Guilt By Degrees

30

The cozy, art deco-style restaurant and bar on La Brea had great food and amazing drinks. Though I was kind of a purist when it came to booze, anyone who was even slightly more adventurous raved about their cocktails, like the Fashionista and the Warsaw Mule.

The waiter showed up the moment we were seated and asked what we’d have to drink.

“You go ahead,” Bailey offered. “I’ll be the designated driver tonight.”

Still, friends don’t let friends watch them get hammered all alone. I ordered a glass of the house Pinot Noir and chicken à la king, and made a mental note to use this sacrifice as leverage with Bailey at some later point. Bailey ordered an iced tea and the wild boar mushrooms.

“Chicken à la king?” she asked, incredulous. “Since when do you eat like a real person?”

The rich sauce was one hell of a splurge for me. “It’s been a rough few days. I seem to be needing lots of comfort food.”

“No need to sell me. I’m totally fine with it. For the first time in months, I might actually get to have my meal to myself. Hell, I might even take a bite off your plate for a change.”

“I wouldn’t advise it,” I warned, aiming my fork threateningly.

The waiter brought our drinks, and I tasted my wine. Nice and dry. I nodded at her glass. “Your iced tea all you hoped for?” I asked with a smirk.

“You think this is a good time to poke the bear?”

It was almost always a good time to mess with Bailey, as far as I was concerned, but I moved on to the second-most pressing issue of the evening.

“I was thinking about where to look for Lilah-,” I began.

“I started the hunt this morning,” Bailey replied.

I paused and looked at her with disbelief.

“You already knew she’d been an intern in our office and didn’t tell me?”

Bailey smirked. “I wanted to drop that bomb on you myself,” she said, taking a sip of her iced tea. “Damn Larry beat me to it. It was on her résumé that she’d clerked with the DA’s office, but it didn’t say where exactly. I figured that’d be an easy one for you-”

“I’ll take care of it.”

“Anyway,” Bailey continued, “the law firm dumped her right after she got arrested.”

“And didn’t hire her back after the acquittal, I take it?”

“Not from what I could tell,” she replied. “Big surprise.”

It wasn’t. A high-dollar corporate law firm couldn’t afford even a whiff of scandal, let alone an associate who’d been on trial for murder-acquittal or no.

“Where’d she wind up after that?” I asked.

“That’s the thing,” Bailey said. “The trail dies there.”

How could that be? A lawyer has to provide current contact information to the State Bar. “You check the State Bar website?”

“She let her bar card lapse-”

“Damn,” I said, frowning. “Can’t anything in this case be easy?”

“No,” Bailey answered. “And she’s not in any other database either-not under her married name or her maiden name.” She sighed.

“It seems pretty obvious this woman doesn’t want to be found,” I observed.

Bailey nodded.

After the epic hassle we’d gone through to learn Simon’s identity, this was the last thing we needed.

“Want to talk about our stabber?” Bailey asked.

“Please.” I was glad for the change of subject. “I’d like to take another look at the video to make sure it’s a man,” I said. “But assuming it is, the guy could’ve been a Good Samaritan-”

“Who just happened to be armed and ready,” Bailey interjected dryly.

“And didn’t stick around to tell the police he’d been defending a damsel in distress. It is a little ridiculous,” I agreed. “But it is possible he was just protecting her and didn’t call the police because he had his own problems.”

“Why take the risk if he can get away clean?” Bailey thought for a moment. “It’s possible. Not likely, but possible.”

“And if that’s true, then it’s also possible Lilah had nothing to do with the killing,” I replied. “In which case it’s iffy that she’d even be able to ID the guy…assuming we find her in our lifetimes.”

Bailey frowned. “But from what I remember of the video, it seems to me the killer couldn’t have known that Simon had a box cutter. Simon grabbed Lilah with one hand, the other hand was in his pocket.”

“Right. In which case, the killer definitely targeted Simon-”

“Which means he and Lilah are in cahoots,” Bailey said, finishing the thought.

“Cahoots?” I said with a pained expression.

Bailey started to defend herself, but at that moment the waiter brought our dinners, and the mouthwatering aromas wafting up from our plates brought an end to all rational thought. Silence reigned for the next several minutes as we ate, until finally I came up for air and took a sip of my wine.

“So, best guess, given what we know at this point, is that whoever killed Simon was with Lilah,” I said. “That means he did it either because she told him to or because he knew Simon posed a threat to her.”

“Physical or legal?” Bailey asked.

“Either one,” I replied. “Simon was unhinged. If he’d given up on the legal system, he might’ve been willing to settle for street justice and take her out himself.” I paused and thought a moment before continuing. “Or Simon might’ve uncovered something new on Zack’s murder. Something good enough to get the Feds interested in the case.”

Bailey looked skeptical. “As hard as Rick and Larry worked the case, I doubt Simon could’ve found anything that good.”

“Probably not,” I said. “But Lilah-or her buddy-couldn’t be sure of that. Simon was Zack’s brother. Who knows what he had access to?”

I paused to watch a group of hot-looking men pass behind Bailey on the way to their table. I decided they were too perfectly groomed and well-toned to be straight. I wondered why more straight men didn’t take some of their cues from gay men-and looked back just in time to catch Bailey sneaking a bite of my chicken. I made no protest.

She paused with her forkful in midair. “Aren’t you going to challenge me to a duel or something?”

“Nah,” I said, waving her on. “I owe ya.”

“Like that’s ever mattered,” she said, then put the fork in her mouth and chewed slowly.

I waved the waiter over.

“Can I get you something else?” he asked.

“Yes, thank you,” I said, tossing Bailey a sadistic smile. “I’ll have another glass of wine.”