Bones

CHAPTER 33

Kelly Vander’s pink couches were soft and yielding. Her condo had the afterthought look of temporary housing.

The seventy-inch TV was the source of the music; a cable or satellite station playing Singers and Standards. Jack Jones had given way to Eydie Gorme blaming everything on the bossa nova.

Kelly touched the soda bottle. “Fresca? If you want caffeine, there’s Diet Pepsi.”

“Nothing, thanks.”

Inhaling her cigarette down to the filter, she ditched it in the kitchen sink, found a pack of Winston Lights, lit up. “Some people think diet is bad for you but I think it’s better than all that sugar. Larry should be back soon.”

She took something off the wall and brought it to me.

Framed, glassed newspaper ad. Full-color May Company spread, junior miss dresses and sweater ensembles on clearance. The date, thirty-one years ago.

“This is me.” Pointing to a blond girl in a plaid jumper. Even without puckers, Kelly Vander’s mouth had a simian cast and I would’ve picked her out.

“You modeled?”

She sat on a pink corner. “I’m five five now, used to be an inch taller before my spine compressed. But even with that, I was too short for the big time. In the beginning all they had me doing was kiddy wear. My boobs came in late because… soon as I got a chest, the agency pushed me straight into juniors and that’s where I stayed. That’s how I met Simon. He was in the rag trade, repping synthetic knits for a downtown manufacturer. There was a showcase for buyers, they set up a runway at the Scottish Rite, place squeaked like a haunted house.”

“Over in Hancock Park,” I said. “Near the Ebell.” Wondering if Kelvin Vander’s recital venue would draw a reaction.

Kelly Vander said, “That’s the one. Karma.” She poured herself Fresca. “Sure I can’t get you any?”

“I’m fine. What was karma?”

“Meeting Simon. We girls were all lined up, they gave us outfits randomly. I just happened to end up with one of his company’s suits. Blue, double-breasted. Metal buttons, like a sailor. I even wore a sailor hat.” She touched her head, allowed herself a ragged brown smile. “Crappy poly, scratchy, I couldn’t wait to get out of it. Simon came up to me later. He’d gotten a big order, thanked me. He was a little older than me. Seemed sophisticated…”

She exhaled smoke. Nicotine vapors wafted across her glass, gave the soda the look of a potion.

“You’re a psychologist, huh? Known plenty of those. Some good ones, some not-so-good ones.”

“That’s better than no good ones.”

“You work for the police?”

“I freelance.”

“Must be interesting.”

“It can be.”

Big grin. “What was your most exciting case?”

I smiled back.

She said, “Can’t blame any of them. The psychologists who tried to help me. What I had was resistant to change. ‘Chronic eating disorder, resistant to change.’ They told me if I didn’t stop starving myself, I’d drop dead of a heart attack. That scared me, but not enough, you know? Like there’s two parts of my brain, the thinking section and the gimme section. One of the doctors who helped me said it was a matter of developing new habits. He had me do exercises-mental, I mean. Getting the thinking section to dominate. That make sense to you?”

“It does.”

“I’m okay now.” Running her hands over her bony body. “I could probably still keel over from what I did to myself back then, but so far, knock on mahogany.”

“You were healthy enough to have a child.”

“You know Simone? She looks just like me… I should do my teeth. It’s obvious, right? They’re all rotted from bulimia, everyone says I’d look ten years younger if I did my teeth but I’m not sure I want that.”

“To look younger?”

“Exactly,” she said. “Every time I see myself in the mirror and cringe it reminds me of how I got that way in the first place. What do you think? Professionally speaking. Do I need that reminder?”

“I don’t know you well enough,” I said.

“Ding. Good answer.” She pumped air, checked a wall clock. “Where’s Larry… I finally got some insights. Third rehab’s the charm.”

“Did you meet Larry in rehab?”

She shook her head. “I don’t speak for Larry. I own what I own and his emotional acreage is his. Speaking of which.”

She glanced at the door.

I’d been listening for footsteps, had heard nothing. Moments later, the panel of orange wood swung wide open and sixty-three inches of sunglassed, aloha-shirted Larry Brackle charged in swinging a greasy white bag. A carton of Winston Lights was pinioned under his arm. “Got you donuts, honey. Those crunchy maple walnut cinnam-”

He removed his shades. “We got a guest, Kell?”

Kelly Vander said, “You do, Larry. It’s all about you, baby doll.”

Larry Brackle flicked ashes into a coffee cup. “You’re trying to tell me Travis is some kind of Bundy? No offense, sir, but that’s lunacy.”

