5 Tutti Frutti (17 page)

“
Who was that?”

“Cazzo, he just yelled
‘Call me, damn it’
.”

“Maybe you should have taken the call?”

“I’d rather have him thinking I’m really busy. I’ll get back to him in a bit. I always like to collect my thoughts before I talk to that guy.”

Chapter Thirty-Four

I got a text message
from Heidi saying she was on her way home from her interview with Detective Manning at the police station, and she was in the process of blocking my phone number. Then she was going to delete me from her list of Facebook friends.

Manning phoned Louie about ten minutes after that. It was pretty mu
ch a one-sided conversation.

“I see,” Louie said.

“What does he want?” I whispered.

“I see.”

“Do we have to go down there?” I whispered.

Louie waved me off the
n turned his back and said, “No, I fully understand, Detective.”

I wrote “
Did Swindle drop the rape charge?” on a note pad and passed it over to Louie.

He looked at it then tossed the pad off to the side. “
I absolutely understand, Detective, just as long as we’re on the record as offering our full cooperation in your on-going investigation. I look forward to hearing from you when you’ve more facts and we can help set the record straight. Yes, yes, thank you for returning my call. Fine. Yes. Goodbye.”

“So I’m off?” I asked as Louie tossed his cell phone on
top of a stack of fake files.

“Not exactly. They’re waiting for lab reports on Swindle
’s car and some items recovered from Rockett’s house this morning. You sure you were never in the place?”

“Rockett’s house? No
, never. Closest I got to inside was knocking on the front door.”

“I don’t know
. I got the feeling they’re looking at something. By the way, it sounds like your girlfriend, Heidi Bauer, was none too happy. She pled too drunk to remember, but suggested you were off her radar screen forever. You’re sure you weren’t inside Rockett’s?”

“Scout
’s honor.”

Louie drummed his fingers on
the desk, thought for a moment “I just have the feeling there’s something we don’t know. Anyone you can check with to see what they got from the Rockett crime scene? Be nice to get a clue what’s up rather than have Manning springing a surprise on us.”

“I might know someone, let me check.”

I remained standing and leaned against our file cabinet when I made my phone call to Krystal. She’d worked as a processor at the BCA, the state’s Bureau of Criminal Apprehension. We’d dated a few years back before she dumped me for the man of her dreams and actually married the guy, but we’re still on friendly speaking terms. It was Louie’s turn to listen.

“Hi
, Krystal, Dev Haskell, long time no talk. Yeah, I know I should have answered, but I was on a case and really going twenty-four-seven for a while. You know how it gets. What? Really that’s great. When are you due? Terrific, I’m happy for both of you. Hey, I’m wondering if you can give me any help. I’m doing a tangent investigation on a guy who, well I think you folks might be processing some items. Name is Dudley Rockett, suspicious circumstances just this morning if it’s the same guy. I don’t want to screw anything up, but I’m wondering if you have any idea when that crime scene is going to be open? My client’s going to subpoena files or something, and I just want to give them the word on timing so it doesn’t goof up your investigation.”

“
Really? No kidding.” Krystal then proceeded to expound at some length giving me the details. “Okay, I’ll pass it on. Great chatting, you’ll make the world’s best mom. Good luck, give my best to Bill.”

“So?”

“So a couple of things; suspicious circumstances? He was beaten pretty badly then drowned in the bathtub.”

“Could he
have fallen, maybe hit his head?”

“Not a lot of folks I know
bathe fully clothed with a garden hose coiled around them. Apparently, someone held his head under water while he was kneeling on the bathroom floor.”

“Not good.”

“No, seems they got an anonymous call from a neighbor around four in the morning, the front door was wide open when they got there. Their team is still processing the site. There’s the thought there might have been some sort of sexual interaction that got out of hand, but she didn’t go into any detail.”

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Louie asked.

“Swindle?”

“Yeah, except for the beating and drowning the guy. She strikes me as someone who can barely find her car keys on a good day, but she might be tied in, somehow.
Can you check her out?”

“I can try,
” I said. “But I’d really prefer to stay away, trouble seems to never be too far away from her. Besides, finding her might be kind of tough. Her act never really seems to be together.”

“Just s
ee if you can track her down, and stay available just in case we hear from your friend Manning.”

My phone ran
g. It was Heidi’s number. Probably calling to apologize now that she’d calmed down a little. I could understand her being upset, but I was glad she’d seen the light.

“Hi
, Heidi, are we feeling a little better, dear?”

“Shut up you slimy piece of toilet scum. I just want you to listen t
o this,” she screamed. There was a slight pause before something crashed or shattered.

“Heidi, are you okay?”

“Those were your flowers you disgusting, low life rapist. How dare you think you can ply me with flowers after what you did to me. I hate you, hate you, hate you,” she screamed.

“Heidi, for God’s sake calm down
. What the hell are you... Hello? Heidi, hello?”

She
had hung up and I knew her well enough not to call back. I’d been on the receiving end of her temper more than a few times in the past and the wise decision was to just give her some time. Besides, it wasn’t like I didn’t have enough to deal with already.

Chapter Thirty-Five

I tried Swindle’s phone
and got the same message as last time, “The subscriber you have contacted is unable to accept calls at this time”. Swindle was probably wondering why no one phoned her, forgetting she had to occasionally pay the damn bill.

I phoned
Candi.

“Hi
, Dev, I knew you’d change your mind. Coming back for more?”

“Actually, as fun as that sounds I better not.” I was still unable to sit
. I felt like someone had taken a belt sander to my rear. “Hey, I was wondering if you know where I might find Swindle.”

