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honestly, if it's not going to help me turn this case around, I don't
give a shit.'
    'The difference
between fiction and reality is that fiction has to make sense. Killing Jo Drabyak makes no
sense. I can't make heads or tails of it. I was up at four this morning. By the
time you showed up I was on my third pot of coffee. I have a theory. Are you
willing to listen to it?'
    Terry
hadn't said a word for ten minutes. He stepped in. 'Yes, we'd like to hear
whatever you came up with.'
    She
smiled. 'Thanks. Is it your turn to be Good Cop?'
    'Yeah,
but I suck at it,' Terry said, 'so cough up your theory fast because I can get
twice as cranky as Mike.'
    I
doubted if Nora had anything of value to offer up. The only thing on her agenda
was to get involved, but she was Charlie's mother-in-law and Marilyn's partner.
It was probably a good call on Terry's part to let her blather on.
    'I'm
sure you're looking into the Reggie connection,' she said. 'Cop's wife gets
killed, maybe somebody's got a hard-on for the cop.'
    'We
got it covered,' Terry said.
    'So
I focused on Jo. Why kill her? Sure, there may be an old grudge that you dig
up, but I doubt it. So I thought, what if this is not really about Jo? What if
it's about someone else?'
    Terry
was patient. 'Like who?'
    'Like
me,' she said. 'What if someone is trying to destroy my career?'
    'Correct
me if I'm wrong,' Terry said, 'but wouldn't it be easier to destroy your career
by just shooting you in the head?'
    'Not
if the killer is a sicko who wants to toy with me. First he kills Jo, then
Marisol, or Julia, or even Marilyn. Little by little he would sabotage my
books, my real estate venture, everything I do. 'Why shoot me, if he can watch
me suffer?'
    I've
met a lot of self-centred people in Hollywood, but Nora was the first to
suggest that someone else's murder was motivated by a desire to ruin her day.
    'And
who do you think might want to do that?' Terry said.
    'I
don't know. I haven't figured that part out yet. But even though I have
millions of fans, there are always those few that don't wish me well. Maybe
they're authors who are jealous, or people who were offended by something I
wrote. I'm sure there are a lot more people who would rather kill me than kill
Jo.'
    At
this point I was one of them.
    'It's
an interesting theory,' Terry said. 'Maybe you can come up with a list of
people who you think might have killed Jo to get at you. Meantime, Mike and I
have to go. We'll be in touch.'
    He
opened the door, and we walked down the steps into the mid-morning humidity
that claws at Los Angeles every September.
    'I'll
fax a list to your office,' she called after us. 'Is there anything else I can
do?'
    I
looked back over my shoulder. 'Yeah. Switch to decaf.'

Chapter
Thirteen
     
     
    'I
was a real asshole,' I said once we were back in the car. 'Do I owe her an
apology?'
    'Hell,
no,' Terry said. 'But you owe me one. You know I hate playing Good Cop.'
    'Most
of the time I can deal with her,' I said. 'But sometimes... How come she never
gets to you?'
    'I
don't have your issues.'
    'What
issues?'
    'Mike,
she's smart, she's engaging, and deep down inside I'm sure she's a good person.
But she's a world- class meddler. She can't keep her nose out of other people's
business. Remind you of anyone?'
    'Narrow
it down for me,' I said.
    'If
you moved into her house, she'd be peeing under your window every night.'
    'Oh, that world-class meddler. You think she's like my father?'
    'Nora
Bannister is the female version of everything that drives you crazy about Big
Jim: nosy, bossy, manipulating, in your face - what did I leave out?'
    'I
get it,' I said. 'What do you think about her theory that someone killed Jo to
screw up her writing career?'
    'Oh
yeah, I forgot egomaniac. On a scale of one to ten, I'd give her theory a zero.
It pissed me off that she threw Marilyn into the mix of potential victims.'
    'Maybe
she thinks if your wife is a target you'll work harder.'
    'She's
playing us.'
    'Of
course she's playing