Last Man's Head (13 page)

TWENTY-EIGHT

‘
What part of
her story don’t you believe?’ Domingo asked, as Leroy took the Taurus east under the San Diego Freeway.

‘Most of it, really,’ Leroy replied.

‘Okay,’ she said, peering ahead at the traffic on Mulholland. She could make out the grey Ford five vehicles in front.

‘First of all,’ Leroy continued, ‘she lied right at the beginning about knowing Robbins. Then…well, let’s just say I’m sceptical. I think she’s hiding something. I’ll take book that she already knew he was dead.’

‘You think she killed him?’

‘No, not really. But his death might be something to do with whatever they did, or wherever they did it.  Look at the way she was dressed and what she was charging. No way would she just do the business in the middle of a eucalyptus grove. She’s too upmarket for that.’

It was hardly a high-speed police chase. Whilst not particularly busy, being an undivided highway the traffic moved at the speed of the slowest vehicle, and the school bus ten or so ahead was going at thirty; the amount of traffic heading in the opposite direction prevented any overtaking. In any case, Alexandra appeared to have no idea Leroy and Domingo were following her.

They continued their almost leisurely pursuit along the winding and meandering highway, past the intersections with
Beverly Glen Boulevard and Benedict Canyon Drive.

‘You were telling me about your date,’ said Domingo as they waited at the stop lights at the
Coldwater Canyon Avenue. Fortunately, Alexandra had also been stopped at the light.

‘No, you were asking,’ replied Leroy, as they began to move again.

‘You planning on seeing her again?’

‘Maybe.’

‘Only maybe?’

‘Only maybe.’ He paused. ‘Only maybe Saturday night. She’s coming to mine.’

‘Sweet. Plenty of places in Venice to go for breakfast.’

‘Domingo, you need to get out more.’

‘Well, at least you’ve admitted something. ‘You’re going to see her again, right?’ ‘So it
was
a date.’

Leroy said nothing; just shook his head in resignation.

After a particularly sharp bend, the traffic slowed momentarily. ‘Can you see what’s happening?’ Leroy asked.

Domingo leaned to the right and looked ahead. ‘I think she’s made a right. Into a  side street.’ Leroy slowed down to around fifteen and indicated. He slowly turned the Taurus right and came off Mulholland
onto a dirt road which went up a slight hill. The road was in fact a dead end. Three gated residences either side up the hill; at the summit, the road widened, and a larger gated building at the end of the road. As they drove up to where the road widened, they could see the gates to all seven residences were closed. Leroy pulled up at the end of the road and looked around.

‘She must have gone in one of these places,’ he said. ‘There’s nowhere else for her to go. It’s a dead end.’

‘Yeah, but which one? All the gates are shut.’

Leroy looked around too. ‘We need to check these places out. But we can’t just blunder in. Any ideas?’

TWENTY-NINE

The idea that
they eventually came up with was that a police helicopter pursuing a suspect from a store robbery had observed the suspect leave his vehicle on Mulholland, and scurry through the substantial gardens of the properties in this street. The helicopter had lost the suspect now; he had probably gotten another vehicle, but they would still like to check the grounds.

All the seven properties in the street had gated entrances, each with intercoms by the side of the gate. They were given access to the first house using this ploy and were allowed by a housekeeper, a tiny Spanish lady
, to look round the exterior of the house and the gardens. The same went for the third property, except on this occasion they were greeted by the owner’s wife, a woman in her sixties, who clearly by the way she was dressed and made up, had a fantasy that she was thirty years younger. While Leroy and Domingo checked round the back of the house where the three Porsches were garaged, she joined them to ask how long they would be as she had a lunch appointment on Sunset. In neither of these places did they locate the fugitive, or in real terms, the grey Ford.

There was no answer when they called the intercom at the second property. Leroy retrieved a pair of binoculars from the Taurus to get a closer look at the house: all the windows and doors at the front were closed, and there was no sign of life. Domingo checked the dirt track as it led up to the gate, and could see that the gravel had not been disturbed recently.

They returned to the Taurus and drove to the fourth set of gates, those at the entrance to the house and the end of the street. Leroy leaned out and pressed the
Call
button on the intercom. After a moment there was a crackle from the speaker, and a voice said, ‘Yes, who is it? What do you want?’

