Jonathan Kellerman - Private Eyes

Ramp said, “Christ, this is insanity,” and shook his head.

“I asked Central Division to keep a watch on him. They said they’d try, but to be truthful that’s not worth a lot. If she’s not back by morning, I’ll pay him a visit. If you can’t handle waiting, I’ll drive down there right now. When he doesn’t let me in, I’ll sit out there all night watching his door, write you a detailed surveillance report that sounds pretty impressive. I’m charging you seventy dollars an hour plus expenses. A bullshit hour gets billed the same as a productive one. But I just figured for that kind of money, you’re entitled to some independent judgment on my part.”

“And what is your independent judgment, Mr. Sturgis?”

“At this point, there are better ways of spending my time.”

“Such as?”

“Such as making more hospital calls. Phoning all-night service stations. The auto club- if you’re members.”

“We are. Those sound like things I can do.”

“You can. Feel free. The more people working on it, the faster we’ll get it done. If you want to do it yourself, I’ll write you up a list of the other things you can do and be on my way.”

“What kinds of things?”

“Hooking up with the paramedics and the independent ambulance companies, keeping in touch with the traffic divisions of the various police departments in order to make sure information doesn’t get lost in the shuffle- it happens a lot, believe me. If you want to go further, check out airlines, air charter services, car rental agencies. Run credit-card traces- find out what cards she carries, have the companies flag the numbers, so when they’re used to make a purchase, we know where and when and get the information as soon as possible. If she’s not back by morning, I’d also get to work on her bank records, see if she made any major withdrawals recently. Do you cosign on her accounts?”

“No, our finances are independent.”

“No shared accounts?”

“No, Mr. Sturgis.” Ramp had folded his arms across his chest. Each word seemed to crank him tighter. “Withdrawals, airlines- what are you saying? That she deliberately ran away ?”

“I’m sure she didn’t, but-”

“She definitely didn’t.”

Milo ran his hand over his face. “Mr. Ramp, let’s hope she walks in any minute. If she doesn’t, it’s got to be approached as a missing-persons case, and missing-persons cases aren’t great for the ego- the egos of those left waiting. Because to do the job properly, you’ve got to assume anything’s possible. It’s like a doctor biopsying a lump- chances are it’s benign. The doctor quotes you statistics, smiles, and tells you he’s almost positive it’s nothing to worry about. But he cuts it open anyway and sends it to the lab.”

He unbuttoned his jacket, jammed both hands in his trouser pockets, put the weight of one leg on its heel and arced it back and forth, like a runner doing an ankle stretch.

Ramp looked down at the foot, then up at Milo’s green eyes.

“So,” he said, “I’m going to get cut.”

“It’s your choice,” said Milo. “The alternative is just to sit tight and wait.”

“No, no- go ahead, do all those things. You can do them faster. I suppose you’ll want a check before you begin.”

Milo said, “I’ll want one before I leave- seven hundred dollars, which is a ten-hour advance. But first round up the servants, call the gardener, and get him back here, along with any sons who were working today and might have seen her. Meantime, I’d like to check out her suite, go through her stuff.”

Ramp started to question that, didn’t like the answers he created for himself, and swallowed them.

Milo said, “I’ll be as tidy as possible. You want to watch, that’s okay.”

Ramp said, “No, that’s fine. Go ahead. This way.” Pointing to the staircase.

The two of them began climbing, side by side, sharing the same wide marble step but keeping maximum distance.

I followed two steps behind, feeling like the guy who introduced Ali to Foreman.

When we got to the top, I heard a door open, saw a sliver of light slant across the floor of one of the corridor spokes, two doors down from Gina Ramp’s room. It widened to a triangle, then was darkened by shadow as Melissa walked out into the hall, still in shirt and jeans, socks on her feet. Walking groggily, rubbing her eyes.

I called her name softly.

She started, turned. Ran toward us. “Is she-”

Ramp shook his head. “Nothing yet. This is Detective Sturgis. Dr. Delaware’s… friend. Detective, Ms. Melissa Dickinson, Mrs. Ramp’s daughter.”

Milo held out a hand. She barely grazed it, withdrew, looked up at him. There were crease marks on her face- the false scars of slumber. Her lips were dry and her eyelids were swollen. “What are you going to do to find her? What can I do?”

“Were you here at home when your mother left?” said Milo.

“Yes.”

“What kind of mood was she in?”

“Okay. Excited about going out by herself- actually, nervous, and she was covering it by trying to look excited. I was worried she’d have an attack. I tried to talk her out of it, told her I’d go with her. But she refused- she even raised her voice to me. She’d never raised her voice to me…”

Biting back tears.

“I should have insisted.”

Milo said, “Did she say why she wanted to go by herself?”

“No. I kept asking her that, but she refused. It wasn’t like her at all- I should have known something was wrong.”

“Did you actually see her drive away?”

“No. She told me not to follow her- ordered it.” Biting her lip. “So I went to my room. Lay down and listened to music and fell asleep- just like I did now. I can’t believe it- why am I sleeping so much?”

Ramp said, “Stress, Meliss.”

She said to Milo: “What do you think happened to her?”

“That’s what I’m here to find out. Your stepdad will be calling the staff together, see if anyone knows anything. In the meantime, I’ll be checking out her room and making phone calls- you can help with some of those, if you want.”

“Calls to where?”

“Routine stuff,” said Milo. “Gas stations, the auto club. The Highway Patrol. Some of the local hospitals- just to be careful.”

“Hospitals,” she said, putting a hand on her chest. “Oh, God!”

“Just to be careful,” Milo repeated. “The San Labrador cops have already called a few. So have I, and she hasn’t been reported injured. But it pays to be careful.”

She said “Hospitals” again and began crying. Milo put a hand on her shoulder.

Ramp pulled out a handkerchief, said, “Here.” She glanced at it, shook her head, used her hand to wipe her eyes.

Ramp looked at the cloth, put it back in his pocket, and took a couple of steps back.

Melissa said to Milo, “Why do you want to see her room?”

“To get a feel for the type of person she was. See if anything’s out of order. Maybe she left some clue. You can help me with that, too.” “Shouldn’t we be doing something- be out there looking for her?”

Ramp said, “Waste of time.”

She turned on him. “That’s your opinion.”

“No, it’s Mr. Sturgis’s opinion.”

“Then let him tell me himself.”

Ramp squinted, motionless except for tiny flexes along the jawline. “I’ll go get the staff,” he said, and walked away quickly down the left-hand corridor.

When he was out of earshot, Melissa said, “You should be keeping an eye on him. ”

Milo said, “Why’s that?”

“She’s got a lot more money than he does.”

Milo looked at her. Ran a hand over his face. “You think he might have done something to her?”