Bannerman's Law (19 page)

“
He'll come if I do
,”
Susan said.

“
And you'd be all he'll think about. That's not what
I need
.”

“
It's what
I
need
,”
she said firmly.
“
I'm going with
you
.”

₁₇

Ca
r
leton Dunville the elder was not pleased. Although not
yet sixty, he had hoped to pass the remainder of his life
visiting Sur La Mer no more frequently than twice a year.

He had been born there, had grown up there, and he
had sired, among others, two sons who had also remained
there. But unlike his father, Count Victor, he was not
content to die there. There was a whole world to enjoy, a
world that he had helped create. There was power to enjoy.
And there was fear. He saw it, all the time, in the eyes
of those who owed all that they were to him and whose
lives, fortunes, reputations depended, even now, on his continued goodwill.

He felt no such goodwill toward his sons today. There
was Henry, still whimpering in the basement. One eye
gone entirely, the other damaged, probably beyond repair;
his usefulness, such as it was, at an end.

He would be no great loss. Henry had always been
Henry; born with the genetic deficiencies of the alcoholic and drug addict who was his mother. What was her name?
Famous once, during the forties. Frances something or other. Hard to remember. They came and they went.

He was doubly displeased with his namesake, young
Ca
r
leton. Disappointed, as much as anything. Ca
r
leton
had, since birth, been the apple of his eye. Carleton, much
more than Henry, had grown to resemble him physically
and intellectually. Eve
n
sa
r
to
ri
ally. Small wonder, of
course. They had been groomed identically.

But the resemblance, sadly, did not extend to decisiveness. Or to prudence. It was hardly prudent to keep copies
of those biographies in his office safe. Or even on the
grounds, for that matter. Worse, he had let Henry, and
Ruiz, know they were there. But no one else, all three
insisted.

And yet the German, Streicher, knew exactly what he
was looking for and where to find it. Ar
e
we to believe Henry
'
s blubbering fixation that Nellie Da
m
eon is some
how behind this? He offers no evidence beyond a suspicion that the old actress has found her voice and the fact
that the Streichers have been spending time with her. And
would not let him question her.

Not that it matters, really. The damage is done. Now,
it is a question of containment. In an orderly manner. One
thing at a time.

The first order of business, in young Carleton
’
s office,
formerly his own, was the report from this thug, Hickey,
who seemed to be the only one who had not made a hash
of things.

“
That's the one. The redhead
,”
Hickey was saying.

Carleton, his son at his side, was watching a videotape
shot by Hickey. It showed two women, surrounded by police, one of them struggling while being carried down
a flight of stairs, all the while kicking at a man dressed
in a suit.

“
Her name is Ca
rl
a Benedict
,”
Hickey told him.
“
She's the sister of the one I
...
the one you caught
sneaking in here. The tall one's name is Molly Fa
rr
ell.
They're from back east
.”

Ca
r
leton the younger raised an eyebrow but said noth
ing. Hickey continued his narration.

“
This is ten minutes later, up Ala
m
eda. They're stop
ping to get an address from a phone book. I stick with
them because there's already something funny about them
but I can't put my finger on it. After a while, I realize
they're looking for the house where this girl, DiDi Fene
r
ty, lives
.”

“
Why? Do you know
?”

Hickey spread his hands.
“
The only thing I can figure
is they heard her name on the answering machine. Any
thing else with her name on it, I already took out of the
apartment
.”

“
But that reference to Miss Fene
r
ty, you said, was
indirect at best. Why would they go to see her
?”

Hickey shrugged.
“
To find out if the dead sister ever
showed up there, I guess. Port in a storm
.”

Carleton the younger rubbed his chin. He wished now
that he'd told Hickey to make it
look
like a burglary.
Break the lock. Steal everything of value, including that
machine.
“
What happened next
?”
he asked.

“
They go to the Fenerty house. It's that white one with
the porch. They're inside for about a half hour. The sister
comes out but the other one stays. I followed the sister until I lost her
...
in traffic. I broke off, made a couple of phone calls, then I came straight here
.”

“
How did you learn who they were
?”

Hickey smiled, his expression smug. He reversed the
tape and pressed
Pause.
“
Look at the little one. Looks
like the dead girl, right? Figures at least to be a relative.
So before I come up here, I call the dead girl's father, say
I'm LAPD, and tell him someone claiming to be a relative was at his daughter's apartment interfering with the inves
tigation, and could he verify. The father doesn't sound
surprised. He sounds disgusted. He says,
‘
That's Ca
rl
a, all
right
.’
He said she and her
‘
associate
’
are out here
from
Connecticut. I asked if they were staying with him. He said, Wo,
they're at the Beverly Hills Hotel
.’
”

“
Associate
?”
asked Carleton the elder.

”
I heard that too. And the way he said it. So I ask
him if there
'
s anything I should know about his daughter.
There
'
s this long silence. He tries to get off the phone. I
remind him that this is a murder investigation and I ask
him again. He says,
‘
I've told the government people ev
erything I know, or care to know, about
Carla.'
I ask,
‘
Which government people
?’
But he hangs up
.”

