I pointed to the purple flash drive. “May I?”
He slapped a hand down, sent the drive skittering across the mahogany. I caught it before it flew over the edge.
He said, “I’m not ashamed of a goddamn thing.”
Chapter 26
I phoned Regina from the nearest strip mall.
“At least he didn’t fire you,” she said.
“Maybe he forgot to.”
“Tch. Sloppy, Shelly-Belly. All right,” she said. “We got Dame the Runner, Shelby the Lover, and Livvy the Liar. Pick your villain.”
“Before any of that, we need to deal with the accident ruling. Both for the cops to take us seriously, and because, much as I hate to admit it, they might be right.”
“Fine,” she said, “I’m putting accident at number one, with an asterisk.”
“Are you actually writing this down?”
“No, but I’m pretending to in an effort to appear organized. Who’s next?”
“Roby. He’s got a record, so anyone poking around could set him off. Still, most people don’t jump out the window at the sight of a stranger’s photo. And we have an eyewitness putting him with Adam.”
“Doesn’t mean he was there when Adam died.”
“No. Or he was, but it was still an accident. If it was deliberate, I’m seeing something like a hookup that went off the rails.”
“All right. Accident one — asterisk, Roby two. Next?”
“Shelby Fuller the Fourth.”
“You prefer him over Olivia.”
“I think so,” I said. “I see her primary motive as jealousy. Fuller has that, plus fear of the affair coming to light. What if Adam was feeling guilty? Or aggrieved at Fuller for breaking up with him a second time? Or Fuller lied, and Adam was the one who ended it. The watch is to win him back. But it doesn’t work, and now Fuller’s scared he’ll spill.”
“One problem,” she said. “Adam can’t do that without blowing up his own life.”
“Maybe he was ready to come out. Or he decided to blackmail Fuller. Maybe that’s what the watch was, a payoff.”
“I like that.”
“Of course you do,” I said. “It assumes the worst of people.”
“Why’d Adam give the watch to Trevor?”
“He was already giving him cash.”
“Big upgrade.”
“Well, maybe gifts are his love language, too.”
“Or the blackmail isn’t really about money,” Regina said. “It’s a power play against Fuller. It’s not like Adam’s short on funds.”
“Yeah. I also prefer Fuller over Olivia in terms of opportunity. He got cagey as hell when I asked where they met. Parking garages and dead-end roads? He knew I could check hotels, so he tried to divert me. You just got through telling me you wouldn’t spend the night in a dorm. Now you’re necking in the back seat of a car like a high schooler?”
She said, “Did you just say ‘necking’?”
“Ironically. I was using it ironically.”
“Sure you were,” she said. “Okay, Livvy the Liar.”
“She’s had it with Adam’s extracurricular activities. Maybe the watch was the last straw. She invites Adam over, they take a drive, get high, he’s feeling nice and relaxed. She cracks him on the head, chucks him in the water, and ditches the car far away.”
“She offered up Fuller to you. Takes the spotlight off her.”
“Yup.”
“Here’s a thought,” Regina said. “Roby kills Adam, but he’s not acting on his own. He’s muscle.”
“For Olivia.”
“Or for Fuller. Neither of them seems like the type to get their hands dirty.”
“How do they find Roby?” I asked.
“Bay Area Hitman Dot Com.”
I laughed.
“If it is Fuller or Livvy,” she said, “Adam’s most likely unrelated to the others. Why would they murder a bunch of strangers, then turn around and murder him? The victimology’s bizarre.”
“I agree. As it stands, though, Linus Hao’s the only definite homicide. He’s our best chance to get some momentum going. Everyone except Winterholz is dishing out the silent treatment. At least he left the door open. He wants to see the new map.”
“So do I. It’s been like six days.”
“I emailed Brenner yesterday,” I said. “He sent back a picture of the progress bar at seventy percent.”
“Fuckin nerd... Okay, boss. What’s the plan?”
“Find Roby. Give Olivia some time to decompress, then reapproach for a detailed account of that Saturday and Sunday. I also want to get ahold of Trevor. He must know more than he’s letting on.”
“Fuller?”
“For all his bluster, he’s got an impulsive side, especially when it comes to Adam. After the conversation we just had, he’s gonna be off balance. So we watch him. Maybe he screws up, does something rash or incriminating. We don’t have the resources for a twenty-four- or even a twelve-hour surveil, so I’m thinking office to home, see if he goes out at night.”
“How long are we doing this?”
“A week to start,” I said.
“Okay. I’ll take tonight.”
“I’m down here already.”
“I got it,” she said. “You go home and neck with your wife.”
That week, I listened to a lot of sports talk radio.
During the day I drove the Dame Roby circuit: his apartment, his mother’s house, his brother’s house, their neighbors. No one came to the door, and the white Corolla didn’t appear on a license plate reader search. At the Geary Boulevard Jiffy Lube, Felix the manager swore that he was still AWOL.
Evenings were devoted to Shelby Fuller IV.
Night one, his hunter-green BMW XM left Rancho El Bosque at six fifty. Regina tailed him to Almaden, a wealthy suburb adjacent to Los Gatos. The Fuller IV residence was one sprawling story — a ranch house on steroids, ostensibly more modest than Rick and Liz’s Tuscan castle. But the squat, wide profile made its own kind of boast.
See how much room I have to spread out?
The frontage was also surprisingly accessible, a smooth lawn and sweeping semicircular driveway. No gate, no privacy landscaping. Picture windows framed the foyer, living room, and kitchen.
See how safe my neighborhood is?
Grill-smoke and children’s voices rose from the backyard. Summer was in decline. Make every day count.
After dinner Fuller walked his dog. Dressed in sweats, he passed Regina without pause. They’d never met, and she was a small woman, alone in her car, pretending to cry into a tissue. Still, she tagged her location so I could stake out elsewhere. The dog, she added, was some sort of designer poodle mix; a labradoodle, applestreudel, pool noodle.
By nine, Fuller and his wife were ensconced on the sofa, watching TV and scrolling on their phones. They hadn’t bothered to draw the curtains. Light played over the velvety grass. Nina, a hardcore multitasker, was also painting her toenails.
By eleven fifteen, the house was dark.
At seven thirty a.m. Fuller got into the BMW and drove to downtown San Jose, where Fuller, Gilligan & Fuller, LLC, occupied the third and fourth floors of a commercial high-rise — walking distance to Adam’s condo. Regina observed the vehicle descend into the subterranean lot. She hung around for another half hour, finishing up her notes, which she sent to me along with the comment this guy is boring as shit. Then she went home to catch up on sleep.
Tuesday belonged to me.
Fuller left the office early, at four forty-five, and headed to Rancho El Bosque.
I cruised past the entrance, hung a U-turn, and pulled over.
The security guard sauntered out to the middle of the street with binoculars. Through my telephoto lens I saw him frowning at me.