“You went to another bar?”
“Near the hotel. It was nicer than the hotel bar. It was pretty late. We didn’t fight though.”
Ray’s tone softened some. “Sounds innocent enough.”
“If anyone was mad it would have been Erika, and Dee was the one who broke it all up.” Ray had to agree with her on that point. He was trying to fit it together when Carol spoke up for the first time.
“So you all went to a bar, had a few drinks and patched things up. No harm, no foul?”
“Lakisha and Erica left after one drink, I think. I stayed for a while, but I probably shouldn’t have. Sometimes I drink too much. Someone has probably told you that already, too.”
Ray kept his face impassive, stayed silent. Carol was doing okay.
“So they took you back to the hotel?”
“I got back there on my own. Dee and Karen stayed for a while. I think Dee was keeping an eye on her, on Karen. She was pretty wound up after the club.”
“Drunk?” Ray probed.
“More like horny. No…not horny.” Roxie searched for another word. “Frisky. When she’s not around Gary she’s a huge flirt.”
“And Deanna was flirting too?”
“No. Dee was running interference. She and Karen go way, way back. She was just staying close so Karen wouldn’t do something stupid.”
“Was this normal?” Ray probed deeper.
“Yeah, but not like you think. Dee watched out for all of us. She called me cabs or drove me home. She ran interference for Erica too. She would talk to Lakisha about her spending and antagonizing Mr. Marland.”
Ray interrupted her. “Why does everyone refer to him as Mr. Marland? Off the subject. Sorry.”
Roxie laughed softly, the first time she’d done so throughout the whole conversation. “She never uses his first name. Never. He’s been Mr. Marland for ten years, maybe longer. I have to think what it is. Funny, huh?”
Ray allowed himself a brief smile. Carol frowned at him for breaking the rhythm they had built up.
“Why would Deanna have needed to run interference at the bar? Was Karen that frisky?” Carol asked, trying to get back on track.
“I don’t remember. I think Karen was eye fucking some guy at the bar. I’m not sure. I do remember that it was our last night in LA and it was a very quiet flight home.”
“You all stayed at the same hotel?”
“Sure. I had a room with Ally. Karen and Dee shared a room, so did Lakisha and Erika. It saves money.”
“And everyone made it back in their rooms that night?”
“Yeah. I mean we all met in the lobby for the shuttle.”
Roxie kept looking over at the cabinet over the range. Ray guessed that’s where the liquor was. He weighed the idea of telling her to go ahead and have a drink and decided against it. They were about through there. The LA trip and the strip club incident didn’t seem to be going much further, if it had ever had any legs at all.
Back in the car, Carol was thoughtfully smoking another Marlboro while Ray flipped through his notebook.
“What are you thinking?” Carol asked.
“I’m thinking we need a motive. Did you buy all that…that they never fought?”
“Not a chance. But I think they may have picked their battles carefully.”
“Go on.”
“As a group their biggest dilemma would be where to go for dinner or whose house to party at. As a group they would be careful to maintain peace and order. Keep the vibe positive. Individually? You cannot have a half dozen women in close contact without, what do you call it? Friction? That’s your word isn’t it?”
“It’s a good word,” Ray said.
“I don’t see them as swingers.”
Ray’s eyebrows went up when he turned toward her. “That came out of left field.”
Carol explained. “I thought of it when she talked about Deanna’s husband, how he had an open invitation. Maybe I’ve been in Sex Crimes too long.”
“But you think there’s some sexual tension there?” Ray asked. He hadn’t picked up anything like that.
“We haven’t met this Karen Hewes yet, but I’ll bet you she’s as good looking as the rest of them. The Marland woman’s attractive, right?”
Ray nodded. “And so is Erika Hilgendorff. The only one out of sync is Allyson Couts.”
“My bet is that Couts isn’t part of the inner circle. She’s not as close as the others.” Carol started the car. The interview with Roxie Kennebrew had taken a while. She waited for Ray to tell her where to go next, wondering if they should try to match up with the Hewes’ woman or head for the office.
“I wonder how de Luca’s doing?” Ray asked. He didn’t expect her to answer. He decided to head back to the station, to the office to do some thinking. He needed more information, needed to talk to Lipka and Pao, check in with Kumpula and see if any interesting forensics had appeared. Then he was going to get them all together to go over it all-the interviews, the neighbors, the science. There was something lurking in there, there had to be.
There always was.
Chapter 14
So this is what it’s like on a stakeout Tony said to himself for the tenth or twelfth time in the last three hours. He was parked across the street from the pale blue house Scott Jr. shared with Hong and Swenson and the elusive Sean Stuckey. Scotty was still with his father, he assumed. Swenson had come and gone once. David Hong was in the house. No one had a picture of Stuckey. Tony’s plan was to approach the house when anyone entered that he didn’t recognize.
Tony thought that it was a lot of work just to clear a fringe element. Beyond Scott Jr. the roommate connection was tenuous at best. He wondered if Ray was sticking him out here to keep him out of the way, keeping him from screwing something up. It wasn’t a big confidence builder.
Most of the houses on the street were student rentals. Tony watched as the twenty something men and women came and went. They all seemed to be in constant motion. Some driving, most walking-to the bus stop on the corner two blocks up, to the small grocery on the corner, or to whatever lay on the avenue beyond. There was a pizza place close by but out of sight. The smell had been driving him crazy for the last hour.
Just fifteen minutes. Tony’s stomach growled, arguing that he wouldn’t miss Stuckey if he scooted over for a slice or two of thin crust. He imagined pepperoni and mushrooms and onions and black olives swimming in mozzarella, little pools of grease puddling on the surface of the pie, steam rising, the smell of a tangy, biting tomato sauce and oregano blending with the cheeses and the sausage.
He was reaching for the car’s ignition when his phone rang. He noticed who was on the other end and smiled as he touched the screen.
“Hi.” Caller ID is a wonderful thing, he thought, as he greeted Sue Ellen.
“Hi yourself, detective. Caught any bad guys today?” She seemed to be in a good mood.
“I wish. Hey, you want to join me on a stakeout?”
“Doesn’t that sound like fun?” He could tell she didn’t really think so. “Who are you staking out? Or can’t you tell me.”
Tony leaned back in the car seat, savoring her lovely voice. “Just a college kid. It’s a real thin connection to the Fredrickson woman. I think your Uncle Ray has me riding pine here.”
“Clearing alibis, huh?”
“That’s it.”
“It’s important. Want to know why?” Sue Ellen said.
Oh great, Tony thought, now the cute DA chick is going to give me detective lessons too. Part of him was tired of everyone knowing more about his job than he did. Part of him was eager to learn.
“I think I do but why don’t you give me your take.” It came out snippy. Tony thought he might have to apologize but Sue Ellen breezed right over it.
“I’ve been with the DA’s office for almost five years now. We’ve had a lot of cases turn on fringe players. Not the cases where you’ve got eye wits and smoking guns. Cases like this one though…you need to go through all the motions. Just clear the guy and move on. If he doesn’t clear, you’ve got something to work with.”