Moments later I was looking at Bettina Bel Geddes’s face.
I said, “Annoyed.”
“Alicia called it the ‘I’m-thinking-of-dumping-you look.’ ”
I laughed. “Maybe eventually but not with a huge lawsuit pending. But so much for that. Congratulations.”
He said, “Let’s see what the people in power want to do.”
The following morning I was in his office at nine as he called Deputy D.A. John Nguyen who said, “No shit she’s screwed. Awesome, she annoyed me from the git-go, my head’s filling with criminal charges. A litany, as the journos call it.”
Milo said, “If you don’t mind, John, I’d like to deal with the civil suit first.”
“Why?”
“We can’t have access to either of them as long as it’s pending.”
“Damocles’ Sword?” said Nguyen. “Shit. Hate to admit it but you’re right. Okay, I’ll call someone over at you-know-where. Don’t hold your breath, they lay down snail-trails.”
You-know-where was the city attorney’s office, a place Nguyen and other D.A.’s regarded as junior college.
The chief deputy there told Nguyen, “Yeah, I’ve been picking up rumors a shitshow might be imminent due to your screwup.”
“Obviously not a screwup,” said Nguyen. “I’d think you’d be grateful given your chronic manpower issues.”
“Person-power. Yeah, I guess this could be helpful.”
“What are you going to do about it?”
“Link you up to my best person.”
—
That turned out to be a thirty-something Stanford grad named Rachel Stone, the daughter of two Century City entertainment lawyers. Slender, pretty, decked out in Prada, easy contender for the role of Bettina Bel Geddes’s brunette sister.
Bel Geddes’s quiet, thoughtful, poised sister. She shook each of our hands then settled across from us in a city attorney meeting room, proceeded to listen without uttering a word until Milo, Alicia, and Nguyen had all finished.
“Interesting,” she said. Several seconds of nothing ensued as Stone’s wide, brown eyes studied each of our faces. Ending withme.
“You’ve got nothing to say, Doctor? Even though you originated the hypothesis?”
I said, “They’ve covered everything.”
More silence.
Nguyen said, “You don’t think it means anything?”
Rachel Stone said, “I think it means everything in terms of minimizing or even obviating the risk of a lawsuit. Bel Geddes was clearlyknowledgeable about Heck’s alibi and chose to conceal that knowledge, which puts her on dangerous ground in so many ways. The problem is, she hasn’t filed a lawsuit or taken any other steps yet indicating she’s planning to exploit the deception. So currently, I don’t see any charges we could bring.”
Nguyen said, “What about withholding evidence?”
“Of what?” said Stone. “Sleeping with a client?”
“You’re kidding.”
“Over in your place they file charges prior to a crime?”
A vein in Nguyen’s neck throbbed.
