Scavenger hunt

Chapter 47

Danziger's gray Mercedes rolled down the gravel road just after dusk, the headlights sending grasshoppers jumping across the high beams, beating against the grillwork. Jimmy thought again of the professor and his research project at the koi pond, imagining a scientific article that began, "Start with a recently killed fifty-pound pig." Parked well off the road, shielded by trees and brush, Jimmy watched the sedan pass. Michael Danziger was in a tuxedo, and Brooke was in a sequined dress, her hair up. He waited until the Mercedes's red taillights disappeared over a rise in the road before starting his car. "Where are you?" said Sugar.

The phone crackled. "I'm on my way to the premiere," Danziger said, classical music in the background-that NPR station that all the moguls listened to so everyone knew they had taste.

Sugar stood in a phone booth on Malibu Drive. "Can you think of any reason our boy is parked about a mile from your house?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Our boy is staking out your place. Are you as bothered by that as I am?"

Danziger must have turned up the CD player in his Mercedes. "Maybe-maybe it has something to do with the premiere," he said, speaking softly into the receiver. "He said he might be interested in an interview."

"He's been there for an hour. I started driving over as soon as I realized where he was."

"How did you know he was there?"

"That's not important." Sugar could see the tracking device on the front seat of his car, the pulsing red light moving now, edging across the map grid. "Darn. He just started moving. He's headed toward your house."

"You said you had taken care of things."

"I thought I did."

"You assured me."

"Trouble?" It was Brooke Danziger.

"Just the usual last-minute glitches," Danziger said to her.

"I'm sorry about last night," said Brooke. "I don't know what got into me."

"We're all a little tense," said Danziger. "Opening night jitters."

"What do you think our boy is looking for in casa del Danziger? " said Sugar.

"I really wouldn't know."

"Is that right?" said Sugar. "Well, it's been my experience that when someone tells me that they really don't know something, it means that they really do."

"Is there a problem with the theater?" said Brooke. "Or is it the caterer? I didn't like him or his fake accent, and the idea of insisting on being paid in advance."

"Your instincts are impeccable as ever," said Danziger. "Marcel only prepared four dozen tiger prawns instead of eight, so he's going to double up on the sashimi." A horn blared in the distance. "Just sit back, darling, I've got everything under control."

"You may be able to convince her but not me," said Sugar. "If our boy's going into your house, it's because there's something there he wants."

"I have no idea what that could be," Danziger murmured.

I bet you don't, thought Sugar. He wasn't worried. "I'm about a half-hour out of Malibu. You keep a spare key hidden outside someplace in case you get locked out?"

"I don't think that's a good idea," said Danziger.

"It's not, but it's the only idea I have," said Sugar.