A Cold Heart

“Landscapes.” Stahl remembered Sturgis’s description of the Kipper woman’s paintings. Sturgis had gone into detail, more than was necessary. He’d clearly liked the pictures.

“That’s what he said.”

“Did he name the gallery?” said Stahl.

“Uh… I don’t think so.” Katherine Magary- he’d decided to think of her by her birth name- licked her lips and smiled and placed her hand on his knee. He let it sit there. No reason to alienate a witness.

“Was it all b.s.?” she said. “What he told me?”

“He’s not a good guy,” said Stahl.

“Oh, boy.” Katherine sighed, knocked a fist against her blond bangs. “I’ve gotta stop doing this- getting wasted, getting picked up. Even when they’re cute.”

“It is dangerous,” said Stahl.

“I’ll bet you know all about that. Being a detective. You could tell me stories.”

“Unfortunately.”

“Yeah,” said Katherine. “It must be fascinating. Your work.”

Stahl didn’t answer.

“Was I in serious danger?” she said. “Being with him?”

“I wouldn’t go with him again,” said Stahl.

“Jesus… I’m sorry.”

Apologizing to him? He said, “Living by yourself, you need to keep yourself safe.”

“Yeah, I do… I’ve been stressed-out. Haven’t worked for a while.”

“Must be tough,” said Stahl.

“Oh boy. You learn to dance when you’re a kid, let me tell you it’s hard, it’s really hard work. An Olympic athlete wouldn’t work any harder. And then all they want is… you know.”

Stahl nodded. Grimy drapes pocked with cigarette burns blocked the motel room’s sole window. Through the glass and the fabric, he could barely make out the rush of the tide.

Slow rhythm; easy come, easy go.

He said, “Did he treat you okay?”

Katherine Magary didn’t answer. Stahl turned to her. She was blushing.

“Was he weird to you, Katherine?”

“No. That’s the point. He couldn’t… you know… he came on like a big stud and then he couldn’t… so instead, we- he… I really don’t want to incriminate myself.”

“You won’t,” said Stahl.

She remained silent.

He said, “He was impotent so he concentrated on packing his nose.”

“Like a pig. He wanted me to use, too, but I didn’t. Honest. At that point, all I wanted to do was get some sleep, but I was nervous. Because when he couldn’t, he got real jumpy- restless, pacing around. And the coke just made it worse. I finally calmed him down by giving him a massage. That’s my other skill, I’m a certified massage therapist- real massage, not you-know-what. I rubbed him down real good, and he relaxed. But something about him- even when he slept he was uptight. Grinding his teeth, he had this real… unpleasant look on his face.”

She squinted, jutted her lower jaw, strained.

“Uptight,” said Stahl.

“When I met him, he was totally mellow, loose. Real easygoing. That’s what I liked about him. I’ve had enough stress in my life, who needs bad vibes.” She shrugged. “I thought his vibes were good. Guess I’m stupid.”

Stahl’s thigh, where her hand rested, had grown hot. He patted her fingers lightly. Removed her hand and got up.

She said, “Where are you going?”

Alarm in her voice. Stahl said, “Stretching.”

He moved closer to the bed, stood by her.

She said, “When I woke up- when you woke me up- I was freaked out to learn he was gone. How am I supposed to get back to my place?”

Stahl said, “I’ll take you.”

She said, “You’re really cool.” Reached for his zipper, pulled it down very slowly.

“Nice,” she said. “Nice man.”

Stahl let her.

44

I put the photocopies down. “It’s pretty obvious.”

It was 10 P.M. and Milo had dropped by to show me the end-of-year summaries Elizabeth Martin had pulled from Shull’s faculty file. When I sca

He’d proposed a course he wanted to develop. “The Cartography of Dissonance and Upheaval: Art As Paleo-Bioenergetic Paradox.”

I reached into my file box, found what I was looking for: the SeldomScene review of Julie Kipper’s show pe

I pointed it out to Milo. “He recycles. Limited creativity. It’s got to be frustrating.”

“So he’s a hack,” he said. “So why couldn’t he just write for the movies instead of killing people?” Muttering, he circled the matching phrases with red pen.

“Now that we know it’s him,” I said, “I’m getting a new slant on his victim selection. Until now, I’d been thinking along purely psychological lines: capturing stars on the ascent, swallowing their identities before they became corrupted.”

“Psychic ca

“I do. But another factor is the disco

“The novel he talks about.”

“Maybe there is a manuscript in a drawer,” I said. “The bottom line is, Shull’s a good bet for bitterness and pathological jealousy, but that’s only part of it. I think he’s being practical: Murder someone really famous, and you bring down big-time publicity and persistent scrutiny. Pulling off something that grandiose would be tempting for Shull, but at this point he’s smart enough to be deterred by the risk. So he lowers his sights, targets not-quite-celebrities like Baby Boy and Julie Kipper and Vassily Levitch. Their stories don’t make the papers.”

“You’re saying he’ll eventually go for the big time?”

“If he keeps succeeding. Murder’s the only thing he’s ever been good at.”

“You’re right. With a famous victim, I’da gotten a warrant a long time ago.”

“Still no luck?”

“I tried the three most permissive judges I know. Went to the D.A. for backup, no dice. Everyone says the same thing: The totality is suggestive but insufficient foundation.”

“What do they want?”

“Short of an eyewitness, body fluids, anything physical. Detective Stahl may have helped things along. Early this morning, he watched Shull pick up a girl at a bar on Sunset, take her to a motel in Malibu, and leave the place without her. Stahl assumed the worst and abandoned the tail to check the room, but it was just a case of Shull leaving early. But while he was interviewing the girl, ol’ Eric got consent from her to look around. She was the resident, so it’s full consent. What he took with him was a cardboard coke chute, a tissue caked with snot and what’re probably blood flecks, a drinking glass the girl said Shull used, and the bedsheet. Any of that matches the little red hairs in Armand Mehrabian’s beard, we’re in business.”

“When will you know?”

“We put a rush on, but we’re still talking days. Still, it’s progress.”

“Good for Stahl.”

“Weird guy,” said Milo. “But maybe our hero.”

“Speaking of Mehrabian’s beard,” I said, “you phrased it as Shull getting in his victim’s face. I’m wondering if he actually kissed Mehrabian.”

“Kiss of death?”

“The image might’ve appealed to Shull- seeing himself as a mafioso or the Angel of Death. The sexual ambiguity might also be relevant. That would tie in with his relationship with Kevin.”

“Think Kevin’s alive?”

“I wouldn’t take odds on it,” I said. “Whether or not he was Shull’s confederate, once I started asking about him, Shull would’ve seen him as a liability.”