We obliged with a few sips.
“There you go.”
Milo said, “Is there anything else you can tell us that might help?”
Twin head shakes.
“Did Sophie meet anyone else at the dump gym?”
Ashley Herrera said, “You think there was another jerk before Heck?”
Milo said, “Just trying to get a feel for Sophie’s life.”
“It was a good life. And no, she never mentioned any other jerks.”
“Can you think of anyone else who might’ve wished her harm?”
Herrera said, “No. So maybe it was one of those crazy stranger things.” Looking at us, hoping to be contradicted.
When she wasn’t, she said, “Absolutely crazy.”
“Insane,” said Diffenbach. She stood and patted a flat tummy. “Fluids in, fluids out, excuse me.”
As she trotted off, Herrera touched her own abdomen. “Thank God she’s got two johns. I’ll see you guys to the door.”
Chapter
16
As we stepped off the lift and into the lobby, Lee Lemon got to his feet and flashed bad teeth. “Get what you needed?”
Milo said, “It was big-time fun.”
That creased Lemon’s forehead.
Milo said, “Don’t work too hard,” and we left the building.
—
Back at the Porsche, he said, “Another whole bunch of nothing.”
I said, “The gym on Pico might be worth checking out.”
“Sophie met a jerk she never told them about?”
“Someone she threw over for Heck could’ve harbored resentment toward both of them. If there was someone, it had to end quickly, because Heck had only been gone for a couple of months. What if he suspected she was still in contact with Heck?”
“Some paranoid asshole stranglingherand framinghim? That’s big-time crazy.”
I smiled.
He said, “What the hell,” and phoned Moe Reed. “Hey, kid, not too late I hope…great. I’m calling on the other case, Barlow.”
He repeated the women’s description of the gym on Pico. “Anything come to mind?…That many? Huh. How ’bout one relatively close enough to Sophie Barlow’s place…say a coupla miles in eitherdirection…okay, that’s a little more manageable. If you have time tomorrow to help me make the rounds…terrific. If we need to break the ice, you can always deadlift a personal trainer.”
Clicking off, he said, “Superman says five possibles, we’ll check ’em out. Okay, homeward bound. Thanks for taking the time, Alex.”
He walked me to the Seville. “That crack about paint drying made me think of Robin working with that whatchamacallit she puts on the instruments with those cotton pads. The shiny stuff.”