Kelly Vander said, “That’s what I told him, sweets.”

They sat next to each other, knees pressed together, smoking in unison, making their way through the Fresca.

I said, “The police consider him a prime suspect.”

Brackle said, “Police thought that the first time.”

“You know Travis’s history.”

Hesitation. “Sure. It was in the papers.”

“Not the local papers.”

Silence.

I said, “The Ferris Ravine Clarion’s pretty obscure, Mr. Brackle. Unless you know his story from some other source.”

Brackle turned to Kelly Vander. Her face stayed blank.

He said, “Whatever, I heard about it.”

“Travis told you.”

“Whatever.”

“Did you meet him in rehab?”

“Look, sir, I want to be a good citizen, but I don’t speak for Travis. He owns what he owns and my shit is my own. No offense.”

I said, “Speak for yourself then. Did you know him before he took Brandeen to the hospital or after?”

Brackle’s jaws worked. Pint-sized man but his wrists and hands were thick and sturdy. “Man, I’m hungry.” He sprang up, jogged to the kitchen, returned with a slab of pound cake on a paper plate. “ Split, honey?”

“No, it’s yours.”

Brackle kissed her cheek. “It could be yours, too.”

“You’re so sweet but Ms. Tummy’s full,” said Kelly Vander. “I’ll wait till dinner.”

“You’re sure? It’s good cake.”

“I am, sweetie.”

“Okay. Let’s have those steaks for dinner.”

“You can have one, Lar. Little heavy for me.”

“I’ll cut them into thin strips.”

“We’ll see.”

“You liked ’em that way before.”

“Yeah, that was good, but I don’t know, I’m kind of full.”

I said, “I’m thinking you knew Travis before he found Brandeen. He went looking for her and Brandi in order to help you out.”

“Now, c’mon, sir, don’t be going off on some guessing game. Travis is a good man.”

“I’m not saying he isn’t. I know he didn’t hurt Brandi.”

Brackle’s hands became glossy white fists. “Hell, no, he didn’t. Everyone knows who hurt Brandi. Sir.”

“Gibson DePaul.”

“Scum. They sent him up for life and he killed another inmate and got sent to Pelican Bay. Sir.”

“You keep tabs on him?”

“We get that victim notification mailer they send us.”

“ ‘Us’ meaning the two of you? Or you and your ex?”

“I can’t say what she gets.”

“Where is Anita?”

“You tell me.”

“Lost contact?”

“Anita couldn’t change herself. Didn’t wanna try.”

“What about the kids?”

“I see ’em on some holidays,” said Brackle. “What’s the diff to you? Why all this curiosity about my family?”

“Sorry. My main interest is Travis.”

“Then you’re spinning your wheels, sir. He didn’t kill nobody. Not then, not now.”

“Interesting,” I said.

“What is?”

“The police consider him a prime suspect but people keep showing up who consider him a saint.”

“Like who?”

“Debora Wallenburg.”

Brackle and Kelly Vander looked at each other. Burst into sudden, strident laughter.

I said, “Must’ve missed the joke.”

Brackle said, “Saints. There ain’t no such thing, we’re always talking about that. All there is, sir, are sinners of different degrees and what we all need is to learn to forgive ourselves, not wait for some preacher to do it.”

I said, “So both of you met Travis in rehab.”

No answer.

“It’s not a secret that can be kept very long.”

“Travis is entitled to his privacy, sir.”

“Getting help’s not something to be ashamed of, Mr. Brackle. On the contrary. He got himself together.”

Kelly Vander said, “Okay, fine, that’s where we met him.”

I said, “Did you recommend him to Simon as payment for rescuing Larry’s granddaughter?”

Brackle said, “You’re a smart one. Why don’t you use that brain on something important?”

“How long before Brandi’s murder did you meet him?”

“Right before, okay? Six, seven months. I’d already decided to leave Anita because she refused to get better and I knew if I stayed with her, I’d be dead soon. Only thing that stopped me was the kids. Three of hers-including Brandi-and we had one together. That’s Randy. He’s in the service, over in Fallujah, got decorated.”

“Randy’s a wonderful boy,” said Kelly, wistfully.

Brackle said, “We got a consensus on that… yeah, that’s where we met Travis, the three of us trying to get straight. His treatment was being paid for by that lawyer, Wallenburg. I thought it was damn nice of her and told him so. Told him he should take advantage of amazing grace and improve himself. I was using my own dough plus work disability, place cost a fortune.”

Kelly said, “Simon footed my bill. Even though we were divorced.”