“Not another
three-way,” Candi laughed. “Sorry, I just couldn’t resist. What? Looking for a refund?” she chuckled.

“
Oh, I’m sorry, did I call the comedy club? Let me know when we get to the funny part?”

“Relax, Captain Crabby. No
, I don’t know where Swindle is. You might try the club.”

“The Tutti Frutti? I didn
’t think they opened until around four.”

“They don’t, but that’s never stopped Swindle. If you call
, someone will eventually answer. Believe me they’ll know if she’s there. Everyone tries to keep their distance.”

I phoned the T
utti Frutti Club, and listened to about three dozen rings before someone picked up. By the heavy accent, I guessed it might be a guy on the maintenance staff or cleaning crew.

“Yes
.”

“Hi
, sorry to bother you. I’m calling to see if Swindle Lawless might be there, maybe at the bar.”

“She here sleeping.”

“Sleeping?”

“Si.”

“Thank you, …er, ah gracias,” I said then hung up and climbed into my car.

I parked next to the dumpster
in back of the Tutti Frutti. There were two other vehicles in the small parking area. A non-descript faded red Chevy van I guessed was maybe a ’97 and a spotless, gleaming black Mercedes CL600. The Mercedes rested at an angle across two parking spaces I guess to prevent the more common folk like myself from getting too close.

The back door
to the Tutti Frutti was open, and the hallway that had been dark the night I was with Heidi was brightly lit. The jail cell door at the far end of the hall was wide open and as I approached, I heard the hum of what sounded like a vacuum cleaner.

There were two people, a man and woman
, working as a cleaning crew in the bar area. The woman was vacuuming around the tables and booths while the guy took stools down from the top of the bar then lined them up against the brass rail. They quickly glanced over at me then just as quickly returned to their work.

I approached the guy
, and using my best Spanish, asked if he spoke English.

His smile suggested my best Spanish wasn’t that good. “Yes,” he said then pulled the next stool off the bar and positioned it against the brass rail.

“I’m looking for a friend of mine. She told me to meet her here, Swindle Lawless.”

He sized me up for a moment then pointed to a booth toward the front of the barroo
m. A pair of feet dangled out the end of the booth; one foot was bare. The other foot had a red high heel hanging from it.

“Yeah, that looks like her, thanks,” I said and made my way to the front of the room.
He didn’t seem phased by the situation, and I had the distinct impression it wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with her. I could hear Swindle’s rhythmic snoring as I approached.

I grabbed her bare foot and shook it gently.
She had fire-engine-red polish on her toenails and a gold ring on one of her toes. “Swindle, hey Swindle, it’s time to wake up.”

She groaned and tried to
kick my hand loose.

I held on tightly and shook her foot a little h
arder, “Swindle, come on get up, let’s go.”

She
kicked her foot again and rolled forward off the booth letting off a high pitched shriek just before she hit the floor. “Ahh-hhh God, what in the hell do you think you’re doing to me.” She screamed once she landed on all fours amidst paper napkins, swizzle sticks, and a cardboard bar coaster or two.

I grabbed her ankles and pulled her out from under the table. Her skirt rolled up over her waist
, but she seemed oblivious and just twisted around until she was sitting on the floor. I noticed her thong matched her toenail polish.

“Okay, okay, God damn it
, enough with the dragging me. Jesus, I just closed my eyes for a minute. You don’t have to… Oh, you, what the hell do you want?” she said then sucked her tongue over her teeth and smacked her lips.

I thought I’
d seen her at her worst the other morning at Heidi’s, but she looked a couple of rungs below that right now. Her hair was a mess, smeared mascara formed deep rings under her eyes. It looked like blood had dripped down the front of her cream-colored blouse. She sported a black eye that had swollen and a puffy upper lip.

“Swindle what happened? Are you okay?”

“I was until you came in and manhandled me, Jesus. Come here, help me up, damn it.”

“Just don’t charge me, okay?”

She gave me a look suggesting she was thinking about it. I pulled her up anyway, by her arms. She staggered a bit, but that might have been because she just had the one heel on. I looked under the booth, but didn’t see her missing shoe.

“You okay?
” I asked again. There was crusted blood around her nostrils and of course the fat lip and that eye. Someone had beaten her up pretty good.

She tugged her skirt in place then said, “I gotta pee,” which
seemed to be a common theme in her life.

“I’ll wait for you. Then
I’m gonna get you out of here. I’ll look for that shoe while you’re in the ladies room.”

“Ladie
s room,” she scoffed then limped off in the direction of the restrooms still wearing just the one heel. “You could make me a Bloody Mary if you want to be useful,” she called over her shoulder.

The couple on the cleaning crew shot one another a quick glance then acted as if she wasn’t there.
They gave the distinct impression they were familiar with Swindle, very familiar.

I found her other red heel about three booths down. I stepped behind the bar and made her a Virgin Mary,
just like a Bloody, but without the alcohol, then I waited. After twenty minutes I went to the ladies room and pushed the door open.

“Swindle, you coming out?”

“I need you to find my lipstick case. It’s silver and has a little gold top. I really need it.”

I
remembered the lipstick case and its contents. I didn’t think it was lipstick she was after.

“Come on out, I got your drink ready and I’ll look for the case while you’re sipping your Bloody Mary. Come on.”

That seemed to do the trick and she hobbled out on the one heel.

“Here, slip this on
, it’ll make walking a lot easier,” I said handing her the missing shoe. “I’ve got your drink at the bar.”

She slipped the shoe on and followed me to the bar. She slid onto the stool and drained a good portion of the dri
nk in one long swallow, then smacked her lips and looked around. I noticed she hadn’t bothered to clean her face.