I heard a sharp intake of breath. Peered around him.

On the counter, next to a box of Advil, sat an empty half gallon of diet tonic water. To the left of the bottle sat a spherical thing on a dinner plate.

Thing with droopy yellow hair.

Tony Mancusi’s eyes were open but his mouth was shut.

The plate made it worse. He’d been served up. A cannibal entrée.

Milo said, “Oh, Lord.”

I had nothing to add.

CHAPTER 31

CHAPTER
31

Milo gloved up, propped Mancusi’s door in place, left the building, smoked, composed himself. Got the yellow tape out of his trunk.

A cloudbank cleared the sun. Rodney Drive almost looked pretty.

I sat on the curb, trying to clear my head. Waste of time; no trick of my trade was up to the task.

Tony Mancusi was Hollywood’s first homicide of the year and Milo phoned Detective Petra Connor. She was on vacation in Greece and her partner, Raul Biro, summoned the crime scene crew and the coroner.

Biro was young, an Afghanistan vet, thoughtful, perceptive, with freakish stamina. He’d emerged from Mancusi’s apartment expressionless, took notes as Milo summarized, tugging at a pale blue brocade tie that didn’t need adjustment. Thick dark hair starting to gray prematurely was sprayed in place. His suit was navy, tailored, spotless. Paper booties protected spit-polished loafers.

When Milo finished, he said, “Let me frame this in my head: You’re figuring Bright, Heubel, whichever you want to call him, has been here before, knows the back’s usually unlocked. Or he picks the lock, because he knows how to do that. Same deal for getting access to Mancusi’s apartment. Once in, does his thing. On his way out, he encounters the neighbor, pretends to be looking for Mancusi, makes his getaway… sounds logical.”

“But?”

“I’m thinking there could be another possibility, Loo. After Mancusi ditched the he-she, he met up with Bright and they returned here together.”

Milo scratched the side of his nose. “Could be. Though Mancusi might’ve been wary of him.”

Raul said, “If Bright and Mancusi were real good buddies before, Mancusi could’ve given Bright a key. Maybe Bright’s been here out of drag. When I get back, I’ll see if there’s a recent photo, canvass the tenants.”

“However Bright gained access, we’ve got a pretty good fix on the time frame. We saw Mancusi leave Gordito’s around two forty-five, the neighbor saw Fake Mom here at six thirty. Almost four hours is time enough to do his thing, clean himself up.”

“He stashes his tools in that big leather purse the neighbor described, slips out in broad daylight. No sweat because he’s got a great cover.”

Biro closed his pad. “Dowdy drag, except for the scarf. Lots of blood back there but I didn’t see any impact spatter. How about you?”

Milo shook his head.