“He does not go out much,” said Annalise Holzer. “Sometimes I take him to a movie on Sunday. Century City, I drop him off, pick him up. Mostly I rent him DVDs from the video store on Olympic near Al-mont Drive. Billy has a big flat-screen TV, better than a movie theater, no?”

“Anyone else ever drive him?”

“Mr. Dowd picks him up in the morning and brings him home. Every day they work.”

Wide circuit from Santa Monica Canyon to Beverly Hills and back to the beach city. Brad’s unpaid job.

“Is there anyone else?”

“What do you mean?”

“Taxi, car service?”

“Never do I see that.”

“So Billy doesn’t go out much.”

“Never by himself,” said Annalise Holzer. “Never do I see him go out, even to walk. I like to walk, when I ask him does he want to walk with me, he tells me, ‘Annalise, I did not like gym in school. I’m a big couch potato.’ ” She smiled. “I joke with him that he is lazy. He laughs.”

“Does he have any friends?”

“No— but he is very friendly.”

“A homebody,” I said.

The word puzzled her.

“He comes home and stays here.”

“Yes, yes, exactly. Watching the flat screen, DVDs, eating— I cook, sometimes. He likes some things...sauerbraten— special veal meat. Spaetzle, it is a kind of noodle. I cook for two, bring it downstairs.” She looked over her shoulder. The room behind her was tidy and bright. White porcelain figurines crowded the ledge of an arched, tiled mantel.

In the current market, the rent would be three, four thousand a month. Steep on a nurse’s pay.

“You live alone, Ms. Holzer?”

“Yes.”

“You’re from Germany?”

“Lichtenstein.” She pinched thumb to forefinger. “It is a teeny tiny little country between— ”

“Austria and Switzerland,” I said.

“You know Lichtenstein?”

“I’ve heard it’s pretty. Banking, castles, Alps.”

“It is pretty, yes,” she agreed. “But I like it here better.”

“L.A.’s more exciting.”

“More to do, the music, the horses, the beach.”

“You ride?”

“Anything with sunshine,” she said.

“Working nights and sleeping days and doing things for Billy.”

“Work is good. Sometimes I do a double shift.”

“What are Billy’s needs?” I said.

“Very easy. If he wants takeout and it is a long time for the restaurant to deliver, I get him his dinner. There is Domino Pizza on Doheny near Olympic. Billy likes Thai food, there’s a nice place on La Cienega and Olympic. Sushi is also on Olympic. Nice place near Doheny. Very convenient, being near Olympic.”

“Billy’s a gourmet.”

“Billy eats anything,” said Annalise Holzer. “You must really think of him as a boy. A good boy.”

* * *

When I was back on Olympic, I celled Milo, expecting voice mail because he was with Armando Vasquez.