Double Homicide Part 26

"Something like that. Then he decided he didn't like that world, they divorced, and he returned to Nebraska. Or wherever it was."

"Not before helping Mr. Olafson."

"If that's what Larry told people, then I'm sure that's what happened. Now, I really do have to go, Detective. I'm already late for a function."

Click.

Katz had a few more questions, but when he called her back, the phone rang and no message machine switched on.

Katz and Two Moons made a second attempt to leave, got as far as the stairs down to the ground floor when Bobby Boatwright called out, "Hey!" from down the hall.

He'd gotten into Olafson's computer and he gave them a rundown.

"No big security measures or attempt to conceal. The guy used 'Olafsonart' as his pa.s.sword. Nothing much to hide, either. He bookmarked several art-pricing sites and the major auction houses, some p.o.r.no, most of it gay, some of it straight, and a bunch of restaurant guides locally as well as in New York. He's got a brokerage account at Merrill Lynch, stocks and bonds, a little over two million bucks. From what I can tell, the account has dropped from where it was during the tech boom, but it's up from the low."

"What about all his business finances?" asked Two Moons.

"Not in the computer," said Bobby. "Try his accountant."

It was eight p.m., too late to call anyone. They'd really learned nothing. Soon the bra.s.s all the way up to the chief would be asking questions. Two Moons knew it would generate lots of column s.p.a.ce in the Santa Fe New Mexican Santa Fe New Mexican-the local daily that had as big a sports section as it did a front section. (When his father told him that the local team was called the Isotopes, Darrel was sure the old man was putting him on.) This kind of high-profile case would even be star material for the Albuquerque Journal. Albuquerque Journal. He hoped the girls wouldn't be bothered by it. All of their friends knew what Dad did for a living. He hoped the girls wouldn't be bothered by it. All of their friends knew what Dad did for a living.

They stepped out into the cold night air and walked to their vehicles.

Darrel said, "Something you should know. I had . . . I don't know what you'd call it. An altercation, I guess. With Olafson."

"That so?" said Katz.

"Yeah." Two Moons told him the story.

Katz said, "I would've been p.i.s.sed off, too."

"Yeah, well, I thought you should know."

Katz smiled. "Doesn't seem relevant, chief. Unless you killed him."

"If I killed him, there'd be no body to find."

"Funny, partner." A pause. "Actually, I was thinking the same thing."

Two Moons allowed himself a tiny smile.

They walked a few more steps before Katz said, "As long as we're confessing, here's mine: Valerie's name showed up in Olafson's Palm Pilot."

"She's an artist," said Darrel. "I guess there'd be a logical reason."

"She thinks thinks she's an artist, Darrel. You've seen her stuff." she's an artist, Darrel. You've seen her stuff."

"True."

"In fact," Katz went on, "lately, from the way she's been talking, I don't even think she she believes it anymore. Olafson was high-end. There's no way he would have considered representing her." believes it anymore. Olafson was high-end. There's no way he would have considered representing her."

"So there's another reason for her being in his directory," said Darrel.

"Exactly." Katz sighed. "I thought I'd go over and talk to her about it. I was gonna do it first, then tell you. Because I can't see it turning out to be anything important."

"Makes sense."

"I don't want you to think I was holding back or anything like that."

"I don't think that."

"Good," said Katz. "I was gonna let it sit until tomorrow, but I think I'll go over and see her now. We could both go."

Two Moons said, "If you don't mind, I'd like to get home."

"No problem, Darrel. I can do it alone."

"Yeah, it would be better that way."

8.

Sitting in his Toyota, with the engine idling and the heat blowing, Katz tried Valerie's home number. Her machine switched on, and n.o.body interrupted when he left his name. He then drove to the Plaza, parked on the lower level of the munic.i.p.al lot near the La Fonda hotel, and walked over to the Sarah Levy Gallery. The sign on the door said Closed, Closed, but the place was all windows, and with the lights on, he could see Sarah sitting behind her desk, surrounded by gorgeous black-on-black pottery from San Ildefonso and a grouping of gaping-mouth storytellers from the Cochiti Pueblo. Reading spectacles were perched on her nose. Katz rapped lightly on the doorjamb. Sarah looked up over her gla.s.ses, smiled, came over, and unlocked the door. but the place was all windows, and with the lights on, he could see Sarah sitting behind her desk, surrounded by gorgeous black-on-black pottery from San Ildefonso and a grouping of gaping-mouth storytellers from the Cochiti Pueblo. Reading spectacles were perched on her nose. Katz rapped lightly on the doorjamb. Sarah looked up over her gla.s.ses, smiled, came over, and unlocked the door.

"Steve."

"Working late, Sarah?"

"Always." Santa Fe's premium dealer in Pueblo ceramics was fifty-five, rail-thin, and glamorous, with a sheet of blue-white hair hanging down to her shapely b.u.t.tocks and a heart-shaped face that needed no makeup. Her husband was a plastic surgeon, and rumor had it she'd made use of his services. Katz knew it to be a lie. Sarah had naturally young skin.

"Val around?"

"Not here, but you know where." She glanced up the block.

"Okay, thanks."

"Sure, Steve." She touched his sleeve. "When she left, she was in a good mood."

Warning him he might be intruding.

"I'll try not to ruin it."

The Parrot Bar was a short walk away, on San Francisco Street, between a fossil shop and a place that sold only white clothing. A Doobie Brothers cover band was playing tonight, and ba.s.s thumps poured out to the sidewalk. Oh, oh, oh . . . listen to the music. Oh, oh, oh . . . listen to the music. Out on the curb to the right of the entry, three bikers were drinking beer. Illegal, and most everyone knew Katz was a cop. They also knew he couldn't have cared less. The bikers greeted him by name, and he gave a small salute in return. Out on the curb to the right of the entry, three bikers were drinking beer. Illegal, and most everyone knew Katz was a cop. They also knew he couldn't have cared less. The bikers greeted him by name, and he gave a small salute in return.

