Hotline to Murder (14 page)

Tony said hello to the two as he went into
the listening room. He recognized their faces, if not their names.
He admired the listening skills of the girl as she finished up a
call. These kids were good. They certainly didn’t fit one common
stereotype of teenagers: egoists who ignored the rest of the world.
Older generations might not approve of their clothes, their
tattoos, and their piercings, but they had to admit that at least
these particular youths had compassion. They cared.

Nathan arrived right on the dot of seven.
Tony watched him as he signed in. He admired Nathan’s tall, blond
good looks and compared them to his own shorter, darker appearance.
But there was something different about him. Tony realized that it
was the first time he had seen Nathan wearing short sleeves. Well,
they had been having hot weather—hotter even than in August. But
this was typical in Southern California.

Nathan came into the listening room. He
showed surprise as he said hello to Tony.

“I wasn’t doing anything tonight,” Tony told
him, “and I couldn’t stay away. I thought I’d keep you
company.”

“Good. Kyoko was scheduled to work, but I
don’t think she’s going to show. I was going to work anyway, all
alone if necessary. Who cares about the rules? I’m not afraid.”

After Nathan got himself something to eat
and they each took a phone call, Tony had a chance to start a
conversation. He said, “Tell me about your church—what is it,
Church of the Resurrected Jesus, or something like that?”

“Church of the Risen Lord. What would you
like to know?”

Tony noticed, as he had before, that Nathan
didn’t look directly at him when he spoke.

“Well, how did it get its name, for one
thing?”

Nathan finally looked at him, for a moment,
as if he were trying to find out what he was driving at. “Are you a
Christian?”

“You mean, as opposed to being a Jew or a
Muslim? Yeah, I guess I’m a Christian.”

“That didn’t exactly sound like a
wholehearted religious endorsement. Anyway, you know the story,
right? Jesus was crucified, dead, and buried. The third day he rose
from the dead and ascended into heaven, et cetera, et cetera.”

“Sure.”

“Okay, well the deal is that he’s coming
back to get us. And take us with him. At least some of us.”

“The true believers.”

“Uh huh.”

Tony figured he had better ask his next
question carefully. “Who are the true believers? Are they just the
members of your church?”

“Well, there may be some others who got it
right,” Nathan hedged.

“How many members does your church
have?”

“I don’t know. A couple hundred, I
guess.”

“Isn’t it going to be awfully lonely in
heaven?”

Nathan looked upset. “Are you scoffing at my
religion?”

“No, no, just trying to find out the truth.
When is it going to happen?”

“When is what going to happen?”

“This…Ascension, or whatever you call it.”
He had almost said Day of Judgment, but that would have been
quoting Reverend Hodgkins, and Tony didn’t want Nathan to know that
he had actually gone to the church.

Nathan clamped his mouth shut, reminding
Tony of a baby Gila monster named Franklin that he had tried to
raise when he was young. But Franklin, who may have missed his
mother, wouldn’t eat and died of starvation. Reverend Hodgkins had
also clammed up when Tony had asked him the same question. They
must be pledged to secrecy. Well, what did he care? Let them have
their silly little secret. However, he was still curious about
other things.

“What are you doing to prepare for this
day?” He wasn’t sure Nathan was going to answer this question
either. After an embarrassing silence, Tony said, “I mean, are you
selling all your things, divesting yourself of your worldly
possessions, as it were?”

“Why is this any of your business?”

Nathan was getting hostile. It was too late
for Tony to pretend he wanted to join the church. Besides, if he
said he did, he would actually have to go to a service, and he
figured if he attended a service, the roof of the church would fall
in. Retribution from the Lord. It had been a long time since he had
attended an actual church service. And the roof had looked pretty
shaky anyway. But he shouldn’t have let his skepticism show.

Tony said, “Well, if you have a good car, I
might want to buy it from you.” That was a flat-out lie. There was
no way he was going to trade his Porsche for any other car on the
road.

“I’ll let you know.”

