Deception: An Alex Delaware Novel (25 page)

"I'm sorry, that's all I can say."

"She was a cougar so she had to die?"

"Pardon?"

"You said no one should
have
to die unnaturally. That sounds as if she'd been sentenced."

Kenten massaged a freckled dome. "I thought I left that kind of parsing behind when I dropped out of law school. It was a figure of speech, Lieutenant. Look, I sympathize with Ms. Freeman and her family. I'm sure they're devastated. And I'm certain you'll eventually get to the bottom of it. But I'm here to tell you that the sooner you get away from chasing Marty, the sooner you'll succeed. He's a fine boy, I'd be proud to call him one of my own, and I've got six of my own, as well as nine grandchildren with two more on the way. So I'd like to think I'm a pretty good judge of juvenile character and Marty's character is sterling. The same applies to his family, you'll never meet more upstanding, industrious people. I found out about Marty through Emilio. He works at my club and we've become friends."

Mistaking subservience for friendship, the way rich, delusional people do.

Milo said, "You've called us here for the sole purpose of offering character testimony?"

"Forgive me if I've wasted your time," said Kenten. "However, this isn't some situation where a friend of a friend asks me to write their offspring a letter to get them into Prep or Yale. I'm familiar with this boy's character in depth."

"You went to Yale?"

"Class of 'fifty-two, graduated at the bottom of my class, started law school, quit and went to Korea. You're ex-military, correct? Combat or ancillary?"

"I was a medic."

"That's combat," said Kenten. "I was ancillary. Monitoring inventory at one of the larger armories in Seoul. Taught me all about people, no need to get an M.B.A. after that."

"Glad it was a good experience for you, sir."

"Vietnam," said Kenten, "was a whole different ball of paraffin. My eldest, Eddie Junior, serviced helicopters, still won't talk about it. In any event, back to Marty: wonderful boy, bright, industrious, but for that blasted accident he'd be destined for stardom. Even with the injury, I'm holding out hope. The key is for him to take care of the shoulder, avoid undue stress. I'm afraid your chasing him doesn't help."

"Where's Marty now, Mr. Kenten?"

"Why are you after him?"

"I'd like an answer to my question, sir."

"What makes you think I know his whereabouts?"

"You're his mentor."

"And I'd be happy to mentor him now. Unfortunately, my efforts to reach him have failed, the poor boy's so frightened, who knows where he's gone?"

Kenten drank tea. "I'm surprised, Lieutenant."

"At what?"

"You didn't come back with the standard warning about aiding and abetting."

"
Are
you aiding and abetting, sir?"

Kenten laughed. "Hardly. I'm available to Emilio and Anna for support is all."

"For Marty, as well."

"Should he ask."

"If he does contact you, Mr. Kenten, you'll need to let me know."

"And you'll go straight to your boss."

"Pardon?" said Milo.

"No need to be coy, Lieutenant. We both know your boss's boy attends Prep and that raises the stakes. Needless to say, Marty or someone like him would be a much better suspect than a student from the right zip code."

"If you've got other students I should be looking at, Mr. Kenten, give me their names."

"If I did, I'd have already given them to you. Two things I do know: Marty's not involved and the chief's situation raises the risk of tunnel vision."

"The chief and everyone else in the department is interested in arresting the right offender for both cases."

"Both?"

"Yesterday, Ms. Freeman's boyfriend was beaten to death, his car stolen from his driveway. A young man was seen driving it away. I just returned from a dump site where the victim's car was found partially burned. All the contents had been removed except for a baseball cap that may have fallen off during the arson. Dark blue cap with what looks to be a gold
S.
"

Kenten's cup held steady. So did his eyes. "That's your evidence? A baseball cap?"

"A South El Monte Eagles baseball cap."

"Marty hasn't pitched for them for over a year."

"It's not exactly a commonplace garment."

Kenten looked away. "I'm sure there's an explanation--anyone can buy a baseball cap."

"I'm sure your intentions were noble, sir, but from what I've heard, public school was a happier place for Marty than Prep. That would be good reason for him to hold on to a memento."

Silence.

