a key from hissister who lives in
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. Rust streaks beneath the gutters I hadn’t noticed the firsttime. Front grid of stingy little windows, no hint anyone lived behind them.
That exhumed memories of my student days living on Overland, alone andfaceless and so full of self-doubt that entire weeks could slog by in anarcotic haze.
I pictured Tori Giacomo mustering 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. Sardonic. 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 Glamour. TV but no cablehookup and the phone was dead. My subpoena 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 dough 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.”
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