Tony had a more serious reason for his
questioning, but when he brought that up, he was sure it would
further upset Nathan. However, he felt it was his duty to at least
try to warn him. He said, “Are you…that is, are you expected to
give your money or your possessions to the Church, by any
chance?”

Nathan was glaring at him now, but Tony felt
he had better finish what he wanted to say. “Have you at least
considered the possibility that this is a scam—a way to get all
your money? That the people who are running the church are fleecing
the members?”

Nathan’s look was more hostile than ever.
Tony figured he had said enough. They finished out the shift in
almost complete silence, except when they were on the phones.

CHAPTER 17

It wasn’t until Tony had arrived at the
Hotline on Friday and saw Shahla that he remembered that they had
sent an e-mail to Paul the Poet from Shahla’s address. Other
challenges had crowded that out of his mind.

She was looking as fetching as ever in a
skirt and top combination that bared her midriff and a few other
things. But he had learned that the girls didn’t dress to look sexy
to others. They dressed for themselves.

Before he had a chance to ask her whether
she had received a reply to her e-mail, she said, “Can we go to Las
Vegas tomorrow?”

“We? Do you have a mouse in your
pocket?”

“I have to go. I’m the poet, remember? Or at
least I can talk about poetry in a way that he won’t throw me out
on my ear.”

“If you received an e-mail, why didn’t you
forward it to me?”

Shahla looked calculating. “Because I knew
what you’d say about me going.”

“And now I’m saying it.”

“Yes, but at least I can counter it in
person. Give me a chance to explain, Tony. Here, I’ll show you the
e-mails.”

“Plural? How many are there?”

“Oh, we’ve had quite a conversation.”

And she had done all this behind his back.
Of course, he had been doing a few things behind her back, but that
was different. Shahla had printouts of the e-mails. Paul had
responded to her first one by saying that he would be glad to meet
her. He suggested that they meet at his house, which, Tony
recalled, was really his parents’ house.

Shahla had very sensibly replied that she
would like to meet him in a public place. She had suggested a
casino. Paul said that the Tortoise Club was a downtown casino with
a nice coffee shop, and that they could meet there. Shahla asked
how she would know him. Paul said he was six feet, two inches tall
and would wear a T-shirt with a limerick on the front.

Tony finished reading the correspondence and
tried to marshal his thoughts. He glanced at Shahla. She was
sitting on pins and needles and not looking at him. If he met Paul
alone, there was no telling what the man would do. He might bolt.
Callers to the Hotline often had very fragile egos and the
slightest thing could make them go ballistic. Having Shahla with
him would be a big advantage in that respect. No, the whole thing
was impossible. He would go by himself. If Paul wouldn’t talk to
him, he would do some gambling. He needed a mini-vacation.

“You have to be twenty-one to enter a
casino,” Tony said.

Shahla shrugged. “Even to go in a coffee
shop?”

“No, not a coffee shop. But you can’t go
with me. There’s a law against taking a girl across a state line
for immoral purposes.”

“We’re not going for immoral purposes,”
Shahla said indignantly. “We’re trying to solve a murder.
Remember?”

“Your mother won’t permit you to do it. And
you told me you always communicate with your mother.”

Shahla considered that. After spinning
herself around on her chair a few times, she said, “I’ll make you a
deal. After we finish here, we’ll go talk to my mother and tell her
what we’re going to do. I’ll live with her decision. If she says I
can’t go, I won’t go. If she says yes, then you’ve got to take
me.”

Tony was astonished. “You’re willing to do
that? Introduce me to your mother and abide by her decision?
There’s no way she is going to say yes.”

“Then you’re off the hook.”

“All right.” Tony found that he was looking
forward to meeting Shahla’s mother. And being a mother, of course
she wouldn’t let Shahla go. What kind of a mother would she be if
she did? So it was settled. Curiously, Tony found that he wasn’t
completely happy with the result. While he was wondering about
that, the phone rang.

“Central Hotline. Tony speaking.”

“Hi, Tony, this is Rick. I don’t know if I
talked to you before. I called about three months ago.”

“I’m not sure, Rick.” Of course he hadn’t
been on the line three months ago, but he didn’t want to sound
negative.

