I said, “He takes her to his place or somewhere else where he can control the scene, makes sure she’s incapacitated. She was dumped naked so he likely did his thing or tried to. At some point, she stopped breathing so he got rid of the problem.”
Milo’s eyes swept back and forth between the two faces, alternating between revulsion and anger. Ending with a long look at the grinning man and cherry-sized lumps running up and down his jaw.
“Bastard. Whoareyou?”
Chapter
4
Neither of us had noticed the older man anywhere else in the photo dump but we reviewed the images anyway.
Nothing.
Milo said, “All the other shots, she’s the star of the show, loving herself. She lets down her guard for a sleaze like this?” He shook his head. “Maybe he’s been criminally sleazy before, I’ll send this to Brand Leary in Vice.”
As he typed, I said, “No shots with other men during the past week.”
“She and Beef had a thing?”
“Maybe not romance,” I said. “She could’ve let down her guard because she thought he had something to offer.”
“Like what?”
“A speaking part.”
“The old fake-Hollywood-honcho deal? She could be fooled that easily?”
“Getting nothing but crowd scenes for a year and a half can sap your confidence. If he happened to show up when she was feeling vulnerable, who knows?”
“Sheep, say hi to Wolf.” He frowned.
“Or,” I said, “she’d already given up and decided to switch gears. To me he looks like a guy with a porn vibe. Washed-up actor turned producer, director.”
“Hmm. I guess a girl with her looks could make some decent short-term money. So what, last night was an audition that went bad? Let’s see what her besties have to say. At the least, maybe one of them knows how to reach her family so I can do what I hate.”
—
Learning the full names of Marissa’s female friends proved easy. She’d posted their names with links to their own social platforms.
Long blond hair was Victoria “Tori” Burkholder, twenty-five, an “aesthetician” at a salon in Sherman Oaks.
Short blond hair was Elisheva “Beth” Halperin, twenty-four, assistant chef at a French café in Encino.
Long black hair was Bethany McGonigal, twenty-five, administrative assistant to an unnamed boss in an unnamed location.
Red and curly traced to Yolanda “Yoli” Echeverria, twenty-four, staff assistant, again, no details.
DMV said Tori Burkholder lived in the same neighborhood where she worked, an apartment on Coldwater, four blocks north of Marissa’s. Beth Halperin and Yoli Echeverria roomed together in Reseda, and Bethany McGonigal listed a flat in North Hollywood.
Milo said, “Buncha Valley girls, maybe that’s where the parties were. Including the last one. And 818isporn central, which would fit with Beef being from that world…lemme see if Leary got back—nope.”
He tried the Vice detective’s desk.
Brandon Leary said, “Hey, just got it. Sorry, don’t know the dude. He rape and kill someone?”
“Looks like he O.D.’d a woman, did his thing, and dumped her body.”
“Oh man, that’s evil. Okay, I’ll show it around, he does have that predator thing going on.”
