Beverly Hills Dead

42

Tom Terry was asleep on the sofa in his office when the telephone rang. He checked his watch: twelve-fifteen A.M. He grabbed the phone. “Tom Terry.”

“It’s Ben, Tom.”

“What have you got?”

“It’s your girl; no doubt about it. The initials on the ring match, and the dental impressions made it final.”

“Have they got a cause of death?”

“Manual strangulation; no sign of a ligature. She was beaten around her head and body with some sort of instrument; not enough to kill her, though. There were defensive wounds, and her fingernails were all broken. She didn’t go easy. She was probably beaten unconscious, then strangled. The condition of the body confirms Sunday afternoon, more or less.”

“When will you make a public announcement?”

“Not until tomorrow morning, when it’s too late for the morning papers.”

“We appreciate that, Ben.”

“The body will be ready for release to a funeral parlor by midday.”

“I’ll see that’s dealt with.”

“I’m sorry we didn’t have a better outcome.”

“Me, too. Are you going to pick up the Harmon girl?”

“We don’t have enough evidence, I’m afraid. We went through her apartment thoroughly and found nothing, and we haven’t had a chance to talk to her again; she’s disappeared.”

“I think I know why. You said Susan fought for her life; I’ll bet Harmon has scratch marks and bruises on her arms and chest. When I talked with her, her face wasn’t obviously marked, but she had her hands stuffed in the pockets of her dungarees, and she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt. She’s not going to come out of hiding until she’s healed up. If you can find her quick, you might be able to nail her.”

“I’ll pass that up and see if we can get some more people on it.”

“I’ve got a couple of private guys working on her background. If they come up with a relative or a friend who might be hiding her, I’ll let you know.”

“Thanks, Tom.”

Tom thanked him again and hung up. It was twelve-thirty now, and he didn’t see any point in ruining a lot of people’s sleep, so he locked up his office and went home.

Early the following morning, Rick got a call from Tom Terry.

“It’s confirmed, Rick. The body is Susan Stafford.”

“Tell me everything you know.”

Tom did. “The body will be ready for release from the county morgue around noon.”

“I’ll see to it. Thanks for your good work on this, Tom.”

“Sure.”

Rick hung up and made the call to Eddie Harris, telling him everything.

“Shit,” Eddie said. “I hate this.”

“We all do.”

“Have you told Vance?”

“I’ll call him now.”

“I’ll deal with the funeral parlor; you deal with him. Get him to stay at the ranch for a while, until the papers are tired of this.”

“I’ll try.”

Rick hung up and called the ranch. Mac Cooper answered. “Hi, Mac. It’s Rick Barron. How are you?”

“Pretty good. Vance isn’t, though. He’s a different boy.”

“Can I speak to him?”

“I’ll get him.”

Two minutes passed, then Vance picked up the phone. “Rick?”

“Yes, Vance. You sitting down?”

“I am now.”

“A body was found early yesterday morning at a makeshift garbage dump up on Mulholland. Late last night it was positively identified as Susie’s. She’s gone, Vance.”

Vance was quiet for a moment. “I’ve been getting ready for this, but I’m not.”

“I know how you feel; we all loved her.”

“Give me all the details.”

“There’s plenty of time for that later.”

“Give it to me now; I want to get this over with, and I can’t as long as I have questions in my mind.”

Rick told him everything Tom Terry had told him. “That’s it, that’s everything, and I’m told there’s not likely to be more.”

“Have you spoken to Susie’s parents?”

“Not yet.”

“I’d like to do that. I spoke with them once before, so they know me, and they know I was her friend. It would be better than having the publicity guy do it.”

“All right. I’ll give you the number.”

“I have it. Will you send the airplane back for me?”

“There won’t be an airplane available for a few days.”

“I’ll find one up here, then.”

“Vance, don’t come back just yet; there’s absolutely nothing you can do here. The body will likely be flown back to Georgia, and her parents will handle the funeral arrangements there.”

“I really feel that I should be there, Rick.”

“For what? Tell me what you want to do when you get here.”

Vance thought about that. “I guess you’re right; I can’t think of anything.”

“There’s going to be a big thing in the press, and you don’t want to be here for that. Get some rest, some fresh air and some exercise. Read that script I gave you. Read some books.”

“Rick, they’ve got a nice little movie theater in Jackson, and Ellie Cooper wants to show Bitter Creek to raise money for a local charity. Can you do that?”

“Of course. I’ll have a print to you the first of next week, so tell her to set a date.”

“She’ll be very grateful to you.”

“Call me if you need anything at all. And when you feel you’re ready to go back to work, just let me know, and I’ll send the airplane.”

“Thanks, Rick.”

Vance hung up, and, without waiting, placed the call to Susie’s parents. He got her mother on the phone and broke the news. He was surprised how calm Mrs. Stafford was.

“Vance, did they tell you about the ring?”

“Yes, some sort of friendship ring.”

“A girl she used to live with in New York gave it to her; it meant something special.”

“She told me about that.”

“Did she tell you about Hank, too?”

“Yes, she did.”

“Susie was always like that. Boys came and went pretty quick; it was the girls who were the constant. She was just born that way, I guess.”

“She didn’t seem that way with me. I think we would have been married, eventually.”

“Maybe it’s better that you weren’t, Vance; I don’t think it would have lasted, not the way you would have wanted it to. The pull of the other side of her nature was too strong.”

“I suppose you could be right.”

“We saw the picture when it opened in Atlanta, and we thought you were just wonderful. Susie, too, of course, but then we’re prejudiced. You’re going to have a wonderful career, Vance. Remember Susie, but don’t let her memory be a burden to you. She wouldn’t have liked that.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Stafford.” He gave her his number in L.A. “Please call me if you ever need anything.”

“I don’t think we’ll need anything further. We’ve decided to have her body cremated in Los Angeles, probably tomorrow. A friend is arranging it.”

“I see. Please give my best to Mr. Stafford. The two of you brought up a wonderful daughter.” He hung up and went back to the breakfast table and told the Coopers everything.

“You need to get out of the house today, Vance,” Mac said.

“I thought I’d take a couple of horses and some grub and ride up to that line shack you told me about,” Vance said. “Maybe stay a few days.”

“Good idea, Vance.”