"Sir, have you ever seen a cap like that in Marty's house?"

"I've never been to Marty's house."

"Has he been to yours?"

"I've had the entire family over for cookouts and such--we've got a fire pit, a game court, access to the beach, my grandchildren call it the Fun House. Marty hung out with my grandchildren. Does that tell you about my level of trust? There's no violence in the boy, Lieutenant."

"He ever show up wearing a hat like that? Blue with--"

"Never," Kenten snapped. "Never saw anything like that."

"We haven't latched on to him randomly, Mr. Kenten. Elise Freeman was frightened of him."

"That's ridiculous."

"Spoken like a mentor."

Kenten's blue eyes hardened. "Given your unique perspective about me, I can understand your skepticism. But mark my words, Lieutenant: You won't solve your case--your cases--until you take off the blinders and stop pursuing Marty."

"Marty could help himself by showing up and submitting to an interview."

Kenten rose and rolled toward the door. "I've done my best to educate you. If I've frittered away your time, I'm truly regretful."

Milo said, "What did you mean by my 'unique perspective'?"

"Oh, come now, Lieutenant."

"I'm serious."

Kenten eyed him. "I'll take you at your word. What I meant was you need to be thinking about your boss's role in this investigation. Because of
my
involvement."

"How so, Mr. Kenten?"

"I was asked to serve on the Ad Hoc Public Safety Committee searching for a new police chief. I interviewed your boss and found him an interesting, capable man. But I had reservations about his judgment and his temperament. One example of his weaknesses in those areas was his pressing me to commit to hiring him early in the interview. Needless to say, I resisted, but apparently not with sufficient clarity, because he left that meeting convinced I supported him unconditionally. Nothing could've been further from the truth, though part of the blame may rest with me. I'm not one to confront, so he probably mistook lack of debate for assent. When it came time to vote on him--an allegedly confidential process--I was a dissenting voice. Since that time, he's convinced I sandbagged him."

Kenten plinked one elfin ear. "Lieutenant, don't tell me the moment he made the link between Marty and myself he didn't inform you of his version."

"Lieutenants and police chiefs don't meet regularly for tea, sir."

"That may be so, sir, but this particular chief meets with this particular lieutenant." Kenten took hold of the doorknob. Twisted, released, let his arms drop as if suddenly exhausted.

"Lieutenant Sturgis, I'm going to leave you with something to chew on: Your name came up during that first interview."

Milo blinked but remained impassive. "Did it?"

"Oh, yes," said Kenten. "He cited you as an example of what a tolerant fellow he was. I'm paraphrasing but his little speech went something like this: 'You know, Ed, there's a detective in the department named Sturgis, queerer than a second left shoe but does the job. Someone else would be put off by that lifestyle, but I keep my personal feelings of revulsion to myself as long as he continues to do the job. Send me a three-eyed, albino dwarf chimpanzee who can clear felonies, Ed, and I'll make sure it gets regular promotions.'"

Milo said, "That hasn't happened yet but we do have some knuckle-dragging primates in the department."

"Lieutenant, 'queerer than a second left shoe' is a verbatim quote. At the time, I wondered why he brought up the matter of homosexuality just to make a point. Years later, when I found out what he was saying about me, I figured it out. Not only does he think I'm insincere, he's convinced
I'm
gay. For the record, I'm not, though if I was I'd be comfortable with it. Any idea why he thinks that of me?"

"Why, sir?"

"I've donated substantial money to AIDS research, five million just at the U. Want to guess why I did that, Lieutenant?"

"You thought it was a good cause, sir."

"There are lots of good causes, Lieutenant. I prioritized AIDS because Major Andrew Jack Kenten, one of the finest fighter pilots the United States Air Force has ever produced, but more important a kid brother I raised after our parents died, was one of the first Americans to
die
of the plague. Your boss never took the time to learn that because
his
perspective makes it impossible for him to understand why anyone would operate outside a narrow range of selfish interest."

Kenten twisted the doorknob again. Smiled. "To be fair, I have been known to wear pastels from time to time."

"I see that, sir."

