Hollywood Games: A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller Page 7

  “What the hell?” Mo said.

  The man sat up and stared at us. He was a vampire.

  CHAPTER TEN

  As we drove to meet with Coco Zee in Inglewood that afternoon I told Pearl and Gluck about my new home. After I’d finished explaining about the run down gothic house, the overgrown grounds, and the gargoyles in the upstairs hallway, I told them about my bedroom. “So I opened the door and found there was a man asleep in my bed.”

  “Was it Goldilocks?” Gluck asked with a chuckle. I noticed that my partner had on slacks and a sports coat, instead of the knock-off designer suits I’d seen him wearing before.

  “No. His name is Claude. He says he lives there and he looks like a vampire.”

  “A vampire named Claude?” Pearl said with a chuckle. “What are you going to do?”

  “I’ve got a call in to the attorney for the estate. Meanwhile Claude’s claiming he’s a relative of Van Drake’s and he has a legal right to live in the home until probate is settled.”

  “He sounds like he fits in perfectly,” Gluck said, still enjoying the story at my expense. “I’d keep a stake handy in case you have to drive it through his heart one of these nights.”

  “Funny,” I said, noticing that he’d also lost the contacts. His eyes were dark brown, instead of the shiny jade color I was used to.

  Gluck went on, “We could also stop by the hospital, lay in a couple of units of blood for his dinner if you’d like.”

  I looked at him, thinking for the first time he was acting like a real cop, cutting me no slack. I gave it right back to him, “I think I miss the old Harvey or should I say Harrison.”

  “It’s Harvey. Harrison’s history—at least for now.”

  “Harvey seems like a better fit for you,” Pearl agreed.

  As the two men took a moment and talked about Gluck’s interest in Hollywood, I released a long breath, wondering how I was going to explain to my sister Lindsay that she was going to be living in a place called Ravenswood with a vampire. Not having a clue about how to proceed, I put it all out of my mind and decided that I needed to get back to business and talk about our case.

  “Jerry King either lied to us or Natalie,” I told Pearl, explaining what the realtor had said yesterday about having dinner with a female client. “And he also withheld information about calling our victim the day he was murdered. He tried to dismiss it, saying that he’d forgotten about calling Biggs to co-list a house but didn’t leave a message.”

  “Let’s see what Coco has to say about Jerry King,” Pearl suggested. “Maybe his partnership with Biggs wasn’t going as well as the realtor claims.”

  Jiggy Biggs’ former girlfriend had been staying with her mother in a small house that backed up to a shopping mall in Inglewood, about a half hour from Hollywood. By the looks of the place, Coco Zee had spent most of her time consoling herself by shopping. There were bags with the names of all the stores you’d find in a typical mall covering the dining room table, sofa, and the living room floor.

  After explaining that her mother was out shopping, Coco swept up a Chihuahua named Haystack and led us to a backyard patio so we would have space to sit down and talk. Bernie came over and gave Haystack a couple of sniffs but Coco held onto him like my canine partner was a wolf and planned to have her pint-sized companion for lunch. While Bernie had a healthy appetite, as well as a large amount of sexual wanderlust, I knew that little dogs weren’t his type. After a moment my big dog settled at my feet.

  It took Coco, who I knew from our record checks had just turned twenty-four, several minutes before she composed herself enough to talk to us. Jiggy’s former girlfriend had platinum blonde hair and a body…let’s just say both Gluck and Pearl had a little trouble focusing. Coco wore a short skirt and a tight silver blouse that reminded me of one of Natalie’s outfits.

  “I can’t believe he’s gone,” she finally said after controlling her emotions and blotting her tears with a tissue. “I keep thinking he’s going to knock on the front door and…” There were more tears.

  I gave her a moment and then asked, “When did you last see Jiggy?”

  “The morning that he…” She sniveled. “We spent the night together and then I spent most of the day after that shopping with a girlfriend.”

  I had her give me the girlfriend’s name. She then retrieved her number from her phone.

  “And your relationship…with Jiggy,” Gluck said. “Were you having any kind of problems?”

