16
• • •
Natalie Daggett said, “Are you still there? Hello?”
Starkey checked the phone numbers again. It was the same number; multiple calls every day for months.
“I’m here. I’m sorry, Natalie. I was expecting someone else. It’s taking me a minute to switch gears.”
Natalie laughed.
“That happens to me, too. I have these senior moments all the time.”
“Are you going to be home for the next hour or so?”
“Buck isn’t home. He went back to work.”
“I know. I’ll be stopping by to see you. It won’t take long.”
“What do you want to see me about?”
“It won’t take long, Natalie. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“What is this about?”
“It’s about Buck. I’m working on a little surprise for him. Because of what happened to Charlie. Sort of a welcome back party.”
“Is that why you were calling Susan?”
“That’s right. Dick is the one who suggested it.”
“Oh. Oh, okay. I guess so.”
“I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“Okay.”
Starkey closed her phone, then put it aside. Not Dick, but Buck Daggett. She had searched the tapes for the killer again and again, and he was right there in plain sight every time, hiding in open view, waiting for his partner to get over the bomb. Starkey thought about Dana again, and the perception puzzle. It was all in how you looked at it. Now she realized what had bothered her about the tape. Buck hadn’t cleared the area for a secondary device. He should have pulled Riggio away from the scene before stripping off his armor, just as he had pulled Carol away from the trailer; she’d seen that on the tape of her own death, but he hadn’t pulled Riggio. All bomb techs were trained to clear the area for a secondary, but Buck knew there wasn’t a secondary. It was always there, glaring at her, and she’d missed it.
Starkey made the long drive to Monterey Park in good time. She didn’t hurry. Starkey was confident that Natalie did not know that her husband had murdered her lover. Buck had planned the murder far too carefully to risk confessing to his wife, even if to punish her.
Starkey was still relieved when she pulled into the Daggetts’ drive and saw that Buck’s Toyota 4-Runner wasn’t home. She put on her best cop face before she went to the door; the same face that she had used when she confronted the father in Venice with his little girl’s thumb.
Starkey rang the bell.
Natalie looked drawn when she answered the door. Starkey thought that she probably hadn’t been sleeping.
“Hi, Natalie. Thanks for seeing me.”
Starkey followed her into a small dining room, where they sat at a bare table. The Lawn-Boy mower was still sitting in the backyard. Buck had never mowed the lawn. Natalie didn’t offer something to drink, just as she hadn’t offered anything the last time Starkey was there.
“What kind of surprise did you have in mind?”
Starkey took the phone bills from her purse and put them on the table. Natalie glanced at them without comprehension.
“Natalie, I’m sorry, but I’m not here about a party. I went through Charlie’s things and found some things I need to ask you about.”
Starkey could see the fear rise when she mentioned Charlie’s name.
“I thought this was about Buck?”
Starkey pushed the bills across the table, turning them so that Natalie could read them.
“These are Charlie’s cell phone bills. You see your number there? You see how many calls he made? Now, I already know the answer to this, but I need to hear you say it, Natalie. Were you and Charlie having an affair?”
Natalie stared at the pages without touching them. She sat absolutely still as her nose turned red and tears bled from her eyes.
“Natalie, were you? Were you and Charlie in love?”
Natalie nodded. She looked twelve years old, and Starkey’s heart filled with an embarrassing ache, and shame.
“How long were you involved?”
“Since last year.”
“Please speak up.”
“Since last year.”
“Does Buck know?”
“Of course not. He would be so hurt.”
Starkey took back the telephone bills and returned them to her jacket.
“Okay. I’m sorry I had to ask, but there it is.”
“Are you going to tell Buck?”
Starkey stared at the woman, then lied.
“No, Natalie. This isn’t something I’m going to tell Buck. You don’t have to worry about that.”
“I just made a mistake with Charlie. That’s what it was, a mistake. Everybody’s entitled to a mistake.”
Starkey left her like that, walking out to her car in the fierce heat, then driving away to Spring Street.
Buck
Buck Daggett didn’t like it that Starkey had been spending so much time in Glendale. Her asking so many questions about that bastard, Riggio, made him nervous. Especially when he’d heard about her wanting to get to know Riggio now that Riggio was dead. What in hell was that about? Starkey had never given a damn about Riggio or anyone else since that fucking bomb in the trailer park. She had turned into a lush and a has-been, and now she was supposed to be Ms. Maudlin?
Buck had been proud of himself that he’d built in the connection between Mr. Red and Starkey. He had wanted to keep the investigation as far from Riggio as possible, but just his rotten luck the only piece of her name that had been found was the goddamned S, letting them think it was part of Charles. Still, he’d thought everything was going to be fine when the feds rolled in and everyone started chasing their tails about Mr. Red, but now it looked as if that bitch, Starkey, had tumbled to the truth anyway. Or at least suspected it.
Buck Daggett had still been fucking around with the Andrus robot when Natalie called. The stupid bim couldn’t help telling him that Starkey was coming by because they were going to toss a surprise party for him. To cheer him up. Ha. Buck had hung up and barely made it to the toilet before he’d puked up his guts, then he’d raced home to see for himself.
As Starkey drove away from his house, Buck crouched in his neighbor’s yard, watching her. He didn’t know how much she had on him yet, but he knew she suspected him, and that was enough.
Buck decided to kill her.