"Your boss can be an effective leader and he deserves some of the credit for the current drop in crime. Though we both know it's men and women such as yourself who do the actual work. Whatever his administrative virtues, he's wearing blinders on this case because for some reason, his son wants to attend Yale."

"For some reason?"

"I enjoyed my time there. But it's not where we get our education, Lieutenant, it's what we do with it. We both know the chief's primary goal is keeping the school out of the limelight until the letters come in."

"Marty Mendoza being a suspect could focus attention on the school."

"Not if he's no longer enrolled and is held up as an example of affirmative action gone wrong." Kenten's face flushed with anger. "To the people who run places like Prep, boys like Marty are serfs--hired help. Wrench a shoulder, good-bye."

"They hired Elise Freeman to tutor him."

"A formality and she knew it. That's why she shirked."

"Marty told you she shirked?"

"When I called to ask him how it was going, he said it wasn't going anywhere because she began sessions late, ended them early, and took phone calls throughout the hour. It was clear to Marty that she had no interest in him."

"Did she act out sexually?"

"Marty denied that, but he did say some of those calls were from male students and she was flirtatious."

"Marty denied after you asked him?"

"I asked him
after
he told me about the flirtatious calls," said Kenten. "I was wondering if he was veiling the truth to cover his own embarrassment."

"I've got a friend with a problem."

"Exactly."

"Flirtatious, how?"

"We didn't get into details, Lieutenant. I phoned Mary Jane Rollins, she said she'd look into it but I never got a follow-up and soon after Marty quit the sessions. But never once did he express anger toward her, Lieutenant. On the contrary, he laughed it off. To be frank, I think he was relieved."

"To be free of academic pressure."

"He's a bright boy, needs to have confidence beyond his ability to throw a baseball. If you allow another person's narrow self-interests to influence you, you'll be hindered, not helped."

Kenten flung the door open on office soundtrack. "Good luck to you."

The parking halfback handed the keys over. No more smile.

As we drove away, Milo said, "Talk about heavy-handed."

"Paying your bills with tax money can do that to you," I said.

"That reference to Yale, the clear implication was
Mess with me, I take it out on little Charlie.
Guy's way past overinvolved, Alex. Think there could be more than mentoring going on?"

"Another nosedive into yuck territory?"

"He does wear pastels." Smiling faintly.

"If Kenten's involved in something that sleazy and high-risk, why would he initiate a meeting and attract attention?"

"Because he can't imagine not getting his way. For all we know, Marty Mendoza's living a pampered life at Kenten's estate as we speak. His Graciousness tagged it as Paradise Cove but I looked it up and it's actually north of there, above Broad Beach. We're talking five-plus acres of oceanfront, one entry on PCH. Real easy to stash someone for a long time."

He got hold of Binchy again, ordered round-the-clock surveillance of the property's front gate, Sean alternating with Detective I Moses Reed and any "halfway intelligent" undercover officer they could find.

I said, "What about the Mendoza house?"

"That's mine. Rank has its privilege."

"El Monte outclasses Malibu?"

"I'm hoping the kid'll sneak back for some mama love. I get him away from the good life, he'll cave."

Spoken like a true hunter.

CHAPTER
28

We met the next morning in an empty interview room. Milo and Moe Reed had been up all night. Despite clean living, the young detective looked beat. Milo's bear-on-the-prowl instincts kept him bright-eyed.

"First my show-and-tell, Moses, because it's brief: Martin's mommy showed up just after eight p.m., lugging a single bag of groceries."

I said, "Not cooking for a family?"

"For all I know it was a bag full of chocolate chip cookies for Marty. At ten twenty, Mr. M. arrives, still in his waiter's uniform, carrying what looks like doggie bags from the country club. No further action until seven a.m., when he leaves in a fresh uniform. I wager on him going to work and stick around to watch Missus. Seven forty-two, she drives to a day care center where a bunch of little kids greet her like the bestest grandma in the whole wide world. I phone the club, Mister's on the job."

"Hardworking folks going about their business," said Reed. "You could subpoena their phone records."

"I could if John Nguyen changed his mind about my having no grounds. How was your day at the beach, lad? I'm not seeing any tan."