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badnews?
Any resemblance to Amelia?
Maybe the blondeness. Amelia was more& constructed. Fuller in the face andshe
looked like she took all morning putting herself together.
What about Julie the Missing Showgirl, see any similarities?
She peered closely. I only saw one picture of her and it was twelve
yearsago& she was blond, too, so there s that. She did make the Dunes stage so
we renot talking a toad& yeah, I guess, in a general way.
What about these people? Flashing the MP shots of Cathy and Andy Gaidelas.
Marcia Peaty s mouth opened and closed. This could be Amelia Dowd, she sheavy
around the jaw and the cheeks in the exact same way. The guy s not
adead-ringer for Bill Dowd Junior but he isn t that different,
either& similararound the eyes the crags, the whole Gregory Peck thing.
Dowd looked like Peck?
My mom said Amelia bragged about it all the time. I guess there was sometruth
to it, except Captain Dowd was about five five. Mom used to say, He sGregory
Peck on the morning after an earthquake and a tornado and a flood,minus the
charisma and sawed off at the knees.
I said, This guy s been compared to Dennis Quaid.
I can see that& not as cute. She studied the pictures some more,
returnedthem. You guys are dealing with serious bad, aren t you?
You said Captain Dowd was no tough guy, I said. What else can you sayabout
him?
Quiet, inoffensive, never seemed to do much.
Masculine?
What do you mean?
Manly man?
Hardly, she said. Just the opposite. Mom was convinced he was gay. Or asshe
put it, a homo. I can t say I saw that, but I was too young to be thinkingin
those terms.
Your father have any opinions about it? said Milo.
Dad kept his opinions to himself.
But your mom was definite about it.
Mom was always definite. Why s it important? Amelia and the captain havebeen
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dead for years.
How many years?
It was between the time Brad got called in for questioning and the nexttime I
heard from him, which was five years later& I m thinking ten years ago.
They died at the same time?
Car crash, said Marcia Peaty. Driving up to San Francisco. I think the
captain fellasleep at the wheel.
You think, said Milo.
That s what Mom said, but she was big into blame. Maybe he had a heartattack,
I can t say for sure.
At the birthday parties, I said, when Brad took you around the house
andshowed you his hobbies, what kinds of things was he interested in?
Typical boy stuff, she said. Stamp collection, coin collection,
sportscards, he had a knife collection is that what you re getting at?
It s just a general question. Anything else?
Anything else& let s see& he flew kites, had some nice ones. Lots of
littlemetal cars he was always into cars. There was an insect
collection butterfliespinned to a board. Stuffed animals not the girly kind,
trophies he d stuffedhimself.
Taxidermy?
Yeah. Birds, a raccoon, this real weird horned lizard that sat on his desk.He
told me he d learned how to do it at summer camp. Was pretty good at it.
Hadthese boxes fishing tackle boxes with compartments full of glass eyes,
needlesand thread, glue, all kinds of tools. I thought it was cool, asked him
to showme how he did it. He said, Soon as I get something to fix. He never
did. Ithink I went to maybe one more party and by that time I had a boyfriend,
wasn tthinking about much else.
Let s talk about your other cousin, said Milo. Any idea how Reynold came to
work for the Dowds?
That was me, she said. That bragging call from Brad five years
ago.Christmas, there was lots of background noise, like he was doing some
heavypartying. This was after Reyn s trouble in Reno. I told Brad, Seeing as
you re some bigreal estate honcho, how about helping out a country cousin? He
didn t want tohear about it. He and Reyn didn t know each other, I don t think
they d seeneach other since they were kids. But I was in an obnoxious mood and
keptworking on him working on his pride, you know? Guess your business isn t
sobig you d need outside help, that kind of thing. Finally, he said, Have
himcall me but if he fucks up once, that s it. Next thing I know
Reynold scalling me from L.A.,telling me Brad s gonna hire him to manage some
apartments.
Brad hired him to mop and sweep.
So I ve learned, said Marcia Peaty. Real sweet, huh?
Reynold accepted it.
Reynold didn t have too many options. Brad ever let on to anyone thatReynold
was family?
Nope, said Milo. Would Billy and Nora beaware of the connection?
Not unless Brad told them. There s no blood tie there.
Or Reynold told them. We ve heard he and Billy hung out.
That so? she said. Hung out how?
Reynold dropped by Billy s apartment, allegedly to drop off lost objects.
Allegedly?
Brad denies sending him on errands.
You believe him?
Milo smiled. They re both your cousins butyou d prefer we focus on Brad, not
Reynold. That why you came down to L.A.?
I came down because Reynold s dead and no one else is going to bury him.He s
all I ve got left in terms of family.
Except Brad.
Brad s your concern, not mine.
You don t like him.
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He was raised in another family, she said.
Silence.
Finally, she said, Julie the dancer. That bothered me big time. Now
you reshowing me photos of other blond girls. Reynold was dumb and sloppy and
a drunkbut he was never cruel.
So far you haven t told us anything Brad did that was cruel.
No, I haven t, said Marcia Peaty. And I guess I can t because, like Isaid,
he and I haven t exactly been hanging out.
But&
You know, guys, she said, this is real weird and I don t think I likeit.
Like what?
Being on the receiving end of what I used to dish out.
It s for a good cause, Marcia, said Milo. In terms of Julie the Showgirl,
did Harold Fordebrand s gut say anything moreabout Brad than he was slick?
You d have to ask Harold. Once he found out Brad was my cousin he kept meout
of the loop.
How about your gut&
Brad s demeanor bothered me. Like he was enjoying some private joke. Youguys
know what I mean.
Despite that, you got Reyn a job with him.
And now Reyn s gone, she said. Her face crumpled and she turned to hide
itfrom us. When she faced us again, her voice was small. You re saying I
screwedup big time.
No, said Milo. I m not trying toguilt-trip you, far from it. All this stuff
you re telling us is beyondhelpful. We re just groping around here.
No case yet.
Not hardly.
I was hoping I was wrong, she said.
About what?
Brad being somehow involved with Reynold s death.
No indication he is.
I know, an altercation. You re saying that s all there was to it?
So far.
The old stonewall, said Marcia Peaty. I ve laid a few bricks myself. Letme
ask you this: The way Brad treated Reyn, giving him scut work, the Dowdsowning
all those properties, and they stick Reyn in a hovel. That add up to themilk
of human kindness? These people are just what Mom always said they were.
What s that?
Poison palming itself off as perfume.
CHAPTER 40
Marcia Peaty switched the subject and Milodidn t stop her.
Procedural questions about how to take possession of her cousin s body.
Hisrundown wasn t much different from the one he d given Lou Giacomo.
She said, Paperwork aerobics. Okay, thanks for your time. Am I wasting mytime
asking you to keep me informed?
Something resolves, we ll let you know, Marcia.
If, not when? You have any serious leads?
He smiled.
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