enough for a judge to understand. Your report was really good.”
“Thanks. If you send me cases I won’t turn you
down.”
She finished the second glass. “Very mellow, isn’t
it? Comes from a tiny little vineyard up in Napa.
Three years old and still operating at a loss, but the
place is turning out limited bottlings of very fine
reds.”
She got up and walked around the room. From
the pocket of her robe she removed a pack of Virginia
Slims and a lighter. For the next few moments
she stared at a wall decorated with diplomas
and certificates and dragged deeply on the cigarette.
“People really manage to fuck up their lives,
don’t they? Like Miss Bright Eyes Moody. Nice
country girl, moves to town, for a taste of excitement,
gets a job as checker at Safeway and falls in
love with the macho man in-lace undies–I forget,
what is he, a construction worker?”
18 Jonathan Kellerman
-“Carpenter. For Aurora Studios.”
“Right. I remember. Builds sets. The guy’s an obvious loser but it takes her twelve years to figure it out. Now she’s extricating herself and who does she hook up with? The loser’s clone.”
“Conley’s a lot more mentally intact.”
“Maybe so. But take a look at them side by side.
[‘wins. She’s being pulled to the same type. Who
knows, maybe Moody was a charmer too in the
beginning. Give this Conley a few years, he’ll turn.
Bunch of losers.”
She turned and faced me. Her nostrils flared and
the hand holding the cigarette trembled almost imperceptibly:
alcohol, emotion, or both.
“I hooked up with an ass-hole and it took me a
while to get out of it, Alex, but I didn’t turn around
and do the same damn thing first chance I got.
get smart.”
boy Did my divorce, did
order
was
Any
wrong Balo
ery other week with some ploy to reverse the order. In the meantime Moody will harass Bright Eyes
and if it keeps up long enough the kids will be
permanently screwed up,” She walked back to her
desk with a long graceful stride, took a compact out
of her purse and powdered her nose.
“On and on. He’ll drag her through the system,
she’ll bleat and weep, but she’ll have no choice.”
Her expression hardened. “But I don’t give a damn.
In two weeks I’m out of it. Retirement with pension.
I’ve got some investments of my own. And one
big money-loser. A tiny little vineyard up in Napa.”
She grinned. “This time next year I’ll be in my
cellar sampling the vintage until I reel. If you travel
that way, be sure to drop in.”
I’ll make it a point to do that.”
She looked away from me, talked to her diplomas.
“Do you have a lady friend, Alex ?”
“Yes. She’s in Japan now.”
“Miss her?”
“Very much.”
“Figures,” she said good-naturedly. “The good
ones get snapped up.” She rose to indicate the
audience was concluded. “Good to meet you, Alex.”
“My pleasure, Diane. Good luck with the vines.
What I tasted was great.”
“It’s gonna get better and better. I can feel it.”
Her handshake was firm and dry.
My Seville had cooked in the open parking lot
and I pulled my hand away from the heat of the
door handle. Midway through the motion, sensed
his presence and turned to face him.
“S’cuse me, Doc.” He was looking into the sun
and squinting. His forehead was sweat glossed and
darkened to mustard
“I can’t talk now, Mr. Moody.”
“Just a sec, Doc. Just lemme connect with ya.
Lemme zero in on some main points. Communicate,
you know.” His words came out in a rush. As he
spoke, the half-closed eyes darted back and forth,
and he rocked on his boot heels. In rapid succession
he stuffed, grimaced, bobbed his head, scratched
his Adam’s apple, and tweaked his nose. A discordant
symphony of tics and twitches. I’d never seen
him this way but I’d read Larry Daschoff’s report
and had a good idea what was happening.
“I’m sorry. Not now.” I looked around the lot but
we were alone. The rear of the court building faced
a quiet side street in a run-down neighborhood.
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