I bypassed the judgment and went back to the subject under discussion. “Someone could have warned me.
“We assumed you knew. Neither of ’em went to any great lengths to cover up. Think of all the times you left the Honky-Tonk before him. What’d you think he was doing, going to night school? He was nailing her. Big deal. She was a bimbo tended bar. She wasn’t any threat to you.”
I swallowed my outrage, dismissing it as unproductive. I needed information, not an argument. Betrayal is betrayal, no matter when the truth of it sinks in. Whether Dixie was a threat to that marriage was beside the point. Even fourteen years later, I felt humiliated and incensed. I closed my eyes, detaching myself emotionally as though at the scene of a homicide. “Do you know for a fact he was with her that night?”
“Let’s put it this way. I saw ’em leave the Tonk together. She was in her car. He was behind her in his. Nights her hubby was home, they checked into that dinky little motel out on Airport Road.”
“Wonderful. How considerate of them. They were there that night?”
“Probably. I couldn’t say for sure, but I’d be willing to bet. ”
“Why didn’t you speak up for him?”
“I would have, for sure. I’d’ve gone to the wall, but I never had the chance. Mickey turned in his badge and that was the end of it. If you can’t reach him, you can always ask her.”
“Dixie?”
“Sure. She’s around.”
“Where?”
“You’re the detective. Try the telephone book. She’s still married to whosie-face, cripple guy. . . .”
“His name was Eric.
“That’s right. Him and Dixie made a fortune and bought a mansion. Sixteen thousand square feet, something like that. Big.”
“You’re kidding.”
“I’m not. It’s the honest-to-God truth. They’re living in Montebello on a regular estate.”
“How’d he do that? The last I saw he was a hopeless drunk.”
“He got into AA and straightened up his act. Once he sobered up, he figured out a way to build designer wheelchairs. Custom jobs with all the bells and whistles, depending on the disability. Now he’s added sports chairs and prostheses. He has a plant in Taiwan, too, making parts for other companies. Donates a ton of stuff to children’s hospitals across the country.”
“Good for him. I’m glad to hear that. What about her? What’s she doing with herself?”
“She’s living the life of Riley, turned into Mrs. Gotrocks. Country club membership and everything. You look ’em up, tell ’em I said hi.
“Maybe I’ll do that.”
After I left Shack’s, I went into the office, where I opened the mail. There was nothing of interest and no pressing business. Most of my other cases were in limbo, pending callbacks or responses to written inquiries of various sorts. I tidied my desk and washed the coffeepot. I dusted the leaves on the fake ficus. I had no reason to stay, but I couldn’t go home yet. I was restless, brooding about Mickey in a series of thought loops that went around and around. Had I erred? Had I acted in haste, jumping to conclusions because it suited me? By, the time Quintero died, I was disenchanted with Mickey anyway. I wanted out of the marriage, so his involvement in Quintero’s death provided the perfect excuse. But maybe that’s all it was. Could he have resigned from the department to spare my pride and, at the same time, to avoid exposing Dixie? If Mickey was innocent, if I’d known where he was that night, the case might have gone differently and he might still be a cop. I didn’t want to believe it, but I couldn’t escape the thought.
I lay down on the carpet and flung an arm across my eyes. Was there really any point in obsessing about this? It was over and done with. Fourteen years had gone by. Whatever the truth, Mickey’d elected to resign. That was a fact. I’d left him, and our lives were irreparably changed. Why pursue the matter when there wasn’t any way to alter what had happened?
What was at stake was my integrity, whatever sense of honor I possessed. I know my limitations. I know the occasional lapses I’m capable of, but a transgression of this magnitude was impossible to ignore. Mickey had lost what he’d loved best, and maybe that was simply his inevitable fate. Then again, if I’d been an unwitting accomplice to his downfall, I needed to own up to it and get square with him.
SIX.
Forbes Run was a meandering lane-and-a-half, a ribbon of pavement that snaked back and forth as it angled upward into the foothills. Massive branches of live oak hung out over the road. There were no houses visible, as far as I could see, but a series of markers suggested that large properties branched off at intervals. I watched the numbers progress, the signs leapfrogging from one side of the road to the other, alternating even and odd:17,0,3,6. The Hightowers’ estate, at9, was surrounded by a low fieldstone wall, accessible through wooden gates that opened electronically as soon as I pressed the button. Either the Hightowers were expecting someone or they didn’t much care who appeared at their door.
The driveway extended perhaps a quarter of a mile and conjured up visions of a proper English manor house at the far end, a three-story Tudor with a steeply pitched slate roof. What I spotted, at long last, was nothing of the kind. The house was contemporary: long and low, hugging the ground, with an oversized roofline rising to a center peak. I could see four wide fieldstone chimneys, clusters of fan palms, and colossal black boulders the size of my car that must have erupted from Vesuvius and been transported to the grounds for effect. To the right, I could see a line of four garage doors.
I parked in the large circular parking area in front and made my way up the wide, sloping concrete walk. A woman, perhaps thirty, in tennis shoes, jeans, and a white T-shirt, was already standing in the open doorway, awaiting my arrival. This definitely wasn’t Dixie, and I wondered for a fleeting moment if I’d come to the wrong house.
“Ms. Yablonsky?” she said.
“Actually, I’m not. I’m looking for Eric and Dixie Hightower. Am I in the right place?”
“Sorry. Of course. I thought you were someone else. We’ve been interviewing for staff positions, and the woman’s half an hour late. Is Mrs. Hightower expecting you?” The woman herself remained nameless and without title: parlor maid, factotum, personal assistant. I guess she felt she was under no obligation to introduce herself.
“I’m an old friend,” I said. I took out a business card and handed it to her.
She read the face of it, frowning. “A private detective? What’s this about?”
“I’m hoping they can put me in touch with a mutual acquaintance. A guy named Mickey Magruder. My ex-husband. ”
“Oh. Why don’t you come in and I’ll tell Mrs. Hightower you’re here.”
“Is Eric home?”
“Mr. Hightower’s out of town, but he should be home soon.”
I stepped into the foyer, waiting uneasily while she disappeared from sight. I’m sometimes puzzled by wealth, which seems to have a set of rules of its own. Was I free to amble about or should I wait where I was? There was an angular stone bench positioned against one wall. The woman hadn’t suggested I sit and I was loath to presume. Suppose it turned out to be a sculpture that collapsed under my weight? I did a one-eighty turn so I could scrutinize the place like a burglar-in-training, a little game I play. I noted entrances and exits, wondering about the possibility of a wall safe. If I were bugging the place, where would I tuck the surveillance equipment?
The floors were polished limestone, as pale as beach sand. I could see ancient marine creatures pressed into the surface, a tiny fossil museum at my feet. A wide corridor stretched off to the right. The ceiling was twelve feet high with floor-to-ceiling windows on one side. The facing walls were painted a snowy white and hung with a series of bright abstracts, oil paintings six feet tall, probably expensive and done by someone dead.
Before me, a pair of double doors stood open and I could see into the living room, easily thirty feet long. Again, the walls on the far side were floor-to-ceiling glass, this time with a panoramic view of pines, live oaks, giant ferns, eucalyptus, and the mountains beyond. I listened and, hearing nothing, tiptoed into the room to have a better look. The wood-beamed ceiling slanted upward to near-cathedral height. On the left, there was a marble-faced fireplace with a hearth twenty-six feet long. On the other end of the room, glass-enclosed shelves showcased a variety of art objects. To the left, I could see a built-in wet bar. The furniture was simple: large armless black leather couches and chairs, chrome-and-glass tables, a grand piano, recessed lighting.