  She shook her head. “We were in love.” She nuzzled Haystack and then regarded my partner. “Are you suggesting that I had something to do with what happened?”

  “No one is suggesting anything,” Gluck said. “We’re just gathering facts.”

  My brows came up and I nodded at my partner when his gaze came over to me, my way of telling him that he was starting to act like a real cop. I tried to refocus the conversation. “Tell me about Jiggy in the days before he died. Was he having any trouble with anyone, maybe someone who was unhappy with him?”

  Coco blotted her smeared eyeliner. “Not really. No one comes to mind.”

  “What about other women?” Pearl asked in his nonthreatening tone. “Was Jiggy involved with anyone else?”

  “Absolutely not.” Coco tossed her tissue onto the table. “People were always talking because Jiggy was friendly with everyone and went to clubs. But he was completely committed to me.”

  “What about problems with the show, Hollywood Gold? We’ve heard that Wesley and Gloria were a handful.”

  She shrugged, started to respond, but then stopped. “Now that you mention it, a couple of days before…” She picked up the tissue, blew her nose. “Jiggy said something about being unhappy with Jerry.”

  “In what way?” I asked

  “Jiggy hardly ever talked about finances so I was surprised when he mentioned something about owing Barry Steiner some money. He said that he went to Jerry, trying to get him to pay him some money that he owed him from a prior investment. Jiggy said that Jerry told him he was having his own money problems and didn’t have it.”

  I glanced at Pearl and Gluck, back to her. “Did he say why he owed Barry money?”

  Coco shook her head at the same time Haystack came up and licked her mouth. When the tongue-work ended she said, “No but I’m sure it had something to do with gambling. Jiggy and Barry bet on everything. And if you lost a bet, Barry wasn’t the kind of person you didn’t pay what you owed him.”

  “Any idea how much he owed Barry?”

  “Not exactly. All I know is that Jiggy said it was close to a million dollars.”

  ***

  We were running late for our meeting with Leila Jacobs, Jiggy’s ex-wife. We’d spent another half hour with Coco, not getting anything more that was useful. But the fact that Biggs owed Barry Steiner money, a lot of money, was new information and something that we planned to follow up on.

  When we arrived at 208 Rodeo, a restaurant overlooking the Beverly-Wilshire Hotel where Leila Jacobs had agreed to meet us, I suggested that three might be a crowd. Gluck took the hint and said he’d do some window shopping and meet up with us later. If my new partner was thinking he could afford anything on a cop’s salary on Rodeo Drive he was dreaming.

  Pearl and I found Leila on the restaurant’s flagstone patio that was accented with brightly colored umbrellas and overlooked the cobblestone street below. Jiggy’s ex had already ordered a Caesar salad and, given that we were on a cop’s budget, Pearl and I settled for iced tea.

  After introductions, Leila, who looked to be around thirty, motioned to the hotel across the street. “I’m told Pretty Woman was filmed there.”

  “Looks a little pricy for my budget, just like the shopping district,” I said.

  “Rodeo’s got a few bargains here and there,” she said. “You just have to know where to shop.”

  “Do you come here often?” Pearl asked, knowing that she lived in Montecito, a city a couple of hours north of here with homes almo
st as expensive as in the 90210 zip code.

  “I wasn’t in town to murder Jiggy, if that’s what you’re alluding to.” She smiled, displaying perfect white teeth. Everything about Leila Jacobs suggested money, and lots of it. Biggs’ ex-wife was beautiful with iridescent green eyes and silky brown hair that fell to her shoulders. I wondered if she’d been a beauty queen at one time. Leila went on, “I have a girlfriend who lives nearby and I come up to visit about once a month.” She sipped her coffee, set the cup down. “Any idea who murdered him?”

  “We were hoping you could help us with that,” I said.

  She blotted her full lips with a cloth napkin. “Well, let’s go down the list of suspects, starting with me. I took Jiggy for almost everything he had during the divorce, so having already squeezed the big turnip for all the juice it had, I had no reason to kill him.”