Both Dunvilles were frowning.
“
What do you make of
it
?”
asked Ca
r
leton the elder.

Hickey smirked. He hooked his thumbs inside his belt
and patted his abdomen.
“
Like I told you
,”
he said,
“
there was something about her. So I make one more call.
There's this cop I know, I saved his ass once, who was
one of the uniforms at the dead girl's apartment. I catch
him coming off his shift and I tell him I'm working for
the family of one of the other victims so he doesn't won
der why I was there
.”

He paused again, for effect. Carleton the younger, a
chill smile on his face, nodded encouragement.

“
Anyway
,”
Hickey resumed, ”I ask him what all the
fuss was and he says the redhead almost carved up two
FBI guys. He said they let her go because, sure enough,
she's the sister and she had a right to be there. But then
the feds do a computer make on her. She definitely has a
sheet but I don't know what it says because the feds
wouldn't even tell the LA cops on the task force. All
they'd say is it's a federal matter and it has no connection
with the case at hand. But my guy heard they turned white
when the sheet came in and they spent the next hour on
the phone to Washington
.”

“
Well
?”
The young Carleton stared blankly.
“
What does it mean
?”

Hickey was disappointed. He thought he'd been clear.
“
You need me to spell it out
?”
He leaned forward.
“
The
FBI, not to mention the cops, are now paying special atten
tion to a murder that was just one more slicing until the mystery sister shows up. That's not to mention these two women, either, who might just be pros and who are defi
nitely not your basic grief-stricken relatives
.”

Ca
r
leton the younger watched th
e
former policeman
through hooded eyes. He began to feel pressure at his
temples.

“
Go on, please
,”
he whispered.

“
That's about it
.”

“
We don't pay you to add to our worries, Mr. Hickey.
We pay you to solve our problems
.”

Hickey
’
s color rose.
“
What is this? Shoot the messen
ger? I thought I did pretty damned good
.”

“
And you have
,”
said Carleton the elder, raising one hand to silen
c
e his son.
“
You have been most resource
ful
.”

Hickey's mouth twitched. He almost said thank you.

“
Just one or two things more. You said the sister left
the Fene
r
ty house while the other one stayed. Why would
that be
?”

Hickey shrugged.

“
Possibly because the Fenerty girl knows something of
Lisa Benedict's activities after all
?”

Hickey twisted his mouth, doubtfully.
“
If she does, it's
hard to imagine the sister leaving. But she left pretty
quick, probably headed back to her hotel. When I lost her
she was heading right for it
.”

Carleton the younger t
u
rned toward his father.
“
We
have no reason to think that the Fenerty girl knows any
thing. I spoke to her myself. Still, it would have been nice
if Mr. Hickey made sure
.”

Hickey reddened.
“
That's all you'd need. Two girls,
close friends, both dead. If you want every cop in town
working on this, that would be the way to do it
.”

Youn
g
Carleton seemed stunned.
“
Dead
?”
he asked,
straightening.
“
Who, for heaven's sake, said anything
about killing her
?”

“
You said
‘
make sure
.’
You said it twice
.”

”I meant through detective work, Mr. Hickey. I cer
tainly didn't mean
.
.
.
”

“
Hey
!”
Hickey held up both hands.
“
Don't fuck with
me
.”
He gestured toward the basement room where he
had first seen Lisa Benedict's body.
“
You didn't say carve
up that girl's mouth, either. But it's what you meant
.”

Ca
r
leton the younger glared at him. He glanced at his
father. Then,
“
Would you give us a few moments alone,
Mr. Hickey
?”

H
ickey looked at the father. ”I cleaned up this mess.
I didn't make it
.”

“
Mr. Hickey
.
.
.
”

“
You want to talk, fine
,”
he said.
“
While you're at it
you can talk about my new job. It's here, full time. I want ten grand a month, effective now, and I'm your new chief
of security. That guy, Darby, is a schmuck anyway
.”

Carleton the younger sputtered. He started to rise. His
father put a hand on his arm.

“
You deserve it
,”
he said to Hickey.

Hickey, about to say more, only stared.

“
There is no need to bluster, no need to threaten.
You've done very well. The job is yours but I warn you,
you're going to earn every dime of that salary
.”

Hickey nodded.
“
Sure. Yeah
.”

”I want you two to shake hands
,”
he said,
“
and I
want you to mean it. We cannot have friction here
.”

Carleton the younger made n
o
move until he felt the
bite of his father's nails. He extended his hand. Hickey
took it. Carleton the elder clasped his own hand over
theirs.

“
Done
,”
he said, releasing them.
“
Give us ten min
utes
,”
he said to Hickey.
“
No more
.”

”I have to piss anyway
,”
Hickey said. He walked to
the door.

“
You're a good man, Mr. Hickey
.”

Carleton the elder heard the click of the door and
leaned toward his son. ”I want that man dead
,”
he sai
d
quietly. ”I want it done soon
.”