The Clinic

24

Shortly after 1:00 A.M., Chenise was released to her mother's morose custody. A sheriff's van had come by to transport Darrell Ballitser to the county jail.

Milo and Boatwright and I watched a late replay of the eleven o'clock news in the Beverly Hills station. The antsy blond, reading copy with a smug smile.

Long-shot of Cruvic entering his Bentley. The spin: Beverly Hills doctor fends off attack by crazed skinhead, Darrell's rage fueled by the “unauthorized sterilization of his girlfriend. Police are investigating a link between the attack and the unsolved murder of feminist psychologist Dr. Hope Devane, reputed to have worked with Dr. Cruvic. Now for an update on that drive-by in East L.A.-”

Milo turned off the set. “Better get to work on that warrant before media leeches are camped out at Ballitser's flop. Thanks, Angela.”

“Any time,” she said. “You see Ballitser for Devane?”

“He admits going after Cruvic but denies Devane.”

“Maybe 'cause Cruvic's an attempted assault and Devane's homicide. He does ride a bike.”

“Yeah. Let me check out the bike, his whole place, maybe I'll be able to tell more. Thanks again.”

“No problem,” she said. “Apart from rich little assholes shotgunning their parents, we don't get much excitement around here.”

Civic Center Drive was empty again, the steel garage door sealed tight. Milo looked tired but walked fast.

I said, “At the risk of being repetitive, what link could there be between Darrell and Mandy Wright?”

“Exactly. And on the IQ scale, Darrell makes Kenny Storm look like Einstein, so I'm not counting on this panning out. And something else, what I was telling you about Club None: A cocktail waitress who worked there also got killed. Four days before Mandy was killed in Vegas.”

“Stabbed the same way?”

“No, strangled. In the alley, four in the morning, after closing. Girl named Kathy DiNapoli. Left behind the dumpster, legs spread, blouse ripped, panties down. But no sexual entry. Maybe it was a sex thing and the guy got interrupted or couldn't get it up. Or maybe someone was trying to make it look like a sex thing. I know the M.O.'s different and that part of Sunset has its share of crime. But four days? Bartender couldn't say if Kathy served Mandy, but she was on shift when he thinks he saw Mandy.”

“So Kathy could have been eliminated because she saw Mandy with someone. But then, the fact that she was murdered first means the killer knew what he was going to do well before.”

“Exactly,” he said. “A planner.”

“Not Darrell.”

He laughed. “The club's definitely not Darrell's venue. We're talking studs and studettes, lots of hair and teeth. On the other hand, with what I've got so far I'd be laughed out of the D.A.'s office trying to make a case for DiNapoli as part of the package. And we do have motive on the little schmuck, plus he threatened Cruvic with a knife.”

“Same kind of knife used on Hope and Mandy?”

“It looked about the right size- buck with a nice sharp edge- but there are lots of those, we'll see what the wound-worms have to say. Hopefully the boys from Central Division got to Darrell's fleabag and secured it. Maybe something'll come up there.”

“Still want me to go to Higginsville?” I said.

“Sure, why not? 'Cause this sterilization thing's another one of those little boxes, and I'd like to know why Hope was Ms. Control Your Own Body in public but willing to serve as Cruvic's sterilization buddy. What do you think, did Chenise know what they were doing to her?”

“Maybe on some fuzzy level- if she was told. Though with her intelligence true consent would be shaky. And having her sign the consent form was sleazy because she's illiterate.”

“Thanks, Mom.”

“Even so,” I said. “Was Mrs. Farney evil in pushing through the procedure? Let the talking heads at the think tanks have fun with it. Like she said, we don't have kids and she's the one living with Chenise's promiscuity. There's no doubt Cruvic and Hope should have known better, but there was plenty of incentive. Nine hundred bucks for the abortion, nine more for the ligation, plus Hope's fee and other charges.”

“Over two grand for an hour's work. Not bad.”

“And he probably did several other procedures that night.”

“Maybe the two of them were partners and Hope was really getting a bigger cut- serving as his backup for slicing up minors. With all her book income she could have buried the payoffs.”

“And what if Mandy was connected to it somehow…” I said. “Maybe Cruvic was her doctor and they got friendly. Maybe she brought him other patients- call girls, showgirls. Lots of potential abortions, there.”

“Lots of potential enemies. So why was Mandy killed?”

“She learned something she wasn't supposed to or she messed someone up.”

“But, then again, why're she and Hope dead and Cruvic's back home icing his hand?”

I had no answer.

“Whatever the specifics,” I said, “we've got definite evidence that Cruvic was skirting the rules. Maybe that's what got him kicked out of the U of Washington. So who knows what else he's done that might have made someone angry.”

“Like what?”

“Botching someone up? Someone smarter than Darrell. He and Hope together. And in some way, Mandy was part of it.”

“But the same hitch: They're dead and he's… tell me, did he look scared to you tonight?”

“No, but maybe he's got too much self-esteem for his own good. Or he really doesn't realize there's someone out there waiting for the right time to pick him off- the grand prize.”

“Patient killer?”

“If you're right about Kathy DiNapoli,” I said, “very patient.”

He pinched his lips between thumb and forefinger.

“What?” I said.

“The shape this is taking. Waiting, stalking, long-term plans. Those wounds. Goddamn choreography.”