09
Houston and Giovanni stopped at the Burger Nerd for lunch and were seated in a booth at the back. After taking a big bite of double cheeseburger he wiped his mouth with a glum look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Gabby took a long sip of her drink.
"This might not have been a good idea."
"Why? Tastes fine to me." She dove into the fries.
"Think about who we're supposed to go interview in a little bit." He gave a smirk as his companion snorted. "Too bad I don't have my fire department gear in the truck."
"It's a nice one."
"The guys at the ranch sure think so. We needed another one that could do some heavy hauling."
"So you said you're here to move Buck to Texas?"
"Yeah." He took a drink. "Kinda hate to separate him from his mom and dad but he needs training and I just don't have time. Ben will do a good job, though. And he's a smart horse."
"So how do you guys manage the back and forth? I would think it would be tough with the kids."
"Not yet. But I have a feeling that's not far off."
"So are you going to retire?"
With a mouth full of burger he shook his head. "No. I had thought about it, but look at what I had to go through to get the fire investigator training. And it wouldn't be fair to Don MacLemore if I was just up and gone." He took another drink. "Still not sure how we're going to work it. Probably like we have been, though. The kids are happy as pigs in slop in Texas and so is CJ. She's wanted that ranch to run her own way since we were ten. Now she's finally got it and can do whatever the hell she wants."
They continued to chat over their lunch and then went up Hollywood Boulevard to the Dragon's Lair. There were curious folks out on the sidewalk trying to look through the small window on the club's door. When Giovanni slit the crime scene seal and opened the door for Matt several camera flashes went off as they entered. She locked the door behind them and they started through the bar area and went down the steps to the storeroom.
"Oh, I didn't tell you. While you were interviewing Mindy this morning I asked Bonner what the deal was with him and Molinski."
"And?" She flicked the light switch and both pulled out their phones for more light as the fixtures on the near end refused to come on.
"He said that Molinski was selling booze out the back door almost quicker than it came in the front - which is exactly what he's been accusing Sparks of doing."
"Well, I guess he would be an expert on it then, wouldn't he?" She led the way back. There was a big puddle of congealed blood, the outline where Molinski's body had lain clearly visible.
"So who found him?" The P.I. squatted down and took a look around. The glass from the bottle that had been used to cut the club owner's throat had been taken to the lab. All that remained was the blood.
"One of the barbacks had left early to take his girlfriend to the emergency room when she broke her arm on the steps of their apartment. He came back to get the stock moved up. I interviewed him first thing."
"So no suspicions on him at all?"
"No. He was white as a sheet. Thought we were going to have to call EMS for him. I ran a check on him - clean as a whistle. And the ER verified that he brought in the girlfriend. They were there until about 4:15. He found Molinski around five."
Matt nodded and walked around the room. "So if Molinski was telling the truth and somebody really was moving stock out, I guess they would have been using the freight elevator here." He slipped a pair of gloves on and punched the button for the freight elevator that went up one floor to the alleyway. They boarded the car and looked around.
"Cheryl found a bloody footprint here…" She pointed to the floor next to the control panel. "Athletic shoe, size 9. Nike."
"Over half of LA wears Nikes."
"Yep."
"Any fingerprints?"
"Not a one."
"Have you gone up?"
"Yep, but I'll give you the fifty cent tour." She punched the button and the doors closed before there was a low hum and the car started on the short journey upward. It bounced slightly as it stopped. Turning the key in the panel she waited. "It's supposed to open." She worked the key some more. Suddenly the lights in the car went out and it lurched.
"Oh, boy." Matt braced himself in the corner. The only light now was from their phones.
Giovanni continued to turn the key and punched the button for the car to go back down but to no avail. Her breathing quickened and she let out with a few colorful words.
"Easy now."
"Want to try your luck?"
"Why not?" He took her place and shone the light on the control panel, then opened the door located below the buttons and began looking at wires.
"Don't do that!"
"Why?"
"It might mess it up."
"It's already stuck, Gabby." He glanced up at the detective who was now sweating profusely as she looked around the car. "You don't get claustrophobic, do you?"
"Of course not. That's silly. It would be unprofessional."
Matt snickered.
"It isn't funny. We don't have time to waste in here."
"You know, Alex is claustrophobic."
"Bateaux?"
"Uh huh. Shine your light down here for me." He pocketed his phone and she shone the beam on some of the wires. "Looks like there might have been a critter gnawing in here at some point." He removed a knife from his pocket, stripped the ends of two of the wires, and spliced them back together. "Whooo!" He gave a jump backward as a jolt of electricity hit him. The elevator lurched again and started upward, the doors opening when they reached the alleyway.
Giovanni sprang out of it as soon as there was a large enough gap for her to do so. "Thank God!"
Matt stepped out into the alleyway and started looking around. "So I guess Cheryl looked back here, too?"
"Yeah." The detective began to calm. "She didn't find anything."
"Knowing her there was nothing to find. She's the best there is." He turned back to the elevator. "You coming?" Reluctantly the cop nodded and stepped into the car, taking a deep breath before the doors closed.
Matt punched the button and it traveled back down to the basement level, the doors opening as soon as it had stopped. Giovanni sprang out and turned to look at it as if it had offended her.
"Well…" He looked around the storeroom again. "This hasn't been real helpful."
"Are you done?"
"Yeah, I reckon." Following her back up the steps he spoke again. "What about the office?"
"Lee looked through there. I haven't been in there." She pointed to the left and opened a heavy mahogany door. Both made a face at the smell that hit them. "God."
Matt fanned the air in front of his face and crossed to the desk, looking at the cigar butts in the ashtray. "Custom made."
"Smells like they came out of a garbage can."
"More like out of a barn stall." He gave a shudder and then turned his attention to the desk where there was a void. "Computer's at the lab I guess."
"I guess so."
"I'd like to get a look at it, too. Can you call Cheryl and ask for me?"
"Uh huh." She removed her phone and did so as he began opening drawers. Squatting down he checked the backs and undersides as well and after coming up empty went to the file cabinet that was in the back corner of the room. He didn't find anything of interest there and began looking around.
"I think you made her day." Gabby returned the phone to her pocket.
"Oh?"
"She says she can't wait to see you."
He smiled and continued to look around the room. "She sure did a good job of taking anything interesting out of here." His eyes landed on the mini-bar along one of the walls and he went to it and began tapping on the wood paneled front.
"What are you looking for?"
"Don't know. But guys like Molinski love to hide stuff. Just a feeling." He started around the room tapping on the walls. "You know this place has a reputation of being haunted by some of Hollywood's old gangsters."
"You don't really believe in stuff like that do you?" She continued watching him.
"Well, I believe that there are a lot of things that can't be explained." He went down on one knee behind the desk and looked at the base of the wall and then began tapping again. There was a difference from the sounds that his tapping had produced previously. "Hello…" He ran his fingers over the wall. "Shine your light over here please, ma'am." She pulled her phone out again and shone it where he directed. "Uh huh…"
"So it's a door with no handle? How are you supposed to get it open?"
He went back to the center desk drawer and removed a magnet about four inches long and two inches in diameter, placing it on the suspicious panel in about the same area where a doorknob would be located. There was a soft click and he pulled backward revealing a hidden room. "Bingo."
Giovanni shook her head and followed him inside. She drug the desk chair over and placed it so that the door couldn't close, giving him a sheepish look. "Please don't tell the guys."
"Your secret's safe with me." He looked around for a light switch and was rewarded with one on the right hand wall. The room came alive and case after case of liquor was stacked around the walls of the room that measured about ten feet by ten feet. "Reckon this is the booze that Sparks was supposed to be stealing?"
