Jonathan Kellerman - Guilt

Del Rios snorted that off. “Tell me about your bones.”

“Infant,” said Milo. “Half a year old, give or take.”

“That was in the paper.”

“That’s what we know so far.”

“You’ve narrowed down the time frame to when my family owned the place?”

“Yes, sir.”

“How?”

“Afraid I can’t get into that, sir.”

Del Rios smiled. “Now I’m not liking the ‘sir’ so much.”

Milo smiled back.

The warmth generated by the exchange might’ve heated a baby gnat.

Del Rios said, “No sense drawing this out. My family had nothing to do with it but I can’t tell you none of the tenants did. Nor can I give you a name, I have no idea who rented the place, stayed completely out of it.”

“Out of real estate?”

“Out of anything that got in the way of having fun.” Del Rios drank grape juice. Smacked his lips, dabbed them with a linen handkerchief. The resulting magenta stain seemed to fascinate him.

Milo said, “We’ve narrowed the time frame to the period your mother lived in the house.”

“And what period might that be?”

“Nineteen fifty to ’52.”

“Well,” said Del Rios, “I’m sure you think you’re clever. Problem is you’re wrong. After Dad died in ’47, Mom did live there by herself, but only until she was diagnosed with both heart disease and cancer.” The seams across Del Rios’s brow deepened. “She was a devout woman, talk about a one-two punch from a benevolent God. It happened winter of ’49, right after the two-year anniversary of Dad’s death. She hung on for four years, the last two were a horror show, the only question was which disease would get her first. We tried having her stay in the house with a nurse but that got to be too much and by the spring of 1950 she was living with my brother Frankie, his real name was Ferdinand, but he hated it so he had us call him Frank. He and his wife lived in Palo Alto, he was in medical residency back then, orthopedics. That lasted until the beginning of ’52, when Mom had to be put in a home near Stanford. During her last year, she was basically vegetative, by ’54 she was gone. Before she moved up north with Frankie and Bertie, she put the house in trust for the four of us. But none of us wanted to live there, it reminded us of dead parents. Frankie was living in Palo Alto, my sister Mary Alice was studying medicine in Chicago, and I, the rotten kid, the dropout, was in the marines and couldn’t care less. So Eddie-the oldest one, he was a priest-hired a management company and we rented it out for years. Like I said, I can’t tell you who any of the tenants were. And everyone else is dead, so you’re out of luck, son.”

“Do you remember the name of the management company?”

“Can’t remember something I never knew in the first place,” said Del Rios. “I’m trying to tell you: I had no interest in anything but fun. To me the damn house was a source of moolah. Each month I’d get a check from Eddie for my share of the rent and promptly blow it. Then Eddie died in a bus accident and the three of us got rid of the place, can’t even tell you who bought it, but obviously you know.”

He finished his grape juice. “That’s the full story, my friend. Don’t imagine it makes you happy but I can’t change that.”

Milo said, “It clarifies things.”

Del Rios removed his glasses. “A man who sees the bright side? Funny, you don’t give that impression.”

He stood. We did the same.

Milo said, “Thanks for your time, Chief.”

At the door, Del Rios said, “When I figured out what you were after, the thought that my family was under suspicion annoyed me. Even though if it was my case, I’d be doing the same thing. Then I realized I couldn’t help you and I started feeling for you, son. Having to dig that far back.” Winking. “So to speak. So here’s one more tidbit that’s probably irrelevant but I don’t want you thinking J.J.’s not simpatico with a fellow officer. Before my brother Eddie became a priest, he was a car nut, an early hot-rodder, into anything with four wheels and a big engine. He even got Dad to buy him a Ford coupe that he souped up and drag-raced. Anyway, one day Eddie and I were having lunch in the city. He was working as an assistant priest at St. Vibiana on Main Street, this was before he got transferred to Santa Barbara. During the time Mom was already living with Frankie. Anyway, Eddie says, ‘Johnny, I drove by the house a few nights ago, making sure the managers were getting the lawn cut better than the last time, and you won’t believe what was parked in the driveway. A Duesie.’ ”

I said, “A Duesenberg.”

“In the flesh,” said Del Rios. “The metal. It didn’t mean much to me, I didn’t care about cars, still don’t, but Eddie was excited, going on about not just a Duesenberg but one with the big chrome supercharger pipes coming out of the side, apparently that’s a big deal. He informs me this is the greatest car ever built, they were rare to begin with, twenty years later they’re a treasure. He tells me a car like that would’ve cost more new than the house did, he’s wondering how the tenant could have that kind of money, his best guess is she’s got a rich boyfriend. Then he blushes, shuts his mouth, remembering he’s a priest, no more gossip. I laughed like hell, told him he should get himself a hot rod on the sly, it bothers him he can confess about it. Meanwhile he can lay rubber right in front of the church, worst case the cardinal has a stroke. He laughed, we had our lunch, end of topic. Okay?”

“Female tenant.”

“That’s what he said,” said Del Rios. “ She . A woman fits with a baby. A rich boyfriend fits with an unwanted baby. What do you think, son?”

“I think, sir, that you’re still at the top of your game.”

“Always have been. Okay, good, now you have to get out of here, got a hot date and at my age getting ready is a production.”

As I drove back to the city, Milo called a DMV supervisor to find out how far back car registrations ran.

“Inactive records are deleted after a few months, Lieutenant.”

“What about paper archives?”

“Nothing like that, sir.”

“No warehouse in Sacramento?”

“No such thing, Lieutenant. What exactly are you looking for?”

Milo told her.

She said, “With a subpoena, we could give you a list of currently registered Duesenbergs. That German?”

“American,” he said.

“Really? I lived in Detroit, never heard of them.”

“They haven’t been manufactured for a long time.”

“Oh,” said the supervisor. “A historical vehicle. Would a list of current regs help?”

“Probably not, but if it’s all I can get, I’ll settle.”

“Send me the proper paper and it’s all yours, Lieutenant.”

He hung up. I said, “Auburn, Indiana.”

“What about it?”

“It’s where Duesenbergs were built. Back in the day, cars were manufactured all over the country.”

“My home state,” he said. “Never knew that. Never saw anything exotic.”

“You wouldn’t unless you had rich friends. When Duesenbergs came out, they cost the equivalent of a million bucks and Father Eddie was right, they’re prime candidates for the greatest car ever made. We’re talking massive power, gorgeous custom coachwork, every screw hand-fashioned.”

“Listen to you, amigo. What, you were once a gear-head?”

“More like a fantasizing kid.” Who’d memorized every make and model because cars represented freedom and escape. Mentally cataloging all that information was a good time-filler when hiding in the woods, waiting out a drunken father’s rage.

Milo tapped the tucked-leather passenger door. “Now that I think about it, this is kind of a classic buggy.”