He laughed. “Okay, an immediate problem: the surveillance on Fellinger and Sullivan. All this time and the only thing to show is some extramarital hanky-panky, not with each other. With Corey on the radar, it’s even harder to justify the manpower.”

“If I had to choose one of them to keep watching, it would be Fellinger because Deirdre Brand still remains a big question mark and Sullivan’s big sin is receiving packages from Frankie DiMargio. Now that we know she has a boyfriend, the odds of a personal relationship with Fellinger drop and the tense chat Reed witnessed doesn’t really add up to an emotional breakup scene, more likely business as Moe thought. But now I’m going to add to your problems: Ashley and Marissa. If their father is behind four murders, the fact that he’s no longer feeling warm and paternal toward them is worrisome. The first time we met the girls Ashley blurted, ‘It wasn’t Daddy.’ She claimed she was reacting to all the true-crime shows she watched with him, but gut reactions can be revealing. If Corey’s showed his hand and they’re scared, they may be more willing to talk.”

“Why do you think his attitude has changed suddenly?”

“Maybe it hasn’t. Maybe he’s resented them for a while and finally decided to stop faking—oh, boy.”

“What?” he said.

“A lawyer in Fellinger’s firm is the trustee of the girls’ trust funds. Talk about a good reason for Richard to buddy up with Fellinger. One dead homeless woman in return for bleeding the funds. Why would Fellinger risk it? Because he’d receive a commission.”

“Kickback and no crazy person yelling at him when he takes lunch, yeah that’s a decent payoff. Now try to prove it.”

“Why don’t we start by talking to Ashley and Marissa, find out if they’re aware of any change in their father. For example, has he already begun to tighten the purse strings?”

“Robbing his own kids,” he said. “Maybe planning to do worse.”

“Enough time has passed for him to figure he got away with multiple murders,” I said. “If he’s impotent and a longtime cuckold, all the more reason to build himself up. His mistake was bragging obliquely to Cohen and figuring Cohen wouldn’t break confidentiality.”

“Bad bet, Richie.”

“Let’s hope he makes a few more.”

CHAPTER

26

Neither Corey daughter answered her cell phone.

Milo checked his notes. “Let’s go.”

The apartment the sisters shared was a straight shot up Laurel Canyon, a right on Ventura Boulevard, a left on Vineland. Close enough to their mother’s Calabasas house for laundry drops, far enough to discourage casual parental drop-ins.

The building was four stories of white filling an entire block. Three entry doors, one propped open by a large wooden block. Moving men toted furniture to a van on the street.