“Anyway, whoever I talked to helped me. I
had just come here from Nebraska and needed a job bad. He told me
to go to this place in Santa Monica called Chrysalis. They help
homeless people get back in the job market. Well, I wasn’t
homeless, but close to it. So, anyway, I went there. I walked in
and hadn’t even registered when I met a guy in the lobby. He said
he was looking for heavy equipment operators. Man, that’s what I
do.”

“So he gave you a job?”

“Yeah. Now I’m making more money than I ever
made in my life. I brought my wife and kids here. Now we’re going
to take a trip back to Nebraska to visit the family.”

“That’s wonderful, Rick.” It was nice to get
positive feedback from a caller.

“My wife said I should show my appreciation
by donating some money to a good cause. Do you have any
suggestions?”

“Well, you can make a donation to the
Hotline. We rely on donations to keep us operating.”

Tony gave the address of the Hotline post
office box to Rick. When he hung up, he was elated. He told Shahla,
“I’m going to write this up and put it on the board so everyone can
see it.”

Several hang ups and several calls later,
Shahla signaled that she had the Chameleon on the line. Tony knew
from checking the call reports of other listeners that the
Chameleon was still calling the Hotline on a regular basis, using
different aliases, but nothing new had been learned about him. And
as far as Tony knew, Detective Croyden hadn’t been able to track
him down.

Shahla put him on the speaker. He was
saying, “…step-mom just circumcised me. She’s a doctor.”

“How old are you?” Shahla asked. She was
playing along with him.

“Fifteen. But when she did, I got an
erection.”

The voice could be that of a teenager. Or of
somebody impersonating a teenager. But Shahla was sure it was the
Chameleon.

“That must have been embarrassing for
you.”

“Yes, of course it was. She’s married to my
dad.”

There was a pause. Tony had discussed the
Chameleon with Shahla and she had agreed not to attempt to meet
him. She would stick to trying to pinpoint his location. The dead
air continued. He wasn’t exactly voluble tonight.

Shahla broke the silence saying, “For our
records, could you tell me where you’re calling from?”

More silence. Then, “El Segundo.”

At least he was consistent in that regard.
Shahla said, “I love El Segundo. There’s a cute little shop on Main
Street that sells imported knickknacks. I bought some dolls there
that nest, one inside the other.”

Shahla had probably never stopped in El Segundo in
her life. She had just driven through it to points north. El
Segundo wasn’t a destination. Tony had told her about it, in case
this very situation occurred.

“They’re called
matroshka
,” the
Chameleon said. “That means ‘little mother.’”

“You are so lucky to live in a place like El
Segundo. Do you live near that store?”

Silence. Tony and Shahla looked at each
other. Tony put his finger to his lips. Outwait him. Maybe he would
give something away.

“I pass it on my walks.”

“When do you walk?”

“In the afternoon.”

“After school?”

“When I…. Listen, I have to go.”

He hung up.

“I think he was about to say, ‘When I go to
work.’” Shahla said.

“He broke character,” Tony said. “He forgot
who he was today. That may be useful. Write it up and…”

“Pass it on to Detective Croyden.”

“Right.”

“I knew you were going to say that.” Shahla
wrinkled her nose. “So far, Croyden has been a big fat zero.”

***

Tony followed Shahla home and parked in the street
as she pulled into the garage, which opened as if by magic as she
approached, but actually in response to a remote control in her
car. Tony saw that half of the two-car garage was full of stuff. He
was right in thinking that they only had one car. They met on the
front steps as Shahla produced a key to the house and unlocked the
front door.

“Mom,” Shahla yelled. “I’m home.”

Shahla led the way into the comfortably furnished
living room. They didn’t seem to be hurting for money.

After a minute, Mom appeared through a doorway and
said, “You don’t have to shout, Shahla. I heard you drive in.”

Shahla’s mother had an accent and was a slightly
darker and shorter-haired version of Shahla. In the dim light of
the living room, she could have passed for her sister. She was slim
and elegantly dressed, but definitely not like a teenager.