Chapter Thirteen
Going back to my apartment, I realized that I now had a whole week of freedom. I hadn't had any time off in four months, so I was going to need a plan to deal with this unexpected turn of events. I was excited. Maybe I could go away for a couple of days. I was still getting paid by Eleanor, which I refused to feel guilty about. I had only taken two steps into my apartment when there was a knocking at the door. I wrenched it open and noted that I always seemed to answer my door in a bad mood. That couldn't be good. Crystal and Edwin were there and they walked past me and sat down before I even had a chance to invite them in.
"I've spoken to Edwin," Crystal said imperiously, "and we have decided that the only way to get you out of your problem with Detective Hottie is to find out how Ryan died ourselves."
I was quiet for a second. I had several issues with that statement. Starting at the top, Edwin and Crystal didn't decide. Crystal told Edwin what was going to happen and Edwin just agreed. Though he tried to hide it, Edwin was nuts about Crystal and would find his way to the moon if she asked it of him. Of course, Crystal was completely oblivious and Edwin was not willing to risk never seeing her again by making a move, so the three of us continued in a painful dance. Secondly, I hadn't realized that Detective Griffin was now officially known as Detective Hottie. Obviously my introduction the other night had not changed her mind on that score. And lastly, Crystal's belief that we could solve a death, that the police were not even sure yet whether it was a homicide, kind of beggared belief. It did however sound good that she believed that we were capable of doing such a thing. At this point Crystal and Edwin were looking at me, obviously expecting my wholehearted approval of this plan.
"Uh, do you really think that is a good idea? Considering how much trouble I am already in with the LAPD. I have an assault on a police officer charge hanging over my head remember. Do you think I want to go sticking my nose in this mess?"
"You've got the time now," said Crystal.
Obviously she would know about Eleanor being away for a week. Crystal always knows everything. The woman has a network of intelligence that would put some countries to shame.
"I don't think the fact I have a week without work should be the deciding factor in this situation," I said.
Edwin put his hand over mine. "It isn't," he said. "We're just not willing to lose you." I started tearing up but he continued. "This detective is threatening to send you home. That isn't acceptable to us."
Okay I was really going to cry now. In Edwin and Crystal, I had found true friends, evidenced by the fact they were willing to hunt down a possible murderer to keep me close.
"Thank you," my voice croaked. "I appreciate the idea but do we have an actual plan?"
"Yes," said Crystal, standing up, brushing down her skirt. "We're going back to the place where Ryan died."
Not the plan I was thinking of. "Wouldn't the police still have control of that house?" I asked.
"No," she said. "They've finished their investigation there."
"Any plans on how we are going to get in or do you have the skills to break in?" I asked.
Crystal seemed affronted that I would even ask the question. "Oh I could get us in if I wanted to," she said proudly
Of course she could.
"But in this case I don't need to. Adam Hendricks gave me the key."
"Just as a question, why did Adam Hendricks give you the key to his brother's house?" I asked.
Crystal looked at me as if I was an idiot. Of course. Adam Hendricks would give her anything she wanted. She was the gateway to one of the biggest casting agents in Hollywood. For an actor who hadn't quite made it yet, she was the key to the Promised Land. The man would probably give her the house if she wanted it. Luckily we only needed it for a couple of hours.
Pulling up to Ryan Hendricks's house felt like deja vu. There was a small part of me that didn't want to go inside. Edwin whistled low in his throat.
"Nice place," he said. "Very private."
"It needed to be," I said. "This is his second house for when he wanted to do something that wasn't quite right for public consumption."
"So what was he into?" asked Edwin as we went up the stairs.
"Actually," I said, "if you didn't take into account that he slept with anyone in a skirt, he wasn't too bad. He took his craft seriously, didn't do drugs, and didn't drink much at all."
"He used to be great on set," Crystal chimed in. "He was always at work on time, we never had any problems with complaints from producers or directors, unless there was a wife or girlfriend involved."
Looking through the house, we could see where the police had already been. As I feared, there was nothing that we could find that gave any indication of why a healthy man in the prime of his life had succumbed to a heart attack. In the kitchen we had a look around and I opened the massive fridge. In it there were boxes of organic fruit and vegetables and bottles of juice.
"How much of this stuff did he need?" I asked.
Edwin peered over my shoulder. "Looks like he was on that cleansing diet that a lot of celebrities are using to detox their systems," he said.
"How long is it supposed to last?" I asked.
"About five days," Edwin replied.
"There is a lot more than five days' worth here," I said.
"Some people are on it longer if they're trying to lose weight," Edwin said. "Not exactly how you're supposed to do it, but it's one way to go."
"Ryan Hendricks did not need to lose weight," I said. "The man was in amazing shape."
"Actually," Crystal interrupted, "he would have been trying to lose weight."
"Why?" I asked.
