out his hand and then turned towards the door and said something else, in a louder voice.
The handsome brother cop came out. He really was striking. He was about my height. He had short, black hair and a magnificent black mustache that reminded me of old photos I'd seen of Pancho Villa and friends. Only his was more modern. The uniform was khaki. His was more fitted than his partner's. His skin was a light brown. His light brown eyes were almost luminescent.
He was holding his hat under his arm. He smiled and asked, in a very light accent, "Mr. Williams?"
I nodded. "Yes?"
"I am Captain Ignacio Esparza of the State Police of Baja California."
He extended his hand. I shook it. I could feel the shock of attraction as his soft, warm hand touched mine.
"Will you come inside, please? I have some questions for you."
I nodded and followed him, noticing his beautiful ass.
He pointed to the body. "Is this how you found it?"
As I walked over towards the bedroom, he reached his arm out and pushed me back. "Please. This is a crime scene. If you could observe from here." The touch had been commanding but not unfriendly. I wanted to look at his face, but was afraid I would betray my attraction. I looked around as much as I could from where I stood.
"Yes. Nothing looks like it's been disturbed."
He waited a moment. Then he spoke. "Then it was this way when you came into the suite this morning and went through the items in the bedroom before informing the owner of the hotel?"
Well, damn. He was good. I wanted to go sit at the bar and buy him a beer and find out how he knew. But instead, I said, "Well, something like that. I was looking to see if my friend, Jeffery Klein, was gone. The last time I'd been in this room was last night, when we put him to bed because he was drunk."
"And you put him, your friend that is, in that bed? That one bed?"
Now I looked at the captain. His eyes said one thing and his voice said something else. It was almost as if he was daring me to admit the nature of their relationship. He had the most sensual lips under that mustache. I was tempted to touch them.
"I'm sure you know by now the nature of Jeffery's relationship with Taylor Wells."
He nodded. And waited. He was good at this.
But I could wait. Just because I wanted him to slowly unbutton my shirt, didn't mean I couldn't wait him out like he was doing with me. Suddenly I remembered the ring on my finger. I'm pretty sure I flushed at that moment from a sense of shame about betraying Carter.
The captain smiled slightly when he saw me flush. "And this man, Carter Jones. He is your lover?"
That word was shocking. But I nodded.
"Good. Now, what did you find that you didn't want the police to know about? I assume you already have a theory of the case."
That was fast. I guessed he was trying to figure out first if I would just baldly lie to him. And since I'd been mostly honest, I figured I'd passed the test. I also had a strong feel, and I hoped this wasn't the lust talking, that he wanted help from me and was not trying to lure me into admitting to disturbing a crime scene.
I pulled the three things I'd taken from the room out of my pocket and offered them. He put down his hat and took them from me. When his fingers brushed my hand, I felt him move ever so slightly. So, it was mutual.
"These receipts. They total a thousand dollars. Yet there are only five hundred in the wallet and a small amount of dollars otherwise."
I nodded. "I wondered about that." Answer his questions. Offer nothing extra. Just play along. Oh, and don't grab him by the head and stick your tongue down his throat.
"Yes. Curious. And this photograph. That is your friend?" He held the photograph close up for me to look at. I could smell some exotic cologne wafting off his hands. I looked up and his eyes were dancing. I nodded. "Yes. That's him." I tried to swallow, but my mouth was dry.
He pulled the photograph
away and watched me as he did so. He put it on the table, next to his hat and the receipts. He thumbed through the black book. "Whose is this?"
"I don't know. I haven't had the chance to look through it."
He handed it to me and said, "Well, if you would please do so. I would like to know any informations you can detect from inside it."
I nodded again.
"Do you have a theory?" he asked.
I got hold of myself a bit. "Not exactly. I have three possible suspects. But none of them have a good enough motive for murder."
He smiled. "Motive is for trials. I'm sure you know that."
"Yes. But it helps put the pieces together."
"Who are your suspects?"
Here, I was going to have to pay attention and tread lightly. "Rhonda Starling."
"The actress?"
"Yes. Taylor was supposed to marry her."
"Ah, yes. That marriage. All for publicity, no?"
"Yes. Have you talked to her yet?"
"No. It was you I wanted to talk to first, Mr. Williams."
"I told her about the murder. She didn't lie. But she acted out her replies."
"Acted out? What is this?"
"She was quoting lines from a movie she was in. And, she kept her mouth covered the whole time. I think she was happy he was dead."
The captain thought for a moment. I tried not to look at his eyes.
"Yes. That would be a relief, no? Because she too is a homosexual, no?"
I nodded. "Her girlfriend is here, too."
"Is that your other suspect?"
"No. To put it plainly, Jeffery could have done it."
He looked at me carefully. "And he is your friend, is he not?"
"Yes."
"And you admit his possible guilt?"
"I don't know anything. I just see what I see. And I see that he is gone. And took all of his things with him."
The captain looked around the room. "Yes. That is very interesting. Do you think he is capable of doing this?"
"Isn't that also a question for a trial?"
The captain smiled. My knees shook for a moment. "Yes, you are right. With a gun like that, it is quite easy to do this murder."
I looked at him. "So, you know it was a police Colt, then?"
The Amorous Attorney (A Nick Williams Mystery Book 2) Page 10