“Flattered,” I said. And I left him to his triumphs and his calculations.

When I got back home the phone was ringing. I picked it up at the same time the service operator did, heard Del Hardy’s voice asking for Dr. Delaware. I broke in and told the operator I’d take it.

“I found out a little,” he said. “Couldn’t get much help at Hollywood but spoke to one of the coroners. You in any mood to hear that kind of thing?”

“Go ahead.”

“Okay, first off is time of death- between eight P.M. and three A.M. Sunday. Second is cause of death. Twenty-two caliber bullet to the brain. It passed right into the cerebral cortex and bounced around in there, the way a small-caliber bullet will, doing lots of damage. Third, there were heavy amounts of alcohol and barbiturates in her system- borderline lethal dosage. Coroner also found some old scars between her toes that looked like tracks. You ever know this lady to be into heavy drugs?”

“No,” I said. “But it was a long time ago.”

“Yeah. People change. It’s what keeps us busy.”

“OD and a bullet,” I said.

“Seriousness of intent,” said Del. “Especially for a female, though if she really wanted to be sure, eating the gun would have been the thing to do, straight into the medulla, wipes out the autonomic system and cuts off respiration. But most folks don’t know that, they watch TV, think the temple shot…” He stopped. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “With that much downer in her system, wouldn’t she be too drowsy to shoot?”

“Not right away,” said Del. “Now here’s the interesting part: Coroner told me their office processed the case quickly, orders of the boss- their usual average is six to eight weeks this time of year. They got orders, also, not to discuss it with anyone.”

“Why all the secrecy?”

“Pathologist got the clear impression it was a rich-folks case, grease the skids to the max, keep it hushed.”

“The department released information to the press.”

“Controlled info,” said Del. “Strategic thinking. If you say nothing about something, and someone finds out you were holding back, they immediately start thinking conspiracy. Telling them what you want is safer, makes you look open and sincere. Not that there’s much to tell on this one- straight suicide, no evidence of foul play. As far as the drug-gun combo, the pathologist had two scenarios: A, she cocktailed booze and dope to do herself in, then changed her mind and wanted to get it over faster or maybe more dramatically and went for the gun. Makes sense to me- suicide’s a message, right? You guys taught us that- final statement to the world. People can get really choosy about how they phrase it, right?”

“Right. What’s B?”

“She used the dope and the booze to lower her inhibitions, build up enough courage to shoot herself. When she was feeling sufficiently mellow, she pulled the trigger. Either way you look at it, the end result’s the same.”

“Did she leave a note?”

“No. Lots of people don’t. Right?”

“Right.”

“Like that Canadian guy, McWhatsisname said, the medium can be the message all by itself.”

“Who’s the detective in charge of the case?” I asked.

“Guy named Pinckley, just left yesterday for vacation in Hawaii.”

“Convenient.”

“I wouldn’t get in an uproar over that,” said Del. “Vacations are scheduled way in advance. Pinckley’s a serious surfer- he used to compete nationally. He goes every year around this time, in order to catch the big ones at Wiamea. I called Hollywood and confirmed it- the duty roster’d been set months ago.”

“Who took over from Pinckley?”

“Nothing to take over, Doc. The case is closed.”

“What about Trapp being up at her house?”

He lowered his voice. “I said I found out a little, remember? That didn’t include walking into my captain’s office and giving him the third degree.”

“Okay, sorry.”

“No apology necessary. Just gotta be careful.”

“Anything else, Del?”

Pause. “How well did you say you knew her?”

“It had been six years since I’d seen her.”

“Well enough to know that she wasn’t any nun?”

“Well enough.”

“Okay. If you were next of kin or a husband, I wouldn’t be telling you this. It’s strictly off the record. My source at Hollywood says there’s a rumor drifting around the station that when they went up to her place, one of the techs found a porn flick hidden under the mattress- nothing sophisticated, just a loop. But a loop with her in it. She might have been a doctor but she had other talents.”

I sucked in my breath.

“Doc?”

“Is the loop still in the evidence room, Del?”

“Not everything makes it to the evidence room.”

“I see.”

“Case like this, it works out better for the lady. What’s better, having the damned thing stored in some cop’s underwear drawer, pulled out once in a blue moon for private screenings, or letting the papers get hold of it-‘Doctor Had Secret Life’? You know what they’d do with that. I mean this loop wasn’t Disney stuff.”

“What was on it?”

“What you’d imagine.”

“Could you be more specific, Del?”

“You really want to hear this?”

“Go ahead.”

He sighed. “Okay. What I was told was that it was one of those doctor-patient things. You know, checkup turns to sex? She was the patient; some guy was the doc.” Pause. “That’s all I know. I did not see it.”

“Did she leave anything else behind, like patient files?”

“I didn’t ask.”

“What about the quick sale on her house?”

“With the case closed there’d be no reason not to sell.”

“Did she own the house?”

“I didn’t check that.”

“What about the twin sister? Has anyone located her?”

“No Shirlee Ransom on any of our files, which means nothing- she wasn’t a criminal. But DMV didn’t have her either.”

“They wouldn’t. She couldn’t have driven a car.”

“Whatever. Searching for heirs isn’t our business, Doc. Whichever lawyer’s probating the will would have to hire someone private. And to answer your next question, no, I don’t know who that is.”

“Okay,” I said. “Thanks for your time.”

“No problem. Glad to give it. When I have it.”

Which was a polite way of saying Don’t bother me anymore.

13

A porn loop.

Kruse’s “research.”

Exploring the boundaries of human sexuality.

Larry had laughed about it, but self-consciously. Working for Kruse was a phase of his career he clearly wanted to forget. Now he was going to be reminded, again. I called his office in Brentwood, using the private line that bypassed his answering service.

“I’m with a patient,” he said, sotto voce. “Call you back at a quarter to the hour?”

He did, at precisely 2:45, munching on something and talking between bites.

“Missed me already, D.? What’s on your mind?”

“Sharon Ransom.”

“Yeah, I read about it. Oh, God, I forgot- the two of you were an item way back when, weren’t you?”

“She was at the party, Larry. I ran into her when you went to make your call. I talked to her the day before she died.”

“Jesus. Did she look depressed?”

“A little down. She said things weren’t going well. But nothing profound, nothing to set off any alarms. You and I both know how much that’s worth, though.”

“Yeah, ye olde professional intuition. Might as well use a ouija board.”

Silence.

“Sharon Ransom,” he said. “Unreal. She used to be gorgeous.”

“Still was.”

“Unreal,” he repeated. “I haven’t seen her since school, never ran into her at any meetings or conventions.”

“She was living in L.A.”

“Mystery lady. She always projected a bit of that.”

“Did she work on the porn project, Larry?”