39

Keeping the lights off, she pushed Travis to the back of the store and unlocked a door. Inside was a small neat storeroom: metal shelves filled with merchandise, a desk, and three folding chairs. Positioning Travis in a corner, she pulled a box down and gave it to him. A diving mask. He began turning the package over and over, working hard at holding on to it, studying a photograph of a girl snorkeling as if it were a puzzle.

She started to go behind the desk. I got there first and checked all the drawers. Just papers and pens and staples and clips.

She gave a weak smile. "Yeah, tough old me's gonna shoot you."

"I'm sure you can be plenty tough." I looked at Travis.

She sat down heavily. I took a chair.

"Tell me what happened," I said.

"Promise me they won't put him away."

"I can't promise, but I'll do my best. If you had nothing to do with Karen's murder."

"I keep telling you, I don't know about any murder. Just that she disappeared."

"From the Sanctum party."

Nod.

"You hired her to work at the party."

"So what does that make me, a criminal? I hired her as a favor. She needed the money. Her tips weren't that good because she wasn't the greatest waitress, kept getting orders wrong. And that hypocrite father of hers didn't approve of her being an actress, so he never sent her a dime. I helped her, so now people are getting murdered and I'm being treated like a criminal?"

"When's the last time you saw her?"

"How can I remember? It was twenty-one years."

"Try."

Silence.

"In the middle of the party," she said. "I don't know what time it was. We were all working; I wasn't paying attention to her."

"You never told anyone she was there, did you?"

More silence.

"Did the sheriffs ask?"

"They came around the Dollar, a few days after she was gone. They thought she was lost up in the mountains. They had helicopters looking for her."

"And you didn't tell them any different."

"Who says it was any different? She could have left the party with someone and gone to the mountains."

"In the middle of work?"

"She wasn't the most reliable person- used to call in sick at the Dollar so she could go to Disneyland. Coming out here was a big vacation for her."

She bit her lip. "Look, I'm not putting her down. She was a nice kid. But not too bright." Tears filled her eyes. "I never wanted to see anything happen to her. I never did anything to hurt her."

She put her hands over her face again. Travis had managed to turn himself around and was looking at her, fascinated. The box slid down his lap and landed on the floor. He reached for it but the leather belt restrained him, and he started to shout.

Gwen uncovered her face and started to get out of her chair.

I retrieved the box and gave it to him, tousling his hair.

"Aa-gaah," he said, grinning. "Aa-gaamnuhuh."

Gwen said, "It wasn't any big intense investigation or anything. A deputy just dropped in and asked if anyone'd seen her; then he sat around and had coffee."

"What about the private eye Karen's family hired? Felix Barnard. What did he ask you?"

"He was weird. An oily old guy."

"What did he ask you?"

"Same stuff the police did: When did we last see her?"

"And you told him Friday night, after her shift at the Dollar."

"He was a sleazeball. I didn't want anything to do with him."

"He found out Karen had been at the party. How?"

"I don't know, but it wasn't from me," she said. The way she looked away quickly let me know she was hiding something. I decided not to push, right now. Thinking of the unaccounted-for time between Karen's leaving the Dollar and the party the next day, I said, "Why did Karen go up to Sanctum early?"

"The caterer needed someone to set up chairs and tables before the food got there."

"And you picked Karen even though she wasn't reliable?"

"I felt sorry for her. Like I said, she needed the money." She blinked several times.

"Is that the only reason?"

She took a deep breath and turned to Travis. "You okay, honey?"

Ignoring her, he continued to study the box.

"What's the real reason you chose Karen to go up early, Gwen?"

"Someone called. Wanted us to send the best-looking waitress up early."

"Who?"

Long silence. "Lowell."

"And Karen was the best-looking waitress."

"She was cute."

"Why would looks be important if all he wanted was for her to set up?"

"I don't know. It wasn't like he mentioned that first. More like, As long as you're sending someone, send a good-looking one, and some other stuff- crazy words I don't remember- something about eternal beauty. I don't know why, maybe he had big shots over and wanted to make an impression- it was none of my business. What difference did it make to me who set up? Karen was happy to do it."

"Happy to be with big shots."

"Definitely. She was still a tourist- going over to Hollywood Boulevard, looking for movie stars."

"How'd she get up to Sanctum?"

"Someone picked her up."

"At the Dollar?"

"No, on PCH."

"Where on PCH?"

"PCH and Paradise Cove."

"Right at the turnoff to the Dollar?"

Nod.

"Who picked her up?"

"I don't know." Another look away.

"This isn't very helpful, Gwen." Travis was staring at me. I winked at him. He laughed, and the box slipped from his fingers again. I returned it to him, then stared at Gwen. Making it a hard stare was no effort.

"I saw a car," she said. "We did- Tom and me. Pulling away just as we got there. But that's all. I couldn't see who was in it. I don't even know if that's the one that picked her up. She left twenty minutes before we did. Someone else could have picked her up."

"What kind of car?"

"Tom said a Ferrari."

"Tom said?"

"He's into cars. To me it was just a car and taillights. Tom was all excited."

"What color?"

"It was nighttime- Tom thought it was red. He said most of them are red, it's Ferrari's racing color."

"Convertible or hardtop?"

"Convertible, I think, but the top was up. We couldn't see who was inside."

"Did you ever see the car again?"

She played with her earrings and twisted her fingers, as if wringing them out. "There was one up there."

"Up where?"

"The party. There were all kinds of fancy cars there. Porsches, Rollses. Valets parking them up and down the road, total chaos."

"Who did the Ferrari belong to?"

"I don't know."

I stared at her.

"I don't know," she said. "What do you want me to do, make something up?"

"Did it have customized plates?"

"No… not that I noticed. I couldn't have cared less, cars don't interest me. My head was into the party, making sure everything went okay."

"Did it?"

"What?"

"Did the party go okay?"

"People seemed to be having fun."

"What about Karen?"

"What about her?"

"Was she having fun?"

"She was there to work," she said sharply. "Yeah, she seemed happy."

"All those big shots."

She shrugged.

"Did she sleep at Sanctum on Friday night?"

"I don't know."

"When did you go up?"

"Saturday morning."

"Was she there?"

Nod.

"How early in the morning?"

"Seven-thirty, eight. We drove up early to start getting the food ready. She was already up and running."

"What kind of mood was she in?"

"A good one. She'd set up the tables and chairs and was goofing around."

"How?"

"Playing with some kids."

"Whose kids?"

"Lowell's. At first, I thought they were his grandchildren, 'cause they were so little, but Karen said no, they were his. She was jazzed about that."

"About what?"