  “We heard that you did pretty well,” Pearl said, smiling. I had the impression there was something about Leila Jacobs that the elderly detective liked. “What about alimony?”

  “It ended last year. I didn’t need the spending money, anyway.” She smiled. “It’s a matter of public record, but just so you know, I settled for a little over ten million.”

  “What about someone from Jiggy’s past, when he was involved in rap music and gangs? Does anyone come to mind that might have held a grudge?”

  “Not really. Jiggy and I got together toward the end of his music career. It was a rough bunch that he hung around with, as you can imagine, but no one ever made any threats or caused any serious trouble.”

  “Any other suspects on your list?” I asked.

  She pushed the salad around her plate and then went on, “Maybe those idiots on that TV show.”

  “Do you have anyone specific in mind?” I asked, before sipping my tea.

  “I don’t know any of them, but from watching the show a couple of times it looked like they all hated each other.”

  “We heard that Jiggy and Jerry King were partners.”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know King but he’s quite the looker.”

  “What about Coco, Jiggy’s girlfriend?” Pearl said. “I understand she was on the show a couple of times.”

  “Don’t know her either but…” She smiled, pushed back in her chair and looked at both of us. “Let’s put our cards on the table. The real reason you’re here is to ask me about Barry.”

  I looked at Pearl, back at her, not having a clue what she meant. I played along. “Why don’t you tell us about him.”

  She sighed, blotted her lips again. “Barry and I had a fling. I knew it was stupid at the time but…” She splayed her hands. “What can I say? I’m attracted to powerful men.”

  I guessed what happened next. “And Jiggy found out about it?”

  She nodded. “After that it was World War III, Jiggy and me going at it day and night. I finally had enough, moved out, and filed for divorce.”

  “And your relationship with Barry?”

  “It’s over. He wanted us to get married but I told him after everything that went on between me and Jiggy that I wasn’t ready for marriage again. I think he thought I still had feelings for Jiggy but it wasn’t true. Barry eventually married some bimbo a couple of years ago.”

  Pearl’s brow knitted. “Help me understand something. We were led to believe that your ex and Barry Steiner are friends.”

  She laughed loud enough so that a couple of other patrons turned in her direction. “Jiggy and Barry hate each other’s guts.”

  “What about their gambling?” I asked.

  “That’s why Jiggy was on Barry’s show.”

  “I’m not sure I understand.”

  “Barry lost some kind of bet he had with Jiggy. Part of their agreement was that if he lost the bet Jiggy would get to be on his show.”

  I glanced at Pearl, then back at Leila. “So what you’re telling us is that Barry Steiner had a reason to kill Jiggy.”

  She laughed again. “Let me make this as clear as I can, Detective. Jiggy hated Barry because he broke up our marriage. And Barry hated Jiggy because he was jealous of our past relationship. Barry used gambling as a competition to try and get back at Jiggy, but it backfired. Jiggy got to be on his show and I’m sure Barry was angry as hell about it.”

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  We got back to Hollywood Station late in the day and met with Lieutenant Edna in a conference room. I let Gluck go over our interview with Coco Zee, thinking he might redeem himself with the lieutenant given that he was doing his best to act like a real cop. My new partner did a good job of explaining that Jerry King owed Biggs almost a million dollars that he couldn’t collect on to pay off his gambling debts to Barry Steiner.

  “There’s another side to the equation,” I said. “Biggs’ marriage ended because his wife, Leila, had an affair with Steiner. She said that the gambling Steiner and Biggs engaged in was a form of competition. Biggs won a spot on the real estate show after he won a bet. Steiner was mad as hell about it and wanted Biggs off the show.”

  “So we got two suspects, King and Steiner, both with motives and alibis,” Edna said. “But Steiner’s got more money than God. Whatever Biggs was into him for had to be small change from his perspective.”

  “I think it was more about ego than money,” Pearl said. “Leila made it clear there was no love lost between the two men given their history with her and the gambling issues.”

  “And what about Jerry King?” Edna asked me. “Do you think he could have settled his obligation to Biggs with a bullet?”