“When was this?” I said.

“Twelve years ago, Simon and I had split up three years before but we stayed friends. I put Simon through a lot and he stopped loving me, but he still liked me. No matter what, I never raised my voice to him. Never tried to squeeze any extra money out of him even after he got real rich. I thought I deserved not to be loved so I made sure he stopped loving me. Simone was a teenager, the stress-I wasn’t handling anything, Simon said give it another try, Kell, you owe it to yourself, we’ll find a great place, all the creature comforts. He got me brochures. I liked the one from Pledges, lots of trees.”

“Pledges in South Pasadena?”

“You know it?”

“Good place,” I said. “Closed down a few years ago.”

Larry Brackle said, “Great place. They got bought out by one of those corporations, bastards ran it into the ground.”

Kelly said, “First day I got there, I met Larry. He liked me and loved me but it wasn’t for years that he admitted it ’cause he was still married. And I wasn’t in a receptive state-didn’t see myself committed to anyone.”

“How long have you two been together?”

Brackle said, “Officially, nine years. In here”-patting his heart-“from forever.”

Kelly Vander said, “Instant friendship and acceptance, I never had that with a man. Simon’s a good man, but I knew I was failing him constantly, and you can’t live being a failure all the time.”

I said, “The cops say Travis was a poly-drug user.”

No answer.

“Rehab helped the two of you, but it didn’t work for him. Two years afterward, he was homeless.”

“That’s where I saw him,” said Larry Brackle.

“On the street?”

“Used to work in Hollywood, big apartment building, nice place west of La Brea, assistant super. On my way home, I generally took the boulevard, drove past the Chinese Theatre. One night I spotted Travis there, panhandling tourists. He looked real bad. Compared to when he was at Pledges, I mean. Stringy hair, beard, all hunched over. Not doing too good with the tourists because he wouldn’t get in anyone’s face, that’s Travis, he don’t confront. I drove around the block, pulled up, laid a twenty in his palm. He saw it was me, started to cry, said he was sorry for screwing up.”

Kelly said, “Before we got discharged, the three of us made a promise to change and to reach out to each other when our thoughts turned bad. Larry and I stuck to it, that’s how we succeeded. But we lost touch with Travis.”

Brackle nodded. “I told him, ‘No one’s judging you, man. Come home with me for a meal and a bath.’ He ran off and the next day, he wasn’t there, same for the entire week. But then I saw him again, same deal, his hand’s out, even worse-looking. This time, he agreed to go with me. Anita was pissed off, said you see any extra room in this dump, genius? What with her, me, all the kids, we had a couple of dogs, too. I said I’d sleep outside in the backyard if that made it better. She said maybe both of you should. What ended up happening was Travis used this toolshed we had. I cleared away junk and put out a mattress and he’d come and go as he pleased. I got him a haircut. Once the hair was off, we saw all these pierces he had in his ears. Like a pirate. Especially with that limp, he was like a pirate. Kids loved the pierces, Anita hated them.”

Kelly said, “But Anita came to like Travis.”

“What changed Anita’s mind was he was gentle with the kids. Soon she was letting him tell the kids stories. Then he was holding the baby, being real good with the baby. ’Course, Anita could be unpredictable, what with drinking and weed, so it wasn’t always perfect. But mostly we had peace.”

Deep drag on his cigarette. “Travis really liked that baby… man, it’s been a long time. Now you’re wanting to tell me Travis is some kind of murder-monster? No way, José. I’m no shrink but I know people pretty good and Travis is good people.”

I said, “Tell me about the night Brandi disappeared.”

“She didn’t disappear, sir. She went with him. That garbage we don’t mention by name. Now, that one was evil from the get-go, his own family was scared of him. When Brandi didn’t come back, we went right over to their place-Travis and me. His folks looked scared, said the little shitface talked about visiting with Brandi and the baby, that’s all they knew. Travis and me went searching the neighborhood. Travis took a bunch of streets, I took some others. He found the baby. Saw the blood and took her to the hospital.”

“So he knew something had happened to Brandi.”

“Brandi was hidden-that’s what the cops said, off in some bushes. The baby was out in the open, he was thinking about the baby.”

“Why’d he walk to the hospital rather than contact you?”

“Scared, wouldn’t you be?” said Brackle. “Going to jail once for something you didn’t do, now there’s a baby with blood? Not that he said it, it’s just what I figured out. That boy’s whole life was fear, I’d walk by the shed and hear him moaning, bad dreams. Daylight, there’d be this look in his eyes, what’s the word-haunted. He was haunted by what they did to him. Anyone would be, way they beat his brain around. He probably got all freaked out the cops would blame it on him. But even with that fear, he wanted to make sure the baby was okay.”

