Jonathan Kellerman - Twisted

Petra recited her title and the woman said, “Police? Why?”

“It’s about an old case. Are you familiar with Geraldo Solis, ma’am?”

“Dave’s ex-father-in-law. He was… I’m Dave’s wife.”

“Where does your husband work, Mrs. Murphy?”

“HealthRite Pharmacy. He’s a pharmacist.” Saying it with some pride.

“Which branch, ma’am?”

“Santa Monica. Wilshire near Twenty-fifth. But I don’t know what he could tell you, that was years ago.”

Don’t rub it in.

Petra thanked her and hung up, looked up the drugstore’s number while glancing over at Isaac’s desk. The kid was still poring over his papers but the hand against his face had dropped and Petra saw a bruise, reddish-purple, high up on the left side of his face, between the rounded tip of his cheekbone and his ear.

As if suddenly aware, he reclamped his hand over the spot.

Something had happened between last night and today.

Rough neighborhood. Walking alone.

Or worse- something domestic?

She realized how little she knew about his private life, considered going over to check out the bruise. But he looked as if the last thing he wanted was company.

She called the HealthRite Pharmacy, Santa Monica branch.

David Murphy had a pleasant phone voice. Not surprised by her call. The wife had prepared him.

He said, “Gerry was a good guy. I can’t think of anyone who’d want to hurt him.”

According to Maria, her father had taken Murphy’s side in the divorce.

Petra said, “Well, someone sure did.”

“Terrible,” said Murphy. “So… what can I do for you?”

“Is there anything you remember about the day Mr. Solis was murdered, sir? Maybe something that didn’t come up during the initial investigation?”

“Sorry, no,” said Murphy.

“What do you recall?”

“It was a terrible day. Maria and I were in the midst of breaking up; she was driving back and forth between our home… between me and her… and Bella Kandinsky. She’s her partner, now.”

“Emotional day,” said Petra.

“You bet. She’d come home, talk to me, get upset, run to Bella. Then back to me. I’m sure Maria was feeling like the rope in a tug of war. I was pretty stunned.”

“Stunned?”

“My marriage, suddenly over. Over another woman.” Murphy laughed. “Anyway, that was a long time ago. We’ve all moved on.”

“At the time of the murder, Maria was living at her father’s house.”

“On and off,” said Murphy.

“Because of marital problems.”

“We’d been quarreling. I didn’t understand why, at the time.”

“You ever go over to Mr. Solis’s house?”

“I used to be there all the time. Before things got rough in the marriage. Gerry and I got along. That made it kind of rough on Maria.”

“How so?”

“Gerry took my side. He was pretty conservative. Maria’s choice was hard for him to swallow.”

“That must’ve caused conflict between them.”

“Sure.”

“Heavy-duty conflict?”

Murphy laughed again. “You can’t be serious. No, no, that’s totally out of the ballpark. Don’t even go there.”

Same phrase Maria had used.

“Go where?” said Petra.

“What you’re implying. Listen, I’m kind of busy- ”

“I wasn’t implying, just asking,” said Petra. “But as long as we’re on the topic, how serious was the conflict between Maria and her dad?”

David Murphy said, “That’s absurd. Maria’s a terrific person. She and Gerry had your typical parent-child things. I had them with my folks, everyone does. No way could she have hurt him, she’s absolutely a terrific person. No way.”

She defends him, he defends her. And they got divorced. Depressing.

He said, “Believe me, Detective, I’m definitely right.”

“Mr. Murphy, in the file there’s a note about a cable-repair appointment. Did Maria mention that to you?”

“No, but Gerry did. In fact, the guy was right there when I called.”

“You called Mr. Solis.”

“Sure. I wanted to find out where Maria was. She left our house pretty upset and I assumed she went home. I wanted to smooth things out. Gerry answered and he was grumpy. Because the cable guy had come late.”

“What time was this?”

“Wow,” said Murphy. “This was what- five years ago? I remember it was dark, already. And I’d been working late… I’d say eight, nine. Maybe even nine-thirty. Gerry said something about the guy saying he’d show up by six, then calling to push it to seven, then still not making it on time. He was pretty annoyed. If I had to guess, I’d say between eight-thirty and nine.”

“Mr. Solis was upset.”

“Because of having to wait. When I asked to speak to Maria, he said she wasn’t there, he had no idea where she was… He was kind of abrupt. In general, he was a grumpy guy.”

Meaning Geraldo Solis, already annoyed by delays, could’ve had a serious chip on that evening. Been primed for a confrontation.

She said, “Did Mr. Solis have a bad temper?”

“No, not really,” said Murphy. “More like… a curmudgeon. He was a very disciplined guy, ex-Marine, expected the world to work on a tight schedule. When things didn’t go that way, it bugged him.”

“Like a late appointment.” Or a lesbian daughter.

“Sure- oh, wow, you’re not suggesting- ”

“Just asking questions, Mr. Murphy.”

“The cable guy?” said Murphy. “Whoa… but the police said Gerry was killed around midnight… I guess he could’ve been left there for a few hours… wow.”

A cable guy who shows up after dark. Whose company had no record of any scheduled service appointment. Which wasn’t necessarily significant two years later. Paperwork screwups happened all the time and the cable companies that serviced L.A. were notoriously inept. Still…

She said, “Did he tell you the reason for the cable appointment?”

“That’s another thing that bothered Gerry. He hadn’t complained about anything. It was the company saying they needed to come by. General maintenance, something like that. My God… you really think- ”

“Mr. Murphy, did you tell any of this to the original detective?”

“Hustaad? He never asked about it and I never really thought about it. What he wanted to know was how I got along with Gerry. How Maria got along. I got the feeling he was checking me out. Psychologically. He also asked where I was around midnight- that’s why I figured it happened around midnight. Normally I’d be asleep at that time, but that night I was pretty upset and went out with a friend- a buddy from work. We went out drinking and I cried in my beer… so to speak.”

“Can you remember anything else Mr. Solis said about the cable appointment?”

“Not really… I don’t think he said anything other than how annoyed he was.”

“And he definitely told you the man was there, in the house.”

“Yes. I think… but maybe I assumed. He was talking softly, so I assumed someone was there. It’s not anything I could swear to. In court, or something like that.”

Court. From your mouth to God’s ears.

Petra pressed him a bit more, learned nothing. Thanked him.

He said, “Sure. Good luck. Gerry really was a good guy.”

A cable repairman, quite possibly phony, shows up after dark. Tinkers around and cases the place. Maybe leaves a rear door or a window unlocked for a return trip.

Or he does Solis right there, has the presence of mind to cook breakfast, stick the old man’s face in it.

Takes some food for the road.

Healthy stuff; a killer who took care of himself.

What did any of that say about Kurt and Marta Doebbler?