  “King’s a liar but that alone doesn’t make him a killer,” I said. “He also downplayed what he owed Biggs, claiming it was just over two hundred grand. I think we need more on the ground, maybe go back to Biggs’ brother Bobby and see what he knows about Steiner.”

  “Make it happen. In the meantime with the press and that idiot reporter all over our case The Beast wants more manpower on this. He’s assigning The Hammer to our investigation.”

  My blood pressure spiked. “Are you kidding me?”

  Carl Hammer, aka The Hammer, had closed several high profile cases in a short period of time. He also had a reputation for stepping on anyone who didn’t play by his rules. I’d only met him once but quickly learned he was pushy, arrogant, and had an opinion of women that was lower than the Marianna Trench. I had no doubt that the chief of police, who I’d crossed paths with on a recent case, was sending a message that he wanted my role in the investigation diminished.

  Edna scowled. “Do I look like I’m fucking kidding? You’ve still got the lead but The Hammer’s got the chief’s ear, so we’ve all gotta play nice in the sandbox together.”

  I sighed. Between Cop Hollywood, The Hammer, and the press, it felt like my recent vacation on an idyllic island was a lifetime ago.

  After our meeting with Edna ended I called and made arrangements for Hammer to meet with us at Hollywood Station in the morning. I then went off to do battle with a vampire.

  ***

  When I got home I found Natalie and Mo in the living room. They were in a standoff with Claude about our living arrangements and seemed on the verge of coming to blows.

  “You need to show me your teeth, Claude,” Mo demanded. She and Natalie were circling him like some dangerous specimen they’d cornered who might bite if given a chance.

  “What are you talking about?” Claude demanded. Our live-in companion was about sixty, pale, heavyset, with dark eyes and gray hair that came to a point at his widow’s peak. While he did bear some resemblance to the living dead, on closer examination I had my doubts about his pedigree as a vampire. My friends obviously weren’t taking any chances.

  “I need to be sure you don’t got no fangs.” Mo said. “We ain’t taking any chances on you.”

  “Why don’t’ we take him outside before the sun goes down,” Natalie suggested. “Maybe in the sunlight he’ll just wither up like a dead pecker and drop dead.”

  “This is an outrage,” Claude said. �
��I have every right to live here in peace. I called Mr. Farnsworth. He should be here any minute to explain things.”

  Mo backed off and turned to me. “This woman is a cop, Claude. I’m loading her gun with silver bullets in case you try anything stupid.”

  Bernie came over and sniffed the vampire, I mean squatter, as the doorbell rang. While I got up to answer the door it was clear that Natalie was unconvinced that Claude hadn’t taken a direct flight to Ravenswood Manor from Transylvania.

  “You even dress like a vampire,” I heard Natalie say from behind me, referencing Claude’s double breasted dark suit. She said to Mo. “Why couldn’t we get us a hunky vamp with good abs instead of somebody who looks like an old Dracula version of the Pillsbury Dough Boy?”

  I heard Claude defending himself. “One of these days I’m going to be rich and then you’ll be sorry. This place will be all mine.”

  “Yeah, just you and them gargoyles upstairs,” Mo said. “One big happy family of freaks.”

  I answered the door and led Barnabas Farnsworth into the living room. Claude didn’t waste any time explaining his circumstances. “I’ve lived here for the past six weeks. I have a codicil to my cousin’s will proving that I’m the rightful heir to the property.” He produced a piece of paper and handed it over to the attorney before turning to my friends and smirking.

  Farnsworth took out a pair of wire rimmed reading glasses and studied it for a couple of minutes while Mo and Natalie went on, discussing everything from garlic to exorcisms.

  “The legality of this codicil will be a matter for the courts to ultimately decide,” Farnsworth finally announced, folding up his glasses after studying the document for a few minutes. “There are at least a dozen other heirs, also claiming legal title to the property.”

  Mo stood up and wagged a finger at Claude. “Come on Dracula. I’ll help you pack your bags.”

  “Not so fast,” Farnsworth said. “While the codicil and rightful ownership of the estate is in question, there is no question about Mr. Whipple’s legal right to remain in the residence.”