I said, “So you never talked to him about it.”

“Nope. Travis disappeared after dropping Brandeen at the hospital.”

“How’d you know it was him?”

“Cops described him. Asked if we knew who he was but we didn’t let on. We were all crazy over what happened to Brandi, didn’t want to complicate things. The main thing was find out who did it to her, and that we did tell ’em.”

I said, “Travis took a two-mile walk in the cold.”

“Travis was a walking man, sir. Filled most of his days walking.”

“Where?”

“Everywhere,” said Brackle. “But don’t go misunderstanding, there was nothing crazy to it. He just liked to walk.”

“It’s the best exercise,” said Kelly. “I used to do ten miles a day. I still do five.”

The skin around Brackle’s eyes creased. He forced himself cheerful. “Exactly, aerobic, boy wanted to be aerobic-nossir, he just liked to walk.”

I said, “How did Travis hook up with Simon?”

Kelly said, “That was years later. We hadn’t heard from him for a while, then out of the blue he called Larry to let him know he was doing better.”

“Finally got himself some help that stuck,” said Brackle.

“Where?”

“He didn’t say and I didn’t ask. He sounded good, I could tell this was different. I invited him for coffee with me and Kelly. He looked good.”

“Clear-eyed,” said Kelly. “Intelligent. That never really came out before because he was always so depressed. He said he was looking for steady employment, would do anything to make an honest buck. I knew Simon was looking for someone to manage his house. He’d been through a couple of flakes, needed someone reliable. He said sure, he’d try Travis out. It worked out great.”

I said, “Did Travis talk about what he’d been doing since the last time you saw him?”

“No, sir,” said Brackle.

“Where was he living?”

“I got the sense he’d been traveling.”

“Any idea where?”

“We didn’t get nosy with him,” said Kelly. “We were thrilled he was doing well. It worked out great for everyone. Simon thanked me for finding Travis. Travis is gentle, he’d never hurt anyone. Now I am getting kind of hungry.”

Brackle said, “Yup, dinnertime. We’d invite you to join us, sir, but we always portion for two.”

I drove back to the city. A yellow VW was parked in front of my house.

Unoccupied, cold engine, no sign of Alma Reynolds.

My remark about her mother’s pearls had scared her.

Maybe Robin had let her in.

As I climbed the stairs, a voice behind me said, “Now I’m stalking you.”

She stepped out from the side of my house, came toward me carrying a green vinyl attaché case. Brand new, tag still tied to the handle, not much different from the one Milo uses when the murder books get thick. She wore a plaid shirt, jeans, work boots. Gray hair flew in all directions. Her eyes were hot.

“Here, take it,” she said, thrusting the case. “We’re finished.”

My hands stayed at my sides.

The case touched my chest. “Don’t worry, it doesn’t tick. Take it.”

“Let’s talk.”

She snatched it away, sprang the latches. Inside were stacks of twenty-dollar bills held together by rubber bands. Atop the money, a black velvet jewelry box.

She said, “Including the damn pearl. Satisfied?”

I said, “Going for the simple life?”

“Stop being nasty. This is what you wanted, I’m giving it to you.”

“What I want is information.”

“Doesn’t this say it all?”

“It implies. Why don’t you come up and we’ll talk?”

“What? Therapy? Is there a couch? The psych board website lists this as your office. I’d think you’d be more careful, seeing as it’s your home. What if I was a sociopath?”

“Should I be worried?”

“Oh, sure, I’m packing heat.” She laughed, flipped her pockets inside out. Placing the case on the ground, she stomped to the VW, turned her back, slapped her palms on the hood. “Is this the proper position?”

“C’mon,” I said. “Just a few minutes of your time.”

She straightened and faced me. Her eyes were wet. “Sil taught me the position. He got used to doing it automatically at protests. Sometimes, the cops hit him anyway. He was a man of principle and look where it got him. So-but hell, why should I have anything nice?”

“I’m sure his principles were strong. That made finding his cash-stash doubly shocking.”

“Look,” she said, “I’m giving it to you, every bit of it, my hands are clean. Good-bye.”

“Let’s clarify a few things and that really will be the end of it.”

“So you say.”

“The way I see it, you’re the person of principle,” I said. “And I’m not the enemy.”

Arms folded across her chest. She wiped her eyes, nudged the case with a work-booted toe.

“Oh, hell, I used to be Catholic. What’s another damn confession?”