“The old stonewall,” said Marcia Peaty. “I’ve laid a few bricks myself. Let me ask you this: The way Brad treated Reyn, giving him scut work, the Dowds owning all those properties, and they stick Reyn in a hovel. That add up to the milk of human kindness? These people are just what Mom always said they were.”

“What’s that?”

“Poison palming itself off as perfume.”

CHAPTER 40

CHAPTER 40

Marcia Peaty switched the subject and Milo didn’t stop her.

Procedural questions about how to take possession of her cousin’s body. His rundown wasn’t much different from the one he’d given Lou Giacomo.

She said, “Paperwork aerobics. Okay, thanks for your time. Am I wasting my time asking you to keep me informed?”

“Something resolves, we’ll let you know, Marcia.”

“If, not when? You have any serious leads?”

He smiled.

She said, “That’s why I never did Homicide. Too much effort getting the optimism meter up.”

“Vice can get sketchy, too.”

“That’s why I didn’t do Vice for long. Give me a nice boosted set of wheels.”

“Chrome don’t bleed,” said Milo.

“Ain’t that the truth.” She reached for the check. Milo placed his hand on it.

“Let me pay for my share.”

“On the house,” said Milo.

“You or the department?”

“The department.”

“Right.” She put down a twenty, slid out of the booth, shot us a tight smile, and hurried off.

Milo pocketed the cash and pushed crumbs around his plate. “Ol’ Brad’s been a baaad boy.”

“Young blondes,” I said. “Too bad Tori dyed her hair.”

“Amelia, the whole platinum bombshell thing. What, he’s killing Stepmommy over and over?”

“His own mother abandoned him, handed him over to someone who didn’t even pretend to care. He has lots of reasons to hate women.”

“He was in his thirties when Julie the Showgirl disappeared. Think she was his first?”

“Hard to say. The main thing was he got away with it, built up his confidence for the move back to L.A. After Amelia and the captain died, he managed to take over the family real estate empire. Cared well for Billy and Nora because happy sibs don’t complain. Maybe the PlayHouse is a tax dodge and a sop for Nora, but it was good for him, too. Start an acting school, who shows up?”

“Gorgeous mutants,” he said. “All those blonde auditions.”

“And rejects like the Gaidelases. Normally, Brad would ignore people like Cathy and Andy but they reminded him of Amelia and the captain, down to the captain’s effeminate manner. How’s this for a scenario: He ran into them leaving an audition. Or waiting for a tryout. Either way, it had to feel like destiny, he played nice guy, promised to help. Told them meanwhile enjoy your vacation. Do some hiking, I know a great spot.”