Jonathan Kellerman - Rage

“Everyone needs comfort.”

He laughed angrily. “Give me that old- time religion, bro. And I ain’t talking rousing hymns and babbling in tongues. My childhood was nuns who smacked my hands raw and priests stoked by guilt and hellfire and blood sacrifice.”

“Blood sacrifice sells movies,” I said.

“Sells entire civilizations.”

“Optimism’s for wimps?”

“Hey, it’s great if you can swallow it,” he said. “Blind Faith 101.”

After dropping me back at my place, Milo leaned out the passenger window. “Has my resolute negativity brought you down? Because there’s something you can do for me while I’m up to my neck in Nestorania.”

“Sure.

“How about you warn the Daneys? Be psychologically sensitive and hold back if you sense they’re gonna do something stupid. And as long as we’re putting out warnings, what about the boys’ lawyers- talk about getting on Malley’s wrong side. Remember their names?”

“Sydney Weider for Troy, Lauritz Montez for Rand.”

“That just rolled off your tongue. The case stayed with you.”

“Until Rand called, I thought I’d forgotten about it.”

“So much for optimism, pal. Anyway, feel free to schmooze with them, too. I hate talking to lawyers.”

Monday, I called the Daneys’ home. No one answered, so I turned to Sydney Weider and Lauritz Montez.

Weider was no longer at the Public Defender’s and I found no home or office listing for her. Lauritz Montez was still a P.D. but he’d moved uptown to the Beverly Hills office.

He answered his own extension, just the way he’d done years ago. This time, my name evoked silence. When I asked him if he’d heard about Rand, he said, “Oh… you’re the psychologist. No, what about him?”

“He was murdered.”

“Shit,” he said. “When?”

“Nine days ago.”

His voice went flat as lawyer’s wariness took over: “You didn’t call just to inform me.”

“I’d like to talk to you. Could we meet?”

“What about?”

“It would be better in person,” I said.

“I see… when were you thinking?”

“Sooner’s better than later.”

“Okay… what is it now, four-thirty, I’ve got paperwork but I need to eat. Know where the Bagel Bin is on Little Santa Monica?”

“I’ll find it.”

“Bet you will. Five sharp.”

The place was New Age Deli: glass cases of smoked fish and meat and all the right salads, but the stainless-steel/vinyl ambience was autopsy room. Maybe that was honest; lots of creatures had died to feed the early-dinner throng.

I arrived on time but Lauritz Montez was already at the counter ordering. I hung back and let him finish.

His hair was now completely gray but remained long and ponytailed. The same waxed mustache fanned across his bony face; the chin fuzz was gone. He wore a wrinkled cream linen suit, a pink button-down shirt, and a bottle-green bow tie. Two-tone olive suede and brown leather wingtips graced narrow feet; the left shoe tapped the floor rapidly.

He paid, got an order slip, turned, nodded.

“You look pretty much the same,” he said, motioning me toward the single open table.

“So do you.”

“Thanks for lying.”

We sat and he began arranging the salt and pepper shakers and the sugar bowl into a tight little triangle. “I did some checking and found out Rand’s a West L.A. homicide case but no one will tell me anything. You must be wired right into the cops.”

“I’m consulting on the case.”

“Who’s the detective?”

“Milo Sturgis.”

“Don’t know him.” He studied me. “Still a prosecution groupie, huh? How long was Rand out of custody before he got killed?”

“Three days.”

“Jesus. How’d it happen?”

“He was shot in the head and dumped near the 405 North in Bel Air.”

“Sounds like an execution.”

“It does.”

“Any physical evidence?” he said.

“You’d have to ask Detective Sturgis.”

“Such discretion. What do you want from me?”

A kid in a paper hat and an apron brought his order. Sliced pumpernickel bagel, baked salmon, sides of coleslaw and baked beans, Styrofoam cup of tea.

I said, “There are no real suspects, but there is a hypothesis. And speaking of discretion- ”

“Yeah, yeah, sure. So you work full time for the other side?”

“The other side?”

“The righteous bunch that sits on the other side of the courtroom. Are you a resident prosecution expert or just a freelance?”

“I do occasional consultations.”

“Have Freud, will travel?” He lined up his utensils perfectly parallel to his plate. Removed a sugar packet from the bowl and squared a folded corner before slipping it back in. “What’s the hypothesis?”

I said, “They’re looking at Kristal Malley’s father.”

He said, “That guy. Always thought he hated my guts. You really think he’d be that nuts?”

“Can’t say.”

“Isn’t it your job to say when people are nuts?”

“Don’t know Malley well enough to diagnose,” I said. “Never met him during my evaluation and haven’t spoken to him since. How about you?”

He stroked his mustache. “Only time I ever saw him in person was at the sentencing.”

“But you feel he hated your guts.”

“I don’t feel, I know. That day in court, I was up at the bench doing my thing, returned to the defense table and caught him glaring at me. I ignored it but kept getting that itchy feeling at the back of my neck. I waited until the D.A. starting blabbing before I turned around, figuring Malley’s attention would be shifted. His eyes were still on me. Let me tell you, if they were guns, I wouldn’t be here.”

“He owns real guns,” I said.

“So do I,” said Lauritz. He flicked his bow tie. “Surprised?”

“Should I be?”

“I’m a bleeding heart subversive.” His mustache lifting was the sole indication he’d smiled. “But as long as the law says I can own bang-bangs, I will.”

“Self-defense?”

“My dad was military and the one thing we did together was blast away defenseless animals.” He massaged his left eyebrow. “I was actually good enough to qualify for my college team.”

“Have you been threatened because of your work?” I said.

“Nothing explicit, but it’s an edgy job so I stay on the edge.” He removed another packet, smoothed its edges, passed it from hand to hand.

“Law begets order,” he said. “And a shitload of dis order. I stopped fooling myself a long time ago. I’m part of the system so I triple-lock my doors at night.”

“Did Malley ever do more than glare at you?”

“No, but it was a heavy-duty glare. Serious rage. I didn’t blame the guy. His kid was dead, the system’s set up to be us-them and I was them. He didn’t scare me and I’m not scared now. Why should I be? All this time’s passed and he never made a move on me. Do the cops seriously think he killed Rand?”

“It’s just a- ”

“I know, hypothesis.” He wiped salt grains from the top of the shaker. “I suppose you know Troy Turner was murdered, too.”

I nodded.

“Think there’s a connection?” he said.

“Troy was killed a month into his sentence,” I said.

“And this is eight years later. Yeah, if I was Malley and wanted to do the revenge bit, I’d have finished the job quickly. It’s something I thought about when I heard about Turner’s death. I got concerned for Rand, called his warden and asked for a special watch. The jerk said he’d look into it. Definitely bullshitting me.”