"New movie is making the rounds at the moment. Don't have many details but the lead role has a guy who is really thin, as in sick thin. I know Ryan was interested. This role is Oscar material and I think he was getting tired of playing the lead in romantic comedies and action movies. This was his chance to show that he could really act. Word is that Ryan had decided to try to go into the audition as thin as possible to show he could do it."
Shutting the refrigerator door, I reflected on how sad that was. He was working towards what he really wanted and now he would never have that chance.
"Could losing the weight have put some strain on his heart?" I wondered aloud.
"From the looks of it he had only just started a day or too earlier. There was no way he had lost enough weight to cause that kind of issue already," Edwin said, and he would know.
Being a personal trainer, Edwin knew about all the latest fad diets. He came up against them all the time. Edwin was always going on about how people wanted a quick fix. Nobody was interested in doing the hard work over a long period of time.
As we were walking away from the fridge, Crystal bent down. Other than the fact Edwin was admiring her butt, I really didn't see anything.
"What did you find?" I asked.
Crystal came up with a flourish, holding a small flash drive.
"It looks like it fell down the side of the refrigerator," she said.
At that moment we heard footsteps in the house and looking over we saw Griffin and Ramos in the doorway, pointing guns at us. Crystal, proving her ability to think quickly no matter what the situation, dropped the flash drive between her breasts and turned around with her hands up and a smile on her face.
Griffin dropped his gun to his side and started to holster it. "What the hell are you doing here?" he snarled.
Assuming that level of rudeness was directed at me, I tried to think of something to say that he wouldn't know was a complete lie.
"I got nothing," I said, looking at Crystal and Edwin.
Crystal looked horrified as if she couldn't believe that she was friends with someone so completely useless when it came to lying. Dropping her head, she took a deep breath.
"Adam Hendricks lent me a key as I left something here the last time I came," she said. "You can call him if you want. You might also want to explain what you are doing here. My understanding was that all police were supposed to have been cleared out of here and I'm guessing you don't have a warrant." She smiled sweetly.
See what I mean, lethal. I am so glad she is on my side. Although from the look I got from her earlier, I knew that I was going to get a very long lecture on the fact that I needed to learn to lie on my feet.
Griffin's jaw tightened.
"Neighbor saw you in here and gave us a call," Ramos said. "There were concerns you were robbing the place."
"So they sent Homicide cops to a suspected break in," Crystal said, sarcasm dripping from every word. "My, if that is all you guys have to do I'm feeling safer in this city already."
I looked at Crystal incredulously. I've seen her in action before but sometimes I think she pushes it a bit too far. Looking at Edwin, I knew I couldn't rely on him to help me with her. When Crystal went into this mood he reacted like Pavlov's dog, drooling and ready to do whatever she wanted him to do. Crystal and Griffin stared at each other, their mutual loathing pretty much evident for all to see.
"I think we've looked everywhere, Crystal," I said in a small voice, stepping in front of her to cut the line of animosity between the two of them. Oh great, now they were both mad at me. "I don't think we're going to find it."
Edwin grabbed Crystal's arm and with me on the other side we led her towards the front entrance with Griffin and Ramos behind us.
Ramos hung up her phone. "Just spoke to Adam Hendricks, they've got permission to be here."
"Well of course I do," said Crystal, with all the confidence of someone who was always in the right. "Now, could you please leave so I can lock up."
The two detectives went through the door with Griffin giving me a hard look. Oh, I could just tell I'd made it back to his people who annoy him list. That was just wonderful.
"I need to go to the bathroom," Crystal said quickly and hurried back into the house.
Edwin followed her with a concerned look on his face. I would have gone too but I was stopped by the hand on my elbow. Looking down at it, I saw Griffin had a tight grip and wasn't likely to let me go. Ramos had headed back to their car and was leaning against it, watching the two of us.
"Care to tell me what's going on?" he asked.
"Not really," I said. "Just spending a day with friends and we ended up here on an errand. Like Ramos said, we had keys and we had permission. The cops had got everything they wanted from this place didn't they?"
"Just finding it interesting that you turned up here on the day you ditch me."
Oh right, I'd forgotten about our little phone call this morning.
"I'm sorry about the way I acted this morning," I said. "I didn't have any right to be so rude to you."
Griffin looked surprised. Maybe he didn't get apologies very often. Considering the abrasive way he seemed to be with people, I was pretty sure that most of the time people didn't feel like he deserved an apology. I did though. I didn't feel good about what I'd said to him on the phone.
"Don't worry about it," he said gruffly. At that moment Crystal and Edwin reappeared and I was close to kissing them.
"Ready to go?" she queried, locking the door.
"Don't get involved in this," Griffin said to me.
"Thanks to you, I'm already involved up to my neck," I said.
"I know," he said awkwardly, "and I'm sorry about that."
I thought about that sentence all the way home. The thing is, he really looked sorry that I was involved. That was strange considering how much of this was his fault.