Jonathan Kellerman - Breakdown

“Try us, anyway,” said Milo.

“A few days before he... before it happened, he came home looking even grimmer than usual and I asked him why, expecting him to tell me everything was okay, as he usually did. But instead he said it had been an interesting day but not in a good way. A homeless woman had wandered into the outer office where Rod sat and demanded to see Loach. When Rod told her Loach wasn’t in, she started screaming, making a scene. Rod had to call security and they escorted her out. At the end of the day, when he was leaving the building and walking to his car, the same woman appeared out of nowhere and began haranguing him, right there on the street. As if she’d been waiting for Rod. He tried to calm her down but she got aggressive, grabbed his arm and insisted he needed to bring her to Loach, her mother was a movie star and Loach had killed her, she demanded justice, if Rod didn’t give it to her, he was just as guilty. The area’s full of mentally disturbed people, Rod had been panhandled aggressively several times, but never anything like that.”

She smiled. “Of course, he gave money to anyone who asked. Sometimes he’d take the time to talk to them. Which is what he tried to do with this one. He asked her if she wanted to sit down and tell him her story. She said he was wasting her time, she’d told him everything he needed to know. Then she turned her back on him and left. It bothered him. How deteriorated she was. His inability to help her. Rod cared when other people didn’t and that night I found him on the computer reading up on mental illness. I tried to get him to come to bed and he said he needed to understand what led people to be like that. That’s the way he was. Engaged. And God-fearing and principled.”

She trembled. Hugged herself. “Like I said, it’s not relevant. I guess I’m just telling you to show you what Rod was like. When that nincompoop suggested he’d ended his own life, it was beyond ridiculous. He even had the gall to ask if it was a sin in our religion. Implying I was in denial because I didn’t want to see Rod as a sinner. Yes, LDS believe suicide falls under ‘Thou shalt not kill.’ But it’s also something to be treated with sensitivity. We don’t judge the person who self-destructs nor do we assume intention and rationality on their part. That said, Rod was rational and God-fearing and most important, he believed in the sanctity of life. We were talking about starting a family. We got a late start because I did the career thing rather than settle down. Maybe we wouldn’t produce a huge clan but we’d do our best to make up for lost time. Does that sound depressed to you? No way would he destroy himself.”

Milo drove west on Riverside Drive, both hands clenching the wheel. “Poor woman, she has no idea what she just accomplished and we couldn’t tell her.”

I said, “We go fishing and snag a link between Zelda, Salton, and Loach.”

“A movie-star mother. Who the hell expected that ? Not that Rutherford was a movie star. A delusion, like you said. Or could there be truth to Zelda’s story?”

“I’m not sure it matters. Zelda believed it and it drove her actions. Five years ago, when she was working and managing to be functional, she told her cast-mates about it. When she dug up the yard at Bel Azura she was screaming about it. And during her final days, when she was just about mute, one of the few words she uttered to me was ‘Mother.’ Now we know she believed Loach was behind it.”

“So she gets into Loach’s girlfriend’s place and ends up dead. How would she connect the two of them?”

“Enid is Loach’s only client, she visits him in the office. Zelda was stalking the building. She could’ve seen them together.”

“And found out where Enid lived? How?”

“No idea, but she did and switched her surveillance to the estate. Meanwhile, she’s breaking down mentally. But still clinging to her goal.”

“Justice,” he said. “Aka revenge.”

“As her Ativan wore off, she got crazier but less lethargic. Had enough energy to leave BrightMornings and walk ten miles to Bel Air. What if she spotted Loach driving in and went after him — she wouldn’t even have had to scale the wall, just squeeze in before the gates closed. As you guys say, a confrontation ensued and Zelda ended up the loser.”

“Lunatic home invader attacks society lawyer and he defends himself. We’re talking no charges filed, Alex. Why the need for them to cover up with two calculated murders?”

“Because we’re not talking about an errant backhand or gunfire. Zelda was poisoned, as premeditated as it gets.”

“Two old sadists deciding to have some fun along the way? Toss in a couple of housekeepers as collateral damage? It’s way beyond sickening. Add Rod Salton and it’s something I don’t have a word for. Speaking of Salton, why’d he have to go? Weeks before the others.”

“We just heard him described as someone who’d feed his own overdue parking meter. That’s admirable but it can also lead to zealotry. Salton was bothered by his encounter with Zelda. What if he mentioned it to Loach expecting Loach to laugh it off. But Loach didn’t, he reacted. Maybe subtly but enough to make Salton wonder. He had access to Loach’s papers, poked around, and found something. Loach found out and took care of him.”

“Poison,” he said. “Strange choice and when you do see it, it’s often women. And we know a woman with a world-class garden.”

“They’re in it together,” I said.

“Zelda died in Enid’s place, Alicia was Enid’s maid.”

We drove awhile.

I said, “That makes me wonder about a primary link between Zina and Enid, with Loach just the trusty assistant. Averell DePauw managed serious money and had industry connections. Hollywood folk like to be entertained and what better venue for a high-end party than a gated estate in Bel Air where Jean Harlow used to crash? Parties require entertainment. And certain types of parties employ sketchy entertainment.”

“Failed actresses doing one-nighters,” he said. “How your mind tracks.”

“Dub Ott told me Zina had an income stream but no job, her landlady was convinced she was hooking. He never found a john-book or evidence that she’d worked nearby bars. But no need for any of that if you’re a freelance party favor. What if she got an outcall at Enid and Averell’s love nest and something went really bad? If Loach goes that far back as a minion, he’d have been a young lawyer on the make.”

“So they disappeared her,” he said. “But would Zelda ever find out? Whether or not she really was Zina’s daughter? She’s wrestling with serious demons and managing to be an ace detective?” He laughed and pointed a finger at me. “Don’t say it’s been known to happen.”

“Never crossed my mind.”

“And here I thought you were open and honest.”

We caught the red light at Mulholland and stopped. Milo said, “How old was Zelda when Zina disappeared?”

“Five,” I said. “But Ott found no evidence of a child living with her during the two years she was in that apartment so if Zelda was given up, she was no older than three.”

“What I’m getting at is kids that young don’t have clear memories, right?”

“Not generally. You’re thinking someone had to point her in that direction.”

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” he said. “However she found out, she decided she needed to take care of business and began living rough in Bel Air... nah, it doesn’t explain Bel Azura. If she’d fixated on St. Denis, even someone in her state wouldn’t have confused it with a totally different house. I know you said the houses are close but we’re still talking miles, not yards, and they’re not remotely similar. I’m getting a headache, amigo.”