Donnie Brewster gave me a moist hand and looked nervous. “Christ, where were you? I thought you’d never get here.”

“The pleasure is all mine.”

Donnie gave me everyone’s-out-to-get-me eyes and glanced at Pat Kyle. “She warned me you thought you were a riot. What you’ve gotta understand is that this isn’t funny.” He held up three fingers. “There’s Spielberg, then Lucas, who doesn’t direct anymore, then Peter Alan Nelsen. Peter’s grosses total one point two billion worldwide over six pictures. He’s the third most successful director in the history of film, and he knows it.”

“Hard to keep it a secret from him.”

Donnie rubbed his hand over his scalp and tugged at his ponytail. When he rubbed, he rubbed hard. Maybe that’s why his hairline was receding. He said, “Peter’s gifted and brilliant. Gifted and brilliant people are sometimes difficult and have to be handled carefully.” I think he was saying it as much to himself as he was to me. He looked at Pat Kyle. “Did you tell him what this is about?”

“Yes.” Pat repeated what she had told me.

Donnie nodded and looked back at me. “That’s about it. We need someone who can find the ex and the kid and not waste a lot of time doing it.”

“Okay.”

He sat in one of the swivel chairs, leaned back, and gave me the appraisal look. Getting down to the business of hiring a private eye. “You charge by the hour or the day?”

“I get a flat fee. In advance.”

“How much?”

“Four thousand, plus expenses. The expenses I bill later.”

“That’s absurd. We couldn’t pay four thousand in advance.”

“How about six thousand?”

He tapped on the table and gave me his best business-affairs frown. “You give it back if you don’t find what you’re looking for?”

“No.”

More tapping. Convincing himself. “I had our lawyers call around. They spoke to a guy in the D.A.’s office and a policeman named Ito. They say you’re pretty good at this sort of thing. How many cases like this have you handled?”

“Maybe three hundred.”

“Unh-hunh. And how many times out of that three hundred did you find the person you were looking for?”

“Maybe two ninety-eight.”

Donnie raised his eyebrows and looked impressed. Maybe he was feeling better about the four grand. “Okay. We get you going on this, how long is it going to take to find them?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well, can’t you give me some sort of ballpark?”

I spread my hands. “If she’s living in Encino and telling her friends that she used to be married to Peter Alan Nelsen, maybe I find her tomorrow. If she’s changed her name five times and working as a missionary in the Amazon, it takes longer.”

“Jesus Christ.”