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“With murders?”
“With the things people do to each other.”
“Ah,” said Harold Saroyan. “That sounds more like horror than amazement. If you want me to look at whatever this is, just call me. I will come to you.”
“Appreciate that, sir.”
“Oh yes, Lieutenant. The last time I worked with you I had a good story for my grandchildren.”
Milo thanked him, hung up, scrawled some notes, stretched his legs as far as the mean space permitted. “Two fifty to three fifty and Dougie paid a hundred.”
“She scammed him?”
“Given the nature of their relationship, it’s possible, no? Notice, he didn’t say he bought it, he said he paid for it. What if she came to him, I found something I like, honey. He doles out a hundred. She buys an amethyst and pockets the dough.”
“Did she have her own bank account?”
“Don’t know yet. Just put in the subpoena but even if I get it, I have no idea where to look.”
I said, “Learning she conned him financially as well as romantically isn’t going to do much for Doug’s disposition.”
“Only thing that matters to me is if that led him to shoot two people and I can prove it. Any ideas?”
I shook my head.
“No prob,” he said, “it’s dinnertime, anyway. Gonna find some slop nearby, then get back here and keep grasping at straws.”
“Why don’t you come over for dinner?”
“Don’t you wanna ask Gorgeous?”
“She loves you.”
Despite himself, he smiled. “It’s mutual. Thanks for the offer, amigo, but I’m feeling the pull of solitude.”
CHAPTER
26
I spent the morning writing up my evaluation of a six-year-old girl injured by a bicyclist speeding on a sidewalk in Pacific Palisades. The biker’s defense: his activism helped the environment and pedestrians needed to be aware of their surroundings, specifically the child’s mother.
No need for me to comment on any of that, just to report on the psychological ramifications of a broken ankle plus significant terror.
I emailed the report to the lawyer who’d hired me, made coffee, and was drinking it when Milo phoned just after one p.m.
“It was a nothing day,” he said, sounding strangely cheerful. “Until a few minutes ago when Claudio Aggiunta called. Every year, the family gave Gio a hefty cash allowance. Three hundred thou over and above all the bills they paid for him. The deal was he needed to document everything.”
I said, “Probably so they could deduct it as a business expense. Or they just wanted to keep tabs on him.”
“Either way, he was compliant, sent everything back to Italy every three months for their accountants to examine. The last batch hasn’t been looked at but because of the murder, Claudio just checked. Acoupla months ago a hundred G’s disappeared with no notation. That spark any free association?”
“The same amount Doug paid for the purple diamond or whatever it is.”
“Could be our gal Meagin was an equal-opportunity grifter. Makes sense, given her time in Vegas milking the gig economy.”
“It could also explain someone gunning for her.”
“Oh yeah,” he said. “Rip off one person too many and it’s your last scam.”
