In the meantime, I went by the bank and removed the cashier’s check from my safe deposit box. I ducked into a coffee shop and grabbed a quick lunch, then spent the afternoon in the office catching up on paperwork. At 5:00, I locked up and went home, puttering around until 6:30 when I left for Ferrin and Ramona Westfall’s house to meet Tony Gahan.
The Westfalls lived in an area called the Close, a deadend street lined with live oaks over near the Natural History Museum. I drove through stone gates into the dim hush of privacy. There are only eight homes on the cul-de-sac, all Victorian, completely restored, immaculately kept. The neighborhood looks, even now, like a small, rural community inexplicably lifted out of the past. The properties are surrounded by low walls of fieldstone, the lots overgrown with bamboo, pampas grass, and fern. It was fully dark by then and the Close was wreathed in mist. The vegetation was dense, intensely scented, and lush from the recent rain. There was only one street light, its pale globe obscured by the branches of a tree.
I found the number I was looking for and parked on the street, picking my way up the path to the front. The house was a putty-colored, one-story wood frame with a wide porch, white shutters and trim. The porch furniture was white wicker with cushions covered in a white-and-putty print. Two Victorian wicker plant stands held massive Boston ferns. All too perfect for my taste.
I rang the bell, refusing to peer in through the etched glass oval in the door. I suspected the interior was going to look like something out of House and Garden magazine, an elegant blend of the old, the new, and the offbeat. Of course, my perception was probably colored by Ferrin Westfall’s curt treatment of me and Ramona’s outright hostility. I’m not above holding grudges.
Ramona Westfall came to the door and admitted me. I kept my tone pleasant, but I didn’t fall all over myself admiring the place, which, at a glance, did appear to be flawlessly done. She showed me into the front parlor and removed herself, closing the oak-paneled sliding doors behind her. I waited, staring resolutely at the floor. I could hear murmuring in the hall. After a moment, the doors slid open and a man entered, introducing himself as Ferrin Westfall … as if I hadn’t guessed. We shook hands.
He was tall and slim, with a cold, handsome face and silver hair. His eyes were a dark green, as empty of warmth as the harbor. There were hints of something submerged in the depths, but no signs of life. He wore charcoal gray pants and a soft gray cashmere sweater that fairly begged to be stroked. He indicated that I should have a seat, which I did.
He surveyed me for a moment, taking in the boots, the faded jeans, the wool sweater beginning to pill at the elbows. I was determined not to let his disapproval get through to me, but it required an effort on my part. I stared at him impassively and warded off his withering assessment by picturing him on the toilet with his knickers down around his ankles.
Finally, he said, “Tony will be out in a moment. Ramona’s told me about the check. I wonder if I might examine it.”
I removed the check from my jeans pocket and smoothed it out, passing it to him for his inspection. I wondered if he thought it was forged, stolen, or in some way counterfeit. He scrutinized it, fore and aft, and returned it, apparently satisfied that it was legitimate.
“Why did Mr. Daggett come to you with this?” he asked.
“I’m not really sure,” I said. “He told me he’d tried to find Tony at an old address. When he had no luck, he asked me to track him down and deliver it.”
“Do you know how he acquired the money?”
Again, I found myself feeling protective. It was really none of this man’s business. He probably wanted to assure himself that Daggett hadn’t come by the money through some tacky enterprise-drugs, prostitutes, selling dogs and kitty cats to labs for medical experiments.
“He won it at the track,” I said. Personally, I hadn’t quite believed this part of Daggett’s tale, but I didn’t mind if Ferrin Westfall got sucked in. He didn’t seem any more convinced than I. He shifted the subject.
“Would you prefer to be alone with Tony?”
I was surprised at the offer. “Yes, I would. I’d really like to go off somewhere with him and have a Coke.”
“I suppose that would be all right, as long as you don’t keep him too long. This is a school night.”
“Sure. That’s very nice of you.”
There was a tap at the door. Mr. Westfall rose and crossed the room. “This will be Tony,” he said.
The doors slid back and Tony Gahan came in. He looked like an immature fifteen. He was maybe five-foot-six, a hundred and twenty-five pounds. His uncle introduced me. I preferred my hand and we fumbled through a handshake. Tony’s eyes were dark, his hair a medium brown, attractively cut, which struck me as odd. Most of the high school kids I’ve seen lately look like they’re being treated for the same scalp disease. I suspected Tony’s hairstyle was a concession to Ferrin Westfall’s notions of good taste and I wondered how that sat with him.
His manner was anxious. He seemed like a kid trying desperately to please. He shot a cautious look at his uncle, searching for visual cues as to what was expected of him and how he was meant to behave. It was painful to watch.
“Miss Millhone would like to take you out for a Coke, so she can talk to you,” Mr. Westfall said.
“How come?” he croaked. Tony looked like he was going to drop dead on the spot and I remembered in a flash how much I’d hated eating and drinking in the presence of strange adults when I was his age. Meals represent a series of traps when you haven’t yet mastered the appropriate social skills. I hated adding to his distress, but I was convinced I’d never have a decent conversation with him in this house.
“She’ll explain all that,” Mr. Westfall said. “Obviously, you’re not required to go. If you’d prefer to stay here, simply say so.”
Tony seemed unable to get a reading from his uncle’s statement, which was neutral on the surface, but contained some tricky side notes. It was the word “simply” that tripped him, I thought, and the “obviously” didn’t help.
Tony glanced at me with a half shrug. “It’s okay, I guess. Like, right now?”
Mr. Westfall nodded. “It won’t be for long. You’ll need a jacket, of course.”
Tony moved out into the hall and I followed, waiting until he found his jacket in the hall closet.
At fifteen, I thought he could probably figure out if he needed a jacket or not, but neither of them consulted me on the subject. I opened the front door and held it while he went out. Mr. Westfall watched us for a moment and then closed the door behind us. God, it was just like a date. I nearly swore I’d have him home by 10:00. Absurd.
We made our way down the path in the dark. “You go to Santa Teresa High School?”
“Right.”
“What year?”
“Sophomore.”
We got in the car. Tony tried to roll down the smashed window on his side without much success. A shard of glass tinkled down into the door frame. He finally gave up.
“What happened to this?”
“I was careless,” I said, and let it go at that,.
I did a U-turn in the lane and I headed for the Clockworks on State Street, a teen hangout generally regarded as seedy, unclean, and corrupt, which it is … a training ground for junior thugs. Kids come here (stoned, no doubt) to drink Cokes, smoke clove cigarettes, and behave like bad-asses. I’d been introduced to the place by a seventeen-year-old pink-haired dope dealer named Mike, who made more money than I did. I hadn’t seen him since June, but I tend to look for him around town.
We parked in a small lot out back and went in through the rear entrance. The place is long and narrow, painted charcoal gray, the high ceiling rimmed with pink and purple neon. A series of mobiles, looking like big black clock gears, revolve in the smoky air. The noise level, on weekends, is deafening, the music so loud it makes the floor vibrate. On week nights, it’s quiet and oddly intimate. We found a table and I went over to the counter to pick up a couple of Cokes. There was a tap on my shoulder and I turned to find Mike standing there. I felt a rush of warmth. “I was just thinking about you!” I said. “How are you?”