A Death In Beverly Hills by David Grace Page A

of hand-printed pages. Katz gave him a wolfish grin. "Jesus, what canary did you swallow?"
    "Guess who had a girlfriend?"
    "Tom Travis? Is that a surprise?"
    "I phrased that wrong. Guess who has a girlfriend?"
    "He thinks she won't talk? He can't be that stupid."
    "He thinks she's that stupid. He told her Marian was gay and she believed him. He thinks she still believes him. He thinks he's taking her to Mexico for the weekend."
    "Were you able to convince her to help us?"
    "She volunteered! She says it's her civic duty to help us find out what happened to that poor, poor woman."
    "Son of a bitch!" Furley shouted and held out his hand for a high-five. "Damn! What's she like? Bimbo? Skank?"
    "Hey! She's very, very sweet."
    "Does that mean 'airhead'?"
    "Listen up! She's a very nice, very decent young woman. And that's how you're going to treat her. Do I make myself clear?"
    "Jeeze, Simon, I was just--"
    "I mean it! You don't treat her right, I'll find a new partner who will. Got it?"
    "Sure. I got it. As far as I'm concerned she's Mother Theresa."
    "Good. She's due back here in a ten minutes. Help me script her call to Travis."

    * * *

    "What's this word?" Kaitlen asked, tapping Katz's notes.
    "Hmmmm." Simon scratched out 'impetuous' and replaced it with 'silly.' Kaitlen read through the rest of the page.
    "I don't know if I can do this," she said, frowning.
    "It's really important." Furley gave her his best 'We need your help to catch the bad guys' stare.
    "No, I mean, reading this. I can't keep it all straight. What if I lose my place or he says something I don't expect? I'm just not smart enough." Her lips pursed and she glanced down. "Couldn't I just talk to him and ask him about his wife?"
    Furley and Katz exchanged a look then a shrug. "Sure, let's try that," Simon agreed.
    Travis picked up his cell on the third ring.
    "Hi, Tommy, it's me."
    "Hey, baby, I've missed you."
    "I've missed you too. Tommy, have you told anybody about us, I mean, well, me?"
    "Has somebody called you?" Travis asked, clearly concerned.
    "No," Kaitlen said with a little tremor, "but with all the stuff in the papers I was wondering if I should worry about reporters or anything."
    "No problem, Sweetie. I wouldn't let you get dragged into this. Nobody knows."
    Furley and Katz exchanged another look.
    "Have they found out anything, about, you know?"
    "It's a mystery."
    "What do you think happened to her?"
    "Jeeze, I don't know. One minute she's here, the next she's gone."
    "Has her ex called? Do you think he did it?"
    "Could be. Who knows?"
    "You said they had a terrible divorce, with her being gay and all. I was just thinking that maybe he did it and took the little girl. Is he violent? You said he was a big jerk."
    "The biggest. Sure, he could have been behind it."
    "But the police are after him, you know, investigating him, right? You told them about him?"
    "Sure, he's their number one suspect, but don't tell that to anyone. It's kind of a secret between me and the cops."
    "This is so sad, even if you weren't really, you know, married, her being gay and all. Do you miss her?"
    "Sure, I miss her, in a way. She was a friend, I mean I married her to help her out with her custody fight. How many guys would do that?"
    "Only you, Tommy. Do you think about her? What was the last thing she said to you?"
    "Oh, Hell, I don't know."
    "You're blocking, baby. We've talked about that. You've got to open up to your emotions, not block them out. Come on, what did she say?"
    There was a long pause and Katz's eyes strayed to the cassette's revolving spools. Finally, Travis responded.
    "Sweetie, you know I don't like this touchy-feely stuff."
    "You can't fight Karma, Tommy."
    "Okay, fine, the truth is, we had a fight."
    "Oh no. What happened?"
    "Oh, the same old crap. I wasn't supportive enough. I wasn't there for her. All the pregnancy stuff. She was still on me to be her coach, like her having another kid was my idea. We both knew the baby wasn't mine but she still