Murder Alfresco #3 (21 page)

“What for?”

A few seconds went by while she tried to think of a good answer to that question, one that would encourage Joel to share whatever he knew about the topic without revealing what Kimberly had told her. She couldn’t think of one. “This is going to sound strange, but I can’t tell you. All I can say is that I recently came across a piece of information that might be related to Heidi’s murder, and based on that information, I have a hunch meeting the man she was dating could lead somewhere.”

“Let me guess, you can’t tell the police about this either.”

“Not yet.”

Joel sighed loudly, finally catching his breath from the jog to the phone. “Well, hell, I guess I don’t care one way or the other if you talk to the guy, assuming you can find him. I don’t have much to go on. She said his name was Mark. I know he was gone a lot.”

She took a pencil from the jar on her desk and grabbed a notepad. “What about his job? Did she ever say where he works or what he does for a living?”

“If she mentioned it, I don’t remember. I do remember he took her with him to New York once. I think she said he was going out there for some kind of board meeting. He seemed to have money, at least enough for dinners out and a few trips. They went down to Hawaii for a few days, and up to Tahoe to ski a couple of times.”

She wrote down NY, board meeting, Hawaii, Tahoe. “Anything else? Do you know where they met?”

“I think they met at Caffe Trieste.”

“So he probably lives in Sausalito.”

“Maybe. I couldn’t say for sure. I just don’t know much about him. We exchanged maybe ten sentences about the guy. We
never talked much about the people we were dating. I didn’t exactly want to hear about her love life in detail.”

“Because you still loved her?”

“Something like that.”

“Any idea what the guy looked like?”

“None.”

“I guess that’s that. Mind if I ask you one more question?” Joel laughed coldly. “I’ll answer one more, if you’ll answer mine first.”

“Fair enough.” Sunny put the pencil in her mouth and allowed herself the pleasure of sinking her teeth into it, the wood giving way under her incisors. She examined the marks, moved the pencil over the width of a molar, and bit down again.

“You said you used to take yoga with Heidi in Mill Valley,” said Joel, “and sometimes you’d have coffee afterward. I happen to know those two statements are outright lies. Who are you, really? And what were you really after that day out at the houseboat?”

Sunny took a moment to decide what to say.

“Hello?” said Joel.

“I’m here. That’s a reasonable question. How did you know we were lying?”

“Because Heidi was a trained yoga instructor. She didn’t like the style of yoga they teach at that place you’re talking about, and she never would have practiced there. She also didn’t drink coffee.”

“So you knew we were lying even out at the beach.”

“Yep.”

“But you took us to the houseboat anyway.”

“I wanted to know what you were up to. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer, as they say. Then the cops came and I never got to find out what you were really up to.”

“Hang on, back up. If Heidi didn’t drink coffee, what was she doing in Caffe Trieste?”

“Who knows? They don’t make you drink the stuff. Maybe she ordered tea. I’ve been in there with her for a glass of wine at happy hour. Don’t change the subject. Why do you care what happened to Heidi?”

“Very simple,” said Sunny. “I found her body. She was left near my house and I found her Wednesday night while I was out walking. I never knew her when she was alive.”

Joel Hyder whistled. “That’s too weird to be anything but the truth.”

“It’s the truth. It was a terrible thing to see. Afterward, I couldn’t get the image of her out of my head. I thought maybe I could dilute it with impressions of who she was when she was alive. The only thing we had to go on was she lived in Sausalito and liked to surf. Rodeo Beach seemed like a good place to start.”

“Makes sense, I guess.”

“Now my turn. Why did you lie about having Heidi’s family’s permission to go out to her house? You’re not supposed to be watching it. The police told me her father doesn’t even know who you are.”

“You mind hanging on a second while I get a cup of coffee?” She heard a cabinet door close and then the sound of a spoon against a ceramic cup. He took a loud sip. “Ah, that’s better. Unlike Heidi, I don’t function without the stuff. I was just brewing when you called.” He took another audible sip. “Well, it sounds like we’re going to air all the dirty laundry this morning, or try to.” There was a pause. “Sunny, where are you right now?”

“Me? In St. Helena.”

“You live up there?”

“Yes. Why?”

“I thought if you were nearby we could meet. This kind of conversation is better in person.”

“I can’t get away right now. Besides, I’m okay on the phone. I’m listening.” Joel was in the mood to talk and she wasn’t about to let him off the hook. If they arranged to meet later, he might not be so willing.

“You have to understand who Heidi was,” he said. “She was beautiful and powerful and gentle all at once. There was nobody else like her.”

Sunny waited, listening to the sound of him breathing. It was the controlled in– and-out breathing, slightly louder than normal, of someone trying to steady himself through a surge of emotion.