‘Police,’ Leroy said unnecessarily, noticing a small camera lens above the speaker. ‘We believe a fugitive from a store robbery may have gotten into your grounds.’

‘No, the gates are locked as you can see. Nobody has gained access to these premises. But thank you for your concern.’

Leroy glanced over to Domingo, then back to the intercom. ‘I appreciate that, sir; however we do need to check. So please unlock the gates. It will only take us a few minutes to carry out the search, assuming the fugitive is not on your property.’

‘As I said, officers, thank you for your -’

‘There is also the possibility that the man is armed, so it is in your interests to let us in. Unless
you
are the owner, please speak with your employer now. It would be far easier if you opened the gate now; those in the house could potentially be in danger.’

‘Please wait there.’ The intercom clicked silent.

‘“Please wait there”?’ muttered Domingo. ‘Where the hell does he think we’re going to go?’

Leroy said nothing; just rubbed his chin and stared at the intercom.

After a couple of minutes the intercom crackled again. ‘Thank you for your patience, officers. Please follow the road up to the house.’ There was a click from the gates, and they swung open. Leroy drove through the gateway and along a short road to a large house. As they pulled up outside, one of a set of large double doors opened, and a white haired man dressed in a black suit came out. He walked up to the Taurus and opened Leroy’s door. ‘Please come this way, sir. Madam,’ he added as Domingo got out of the passenger seat.

‘Thank you very much,’ Leroy said as they followed the man inside.  Leroy turned back to look at Domingo, who was trying to suppress a grin.

‘Please wait in here,’ the man said, having led the two police officers into the first room off the large hallway, the centrepiece of which was a grand staircase.

He turned to face them in the doorway. ‘Mr Mason will see you shortly, officers,’ he announced, then turned and left.

As he and Domingo waited, Leroy looked around the room. It reminded him of photograph he had seen of rooms in the thirties or forties. The only concession to contemporary living was a large flat screen television set in one corner. Domingo looked around too, giving Leroy a
this is weird
look.

‘Do you have your identification, officers?’

They both spun round to see in the doorway, a man dressed smartly in a business suit. He was short, around five feet, with blond hair cut in a traditional way, with a heavy fringe which he had to brush back with his right hand as he spoke.

Leroy held out his. ‘Detective Leroy, LAPD. And this is Detective Domingo.’ She held out hers. Rather than just giving the credentials a perfunctory glance as most people tended to do, he took the identification and carefully studied each one. He did not wear any glasses, but held the items about six inches from his face as he checked them.

Eventually he returned them. ‘Thank you very much, officers,’ he said, giving an insincere smile. ‘They appear to be in order. My name is Mason, Dwight Mason. How can I help you?’

‘As I said on the intercom, sir,’ replied Leroy, ‘an LAPD helicopter in pursuit of a vehicle used in a store robbery saw the vehicle being left down on Mulholland. The suspect then fled on foot, climbing over the walls of the neighbouring properties.’

‘And where is your suspect now?’ Mason asked, stooping over slightly, inclining his head and grinning. By now, Leroy had taken a dislike to him.

‘Unfortunately, the copter crew lost sight of him. We are assuming he is hiding somewhere in the grounds of the houses around here.’

‘In the grounds? So you don’t need to search inside?’

‘With your permission, we need to firstly search the grounds, including any outbuildings. Then we’ll check the first floor doors and windows for any break-ins.’

Mason grinned again, and straightened up. ‘Well, I’m sure that will be satisfactory, officers, although I am sure you will find nothing.’

Leroy said nothing.

After an uncomfortable pause, Mason spoke again. ‘In that case, officers, I will lead you outside.’  He did so, pausing and turning to them outside the large front doors. ‘The grounds, officers, are not as extensive as you might think.’ He gesticulated wildly, showing Leroy and Domingo where the gardens were, as if they were unable to see them.

‘And round the sides and back of the house?’ Leroy asked.

Mason gesticulated again, this time with his left arm. ‘As you can see, you can walk right round the house. It is all open.’

‘Are there any outbuildings?’ Domingo asked. ‘Garages, summer houses, and the like?’