He made his way through a throng of drinkers and s.h.i.+mmying dancers, up to the overly lacquered bar where Val was sure to be.

And there she was on a center stool wearing a black halter and blue jeans and boots. Sandwiched between two ponytailed guys with hunched backs. The old shearling she wore during the winter had fallen from her lap and lay on the floor, getting trampled.

Ponytail on the left had gray hair and a skimpy beard. His hand rested on Val's bare back, partially covering the gladiolus tattoo she'd gotten last summer. Right-Side Pony's gut hung over his belt. His stubby fingers caressed Val's b.u.t.t, but she didn't seem to notice.

Wide b.u.t.t, Katz noted. The ten extra pounds had stretched to twenty. Still distributed in all the right places, but her back had gone a little soft, bulging a bit above the top seam of the halter.

She'd cut her hair, too. Real short, almost mannish. And when she turned, Katz saw the looseness around her jaw, the beginnings of a double chin. Pale, as always. Downright pallid in the sickly light of the bar, but none of that mattered. Men flocked to her: They always had and always would. And not because she was loose. She wasn't. In some ways, she was the pickiest woman Katz had ever known.

Maybe it was her unpredictability.

Her body, full and curvy and, let's face it, flabby, managed to convey an intoxicating sense of s.e.xual promise, and whether or not that would lead to anything was the big mystery. She'd been like that even when she and Katz were married.

That was it, he decided. Val was mysterious.

Screwed up, sharp-tongued, distant, plagued by bouts of low self-esteem exacerbated by genuinely low talent, but smart and funny and kind when she felt like it. A tigress when the mood hit her.

The guy on the right slipped his hand under her b.u.t.t. She threw back her head, laughed, and dislodged him. Touched his nose briefly with a sharp pink fingernail.

Katz walked over and retrieved the shearling. He tapped her shoulder very lightly. She turned, then mouthed "You" over a high-decibel rendition of "China Grove."

There was no surprise in it. No irritation, either.

Just "You."

Katz flattered himself that she seemed happy to see him.

He held out the coat. Pointed to the floor.

She smiled, nodded, took the shearling. She slipped off her stool and laced her fingers between Katz's and stared into his eyes.

The fools at the bar looked stunned as she and Katz left.

Val didn't put the shearling on until they were outside and a half block from the Parrot. Her white shoulders were p.r.i.c.kled with gooseflesh. Same for her cleavage. White b.r.e.a.s.t.s bouncing loosely. Katz fought the urge to put his arm around her, protect her from the cold and everything else.

As they walked, she said, "You're fantasizing, Steve."

He raised his eyebrows.

She stopped and stretched her arms wide. "Give me a hug. A big one."

He complied and they embraced and she bit his ear, whispered into it, "You look good, ex-husband."

"You, too, ex-wife."

"I'm a sow."

"Nothing like that at all. You women with your distorted body image-"

She silenced him with a finger on his lips. "Don't be nice, Steve. I might go home with you."

He drew back and looked into her deep brown eyes. A couple of zits occupied the s.p.a.ce between her plucked brows. New wrinkles creased the corners of the eyes. His eyes took in all of it, but his brain registered none of it. All he saw was mystery.

They resumed walking. "Would that be a tragedy?" he said.

"What?"

"Coming home with me."

"Probably," she said. "Let's not find out."

She walked faster, breathing through her mouth and blowing out steam. He caught up. They reached the park in the center of the Plaza. On warm nights, kids, sometimes drunk and often rowdy, hung out here. Occasionally, the homeless occupied the benches until the uniforms cleared everyone away. Tonight it was devoid of human occupation other than the two of them. The Plaza sparkled with Christmas lights, silver-blue snowdrifts, hundreds of white diamond stars, and pure magic. Too much cheer for a man who lived in a granite yard. Katz felt suddenly depressed.

Valerie said, "Is this about Olafson?"

"How'd you know?"

"Because Olafson's dead, and I know what your job is. What is it, Steve? Did my name show up somewhere?"

"In his Palm Pilot."

"There you go." She rubbed her hands together. "I could be a detective, too."

She sat down on a bench and jammed her stiff fingers into the pockets of her coat. "Here I was, sitting in a nice warm bar, getting nice warm male attention."

"Let's go inside somewhere," said Katz. "We could sit in my car, and I'll turn the heater on."

She smiled. "And neck?"

"Cut it out," he said, surprised at the anger in his voice.

"Sorry for offending you." She crossed her arms over her chest. Tight-lipped and colder than the air.

"Sorry," he said. "I've been working twenty-four hours with almost no sleep."

"All that's your decision, Steve."

"I'm sorry, Val. Okay? Let's start from scratch."

"Sure," she said. "And while we're at it, let's have world peace." She turned, studied him, and gave him a look that made him wonder if she was going to cry. What now?

"Val-"

"Been out to Bandelier recently, Steve?"

"Not recently," he said. Sometimes on days off, he drove out to the national park and got waved in free by the ranger: courtesy from one uniform to another. When tourists were there, he hiked. On slow days, he climbed a ladder up to one of the ancient Anasazi caves and just sat, staring at the ruins of the old pueblo marketplace below. Two Moons would have laughed, but Katz truly felt at one with the spirits of the land. He'd discovered the park right after the divorce, driving aimlessly, exploring the wilderness. Unlike the Big Apple, New Mexico was replete with open s.p.a.ce.

He hadn't recalled telling Valerie of his trips to Bandelier. But then again, he didn't remember too clearly what they had had actually talked about. actually talked about.