“The fact is, Heidi Romero never much liked me. I tried to date her plenty of times. I loved her. I was in love with her for a long time. Like I said before, that’s why I took that job in Japan teaching English, to try to forget about her. But it didn’t work. I came back a year later and it was just like before. I’d do anything to be near her.” He stopped and she heard the controlled breathing. There was a soft thump and she knew he’d put the phone down. A moment later he cleared his throat and went on. “I’d see her now and then at the beach, and we would talk for a few minutes. Small talk, like acquaintances. It’s true that I taught her to surf. We hung out a few times at her place, but she was just being nice to a lonely guy who couldn’t get over her. Once, when she went traveling, I took care of her place for her. After she died, I just wanted to be near her for a little while longer. Sort of like you. When you and your friend came along, it gave me the perfect excuse. I figured nobody would pay attention if we were all there together.”

Rivka didn’t show up for work until almost ten o’clock. By then, Sunny had done all the prep work for the day, including butchering and preparing all the beef, pork, fish, and poultry. Luckily, through necessity and time, her squeamishness about meat was beginning to fade. She was blanching tomatoes when she heard the back door slam. Rivka appeared looking disheveled.

“What happened to you?”

“Sorry. Crazy night. I overslept.”

Sunny observed the raspberry lips and rosy chin. Someone had been kissed thoroughly enough to sustain minor damage to the surface areas in direct contact. “Do I know him?”

Rivka perked up. “You know that guy who was selling wild greens and blackberries at the farmers’ market in the park last summer?”

“The one with the hair like a cross between Don King and Buckwheat?”

“That’s him. I ran into him last night at the D. Vine. One thing led to another and we ended up staying up all night talking. He’s a genius.”

“Talking-talking or talking-getting-it-on-like-two-wild things?”

“Little of both, but mostly talking-talking. You should see his body. Brown, silky muscle all over. He can toss me around like a rag doll.”

“Is that desirable?”

“Not if it’s too rough. But just rough enough is definitely desirable. You know, sometimes a girl likes to have her hair pulled.”

“I knew I was missing something.”

“I keep telling you, you should grow it out.”

“Even if my hair was long, I don’t think I’d like somebody pulling it. Are you seeing him again?”

“We have a date on Thursday night.”

“Oh, good. I’ll plan to be in early on Friday.”

“You should be happy for me! I’ve been like a turtle in its lonely shell for the last four months. How much can a woman take?”

“Don’t be a goose, of course I’m happy for you. No one deserves the company of a loving man with big hair more than you. Speaking as your boss, I prefer the lonely and well-rested Rivka who gets to work two hours before me and channels her sexual frustration into maniacal diligence. But as your friend, I’m delighted you stayed up all night snogging with the local weed and berry man.”

“Weed
is a subjective term. Plenty of people think watercress is a weed. One man’s weed is another man’s salad.”

“Words to live by.”

“Guess who called me again on Saturday,” said Rivka, stirring the four-hour tomato gravy.

“Who?” said Sunny.

“Joel Hyder.”

“Fascinating. What did he want?”

“Apparently just to hang out.”

“How many times is that?”

“Four altogether.”

“He’s persistent.”

“A little too.”

“Did you ever get to talk?”

“No, all messages. I called him on Friday, but I got his machine.”

“I’m not sure about him. All that stuff with Heidi freaked me out. He’s obsessed. And a confirmed liar.”

“We’re liars too. One-sided crushes always seem creepy, but everyone has one eventually. We all get our turn to look like big, dopey losers. I think he’s okay. I’m not sure I want to hang out, but I don’t mind talking on the phone. I thought he seemed kind of interesting.”

“I called him this morning,” said Sunny.

“What? Why?”

“I decided to take the direct approach. I wanted to know why he said he knew Heidi’s father when he didn’t.”

“And?”

“Like I said, he was obsessed with her.”

“Obsessed or in love?”

“That’s a judgment call.”

No residence, no occupation, no last name, no physical description. Finding Heidi’s boyfriend, if you could call him that, was not going to be easy. In fact, it was going to be impossible unless she found something more to go on. Sunny decided to focus on questions more likely to yield answers, such as whether or not the taillights on Dean Blodger’s white pickup truck matched those she had seen the night Heidi Romero was killed. Rivka staggered through the day’s work and went home with a feeble wave. Sunny finished up, got in the truck, and headed south. A few miles down the road, Andre Morales called the mobile to say he and the venture capitalist were getting dinner around seven.

“He’s ready,” said Andre. “We’re talking about opening the new place in Sonoma. He also likes Scottsdale. He says it’s booming out there. And New York. He says New York is still worth doing.”

“That’s huge.”

“It’s still just talk. You never know. If you start driving in, I can let you know where we’ll be for dinner once you get here. We haven’t picked a place yet. You should meet this guy. He’s ready to get serious about opening a new place, maybe two. He has deep pockets and he’s ready to move. He could be the ticket to expanding Wildside like we talked about.”

“I don’t think I could make it there in time. I have a couple of things to take care of in Marin, and I’d have to go back home and change, then drive all the way back down again.”