‘Yes, there are. All out back.’ He stood back and smiled, as if to say
anything else, or have you finished wasting my time?

‘Thank you very much, sir,’ said Leroy. ‘You can leave us to it. If we have any questions, we’ll call you. If we do find the suspect, as he may be armed, we may need to call in back-up.’

‘I’m sure that won’t be necessary,’ Mason smirked. ‘I don’t think your quarry is here.’ With that, he turned and went back inside the house.

‘Jerk,’ muttered Domingo, as the door closed behind him.

‘Come on,’ said Leroy. ‘Let’s get on with it. We’ll make a show of checking the undergrowth over there; then we’ll head out back. If she drove here, the car’s most likely there.’

‘Why are we being so ostentatious?’ Domingo asked as she and Leroy looked behind bushes.

‘Because I have a hunch we’re being watched. And I wouldn’t be surprised if that jerk as you so rightly called him calls in to validate why we’re here. So we’d better move swiftly. Let’s go out back.’

They walked round the side of the house and came across a large garage, a pool and a pool house. The only person they saw was the pool cleaner, using a cleaning device on a telescopic pole. He looked up at them inquisitively, only to go back to his pool after Leroy held up his badge. The two officers walked first to the garage building. The garage seemed wide enough to hold three vehicles side by side. The roller doors were shut, but at the side there was a small window and a small glass door. Leroy tried the door: it was locked, so he peered in the window.  Even though it was only around two feet square, the window was very clean, and afforded a view of the entire garage. Inside the place looked whitewashed, both walls and floor. It was empty apart from a large black RV, and a motorcycle. Both looked either brand new, or highly polished.

‘Nothing in there,’ Leroy said, and he and Domingo made their way over to the pool house. The door to the pool house was open. Domingo stepped inside and looked around. Inside the house was a suite of furniture: sofa and two armchairs and a bar. Leroy stood outside and looked around, strolling casually around the lawn adjacent to the pool house. ‘Liza,’ he called out.

Domingo stepped out of the pool house to see what her partner wanted, then saw Dwight Mason coming out of the main house. ‘I take it you’ve found nothing, officers?’ he said, folding his arms and giving them another lopsided grin.

‘No, it appears to be all clear, sir.’ Leroy started to walk to the side of the house as he spoke. He stopped after a few feet and turned round. ‘Just one question, though, Mr Mason. You have garage space for – what, six vehicles? But I can only see an RV and a bike. Are these the only vehicles you have here?’

Mason paused, frowning slightly. Then the obsequious grin. ‘My employer owns a sedan, but he is away on a business trip at this time, so in answer to your question, those are the only vehicles here.’

‘It’s quite a large house,’ Domingo said, looking up at the second floor windows. ‘What about domestic staff? Where do they park?’

Mason folded his arms again. ‘I’m sorry, officers – I understood from what you said earlier that your suspect -
if
he was on these grounds – would have come here on foot.’

‘You are quite right, Mr Mason. Things appear to be clear here. Sorry to have troubled you. We’ll try the next house.’

‘No trouble at all. Always happy to help.’ Mason leaned again and put a hand on Leroy’s shoulder, their difference in height making him lean even further. Leroy had the impression he was being ushered off the premises. Mason led them through the house: in through the back double doors, along a cream painted corridor to the hall they had seen earlier, and out the front door. He even opened Leroy’s car door for him.

‘Once again, thanks for your time, Mr Mason,’ Leroy said after winding down his window.

‘And once again, always happy to help.’ Mason knocked on the Taurus roof as if giving the two police officers a signal to leave, then turned and walked back into the house. Leroy took the Taurus back down to the gated entrance, slowing down to allow the gates to swing open.

‘That was one oily fucker,’ said Domingo as they drove through the gates. ‘Next house, then?’

‘No need,’ said Leroy, as they headed down the hill, back to Mulholland Drive. ‘I’ve seen all I need to see.’

‘How so?’

‘While you were checking the inside of the pool house, I had a look round the outside.’

‘And?’

‘I noticed some tyre tracks on the grass, so I quickly followed them. Just in time as it happened, as Mason came out just then.’

‘Go on.’

‘Behind the pool house. The grey Ford she was driving.’