Chapter 30
Chapter
Things changed just before ten p.m. Robin was reading in the living room and I was playing guitar.
When the phone rang, I took it into my office.
Milo said, “Blessed are those who listen to shrinks. Neither of ol’ Bettina’s vehicles showed up in the lot but guess what: We nailed her at the passenger door to Heck’s BMW waiting for him to open it for her.
He’s fumbling for his keys, she’s tapping her foot, like what’s taking you so long, moron.
He drops the keys and she uses the time to pull off a blond wig and shake out a whole bunch of red hair.
Then she has the good graces to turn and inadvertently face a nearby camera and it’s clearly her. Hold on, I’ll send it to you.”
Moments later I was looking at Bettina Bel Geddes’s face.
I said, “Annoyed.”
“Alicia called it the ‘I’m-thinking-of-dumping-you look.’ ”
I laughed. “Maybe eventually but not with a huge lawsuit pending. But so much for that. Congratulations.”
He said, “Let’s see what the people in power want to do.”
The following morning I was in his office at nine as he called Deputy D.A. John Nguyen who said, “No shit she’s screwed. Awesome, she annoyed me from the git-go, my head’s filling with criminal charges. A litany, as the journos call it.”
Milo said, “If you don’t mind, John, I’d like to deal with the civil suit first.”
“Why?”
“We can’t have access to either of them as long as it’s pending.”
“Damocles’ Sword?” said Nguyen. “Shit. Hate to admit it but you’re right. Okay, I’ll call someone over at you-know-where. Don’t hold your breath, they lay down snail-trails.”
You-know-where was the city attorney’s office, a place Nguyen and other D.A.’s regarded as junior college.
The chief deputy there told Nguyen, “Yeah, I’ve been picking up rumors a shitshow might be imminent due to your screwup.”
“Obviously not a screwup,” said Nguyen. “I’d think you’d be grateful given your chronic manpower issues.”
“Person-power. Yeah, I guess this could be helpful.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Link you up to my best person.”
—
That turned out to be a thirty-something Stanford grad named Rachel Stone, the daughter of two Century City entertainment lawyers. Slender, pretty, decked out in Prada, easy contender for the role of Bettina Bel Geddes’s brunette sister.
Bel Geddes’s quiet, thoughtful, poised sister. She shook each of our hands then settled across from us in a city attorney meeting room, proceeded to listen without uttering a word until Milo, Alicia, and Nguyen had all finished.
“Interesting,” she said. Several seconds of nothing ensued as Stone’s wide, brown eyes studied each of our faces. Ending with me.
“You’ve got nothing to say, Doctor? Even though you originated the hypothesis?”
I said, “They’ve covered everything.”
More silence.
Nguyen said, “You don’t think it means anything?”
Rachel Stone said, “I think it means everything in terms of minimizing or even obviating the risk of a lawsuit. Bel Geddes was clearly knowledgeable about Heck’s alibi and chose to conceal that knowledge, which puts her on dangerous ground in so many ways.
The problem is, she hasn’t filed a lawsuit or taken any other steps yet indicating she’s planning to exploit the deception.
So currently, I don’t see any charges we could bring. ”
Nguyen said, “What about withholding evidence?”
“Of what?” said Stone. “Sleeping with a client?”
“You’re kidding.”
“Over in your place they file charges prior to a crime?”
A vein in Nguyen’s neck throbbed.
“No charges yet is fine with me,” said Milo.
Nguyen stared at him.
“What I’m saying, guys, is I’m totally comfortable showing her what we have and heading her off at the pass. It’ll knock off the lawsuit and prevent her from obstructing when I want to question Heck. Who is back in my sights as a murder suspect.”
“Why is that, Lieutenant?” said Rachel Stone.
“Because he’s the only link we’ve found to two of our murder victims—Sophie Barlow and Martha Matthias.
Three, if we consider Lynne Gutierrez as tied to Matthias.
Plus his role in the deception shows the kind of guy he is, meaning he could have premeditatedly set up an alibi while hiring someone to do the actual killing.
Getting rid of a bogus false-arrest money grab will give us grounds to dig deeper. ”
“That all sounds pretty theoretical.”
“That’s my point, Ms. Stone. If I can get access to Heck’s phone records and his financials, I might be able to turn it from theoretical to empirical.”
Rachel Stone placed smooth, manicured hands flat on the table.
John Nguyen said, “I concur totally.”
Stone said, “An ounce of prevention.”
Nods all around.
Stone said, “What if Mr. Heck casts Bettina aside and gets himself another lawyer who bears no liability in the case. What stops him from continuing to stonewall you?”
Using Bel Geddes’s first name. Maybe they went to the same parties.
Milo said, “That’s also theoretical.”
“Not quite, Lieutenant. I can imagine any competent lawyer attempting to block your subpoenas.”
Nguyen said, “Block away, given Heck’s lies on record, we’ll get past it.”
No reply.
Human beings have low tolerance for silence so therapists use it as a way to encourage self-revelation. Attorneys use it, too, the way they use everything: as a weapon, to confuse and intimidate.
Rachel Stone’s motive for keeping us waiting was unclear. Whatever her reason, the air in the room seemed to empty of oxygen.
I said, “Is there something about Bel Geddes we should know?”
She blinked. “Why would I be aware of that?”
“Just wondering if you knew her outside the courtroom.”
“I don’t know her in the courtroom, Doctor. Why are you asking me this?”
“You called Heck mister but used her first name.”
“Oh wow,” said Stone. “I’m being analyzed?” Her laughter was brittle.
Our turn for collective silence.
“As a matter of fact,” she said, “we have attended some of the same social functions, but no, we’re not pals.”
No one responded.
Stone laughed again. Uneasily. Her hands curled.
“Okay, this doesn’t leave these four walls but she’s got a reputation. I’m not going to tell you for what but let’s just say putting her in her place wouldn’t be disappointing.”
Nguyen said, “Great. So we’re on? You’ll move on both of them?”
“Not so fast,” said Stone. “We need to know exactly where we’re headed. The way I see it, our options are binary. Which is a good thing, too many choices confound the situation.”
She waited. No one bit.
Looking disappointed, she said, “Binary. A, we wait until Bel Geddes takes action and thus incriminates herself, then come down hard on her. B would be as you say, Lieutenant, we head her off at the pass. I will discuss this with Mr. Rimpau and get back to you, Deputy Nguyen.”
Before Nguyen could reply, she stood and left the room.
Nguyen looked stunned. “Better check the bottoms of my shoes.”
Alicia said, “Can you imagine her and Bel Geddes at the same shebang? The earth would shift on its axis.”
Milo rubbed his face and shook his head. “It seemed like an obvious deal. What’s the next step, John?”
“What do you think?” said Nguyen. “We wait. I know these guys. Afraid to get their hands bloody.”
“Snail-trail.”
“Exactly, Milo. It could get long and slimy.”
—
It didn’t.
Two days later, Stone called Nguyen and told him, “Feel free to head off at as many passes as you like.”
“Which translates,” he told Milo, “as it’s your heap of shit, dude, we want nothing to do with it.”
“Great, John.”
“Depends how it turns out, Milo. Stone was right about one thing: If Heck’s smart enough to get himself another lawyer, you’ll still be up a creek.”
“Better than nothing, John. How do you want me to go about it?”
“Up to you,” said Nguyen.
“My heap of shit, you want nothing to do with it.”
“I will deny that if queried.”