Chapter 14

After calling at Hutch's apartment for some proper clothes, the two detectives found themselves driving out of town and south along the coast to the prosperous area outside Ocean Beach, San Diego. As they got closer, the larger houses started to line the road and they turned inland a little looking for Regan's address.

Finding themselves on a long tree lined avenue, Starsky slowed the Torino to a crawl as they counted off the houses, finally drawing up outside a large lemon yellow two storey mansion house guarded by high iron gates and surrounded by tall trees along the length of its substantial driveway. Without the benefit of keys, the brunet pulled the car up a hundred yards down the road and got out.

Looking like mirror images of each other, the two man limped back and followed the high wall around the perimeter of the property, looking for a way in. Around at the back, there was a small unassuming looking wooden gate and Hutch pushed his shoulder against the crumbling paintwork feeling it give beneath his muscles. He stood back, then pushed harder with his shoulder and the rusty hinges gave with a creak and a shudder. Looking surprised he grinned at his partner.

'Not the most careful guy in the world, is he?'

'Nope. Fortunately for us it would appear that our Pete is all top show. As Ma so colourfully puts it, "fur coat and no panties". C'mon'. Starsky lead the way into the walled garden and made straight for the back door of the house. There was a small, locked door at the side and at the back, looking out onto the swimming pool and hot tub were a set of French doors. Starsky rattled the handle a couple of times, but they were locked and he looked around self consciously before taking his pen knife out of his back pocket.

'What're ya doin'?' Hutch hissed at him.

'Either signs of a misspent youth, or more likely spending too much time with the whippos. I think we call it breaking and entering'. He bent and inserted a long thin metal implement from his pen knife into the lock, twisting and withdrawing it a few times before he gave a grin and pushed the door open. Both men walked inside and looked around. Hutch gave a low whistle.

'He's either won the lottery, or he's into some expensive shit' he said.

'Uh huh. And apparently this is the tip of the iceberg. Berkovitz says he has a house in Hawaii, part shares in a yacht and god knows how much other stuff. He was complaining to the guys that he doesn't like the way the maid makes his coffee!'

They looked around in awe at the opulent, slightly tasteless decoration in the room. Regan seemed to have incorporated every cruise ship, hotel and restaurant he'd ever seen into the design of the place and marble, leather, fur and velvet rubbed shoulders with guilt and gold framed mirrors and pictures. The effect was more than over the top and left Starsky feeling slightly queasy.

They left the garden room and explored the rest of the house. Each room seemed to outdo the last in the tasteless stakes and by the time they'd made it upstairs to the bedrooms, Hutch too was beginning to feel a little giddy with the effects.

Here too, the rooms were large and dressed in either deep dark maroons and blues or fresh lemons and greens. The master bedroom was a place to behold, the bed being enormous and situated right in the centre of the room beneath a circular mirror placed on the ceiling and Starsky heard a soft snort behind him.

'He's got ideas from your room Starsk!'

'Mine is tasteful and not like something out of a Casanova movie. And compared to this is downright plain! C'mon we haven't' got long. Let's see what we can find up here. Berkovtz said that Sandy Regan had a liking for jewellery. See if there's anything in the drawers over there' he pointed to a guilt and white chest of drawers in the corner and Hutch walked over, opening the top drawer with a hand covered by a white handkerchief.

Starsky started to poke around in the wardrobe and under the bed, but was stopped when he heard a low whistle from the blond. He pushed himself out from under the bed and dusted off his knees. Obviously the maid didn't vacuum under there very often!

'What'cha got?' he asked as he limped across the room to join his partner.

Hutch was intently looking at something in the chest of drawers and as Starsky bent over his shoulder, the breath hitched in his throat.

'My God. Is that real?'

Hutch held up a huge emerald and diamond ring that Liz Taylor would have been proud to have received from Richard Burton. The central, fiery green stone must have been almost an inch long and half an inch wide and was surrounded by forty sparkling white diamonds.

'Well if it is buddy, either Regan is a substantially rich guy, or he's been knocking off jewellers shops. Look'.

He stood aside and the brunet saw that the white velvet lined drawer contained not just the emerald ring, but a sapphire ring which was almost as big, a set of smaller diamond rings, a diamond necklace and bracelet and some jewelled earrings.

'I think we just hit the jackpot. There's no way he could afford something like this. Not on his wages and I know for sure than his mom and Dad weren't rich enough to leave him so much money. OK we have evidence. Now what d'we do with it?'

Hutch was still staring at the mother load. 'I have no idea, but I think we're looking at almost a million bucks' he said in a hushed voice.

They sat down on the floor, the drawer still open and the gems reflecting the rainbow colours as the sunshine caught at their facets.

'Where would Regan have got his money from?' Starsky said, thinking aloud. 'Or if not the money, where would he have got the gems from? Are they new?'

'We need to get an expert in here' Hutch said. 'But even if they're paste, they're gonna be worth a small fortune. My Mom used to love jewellery and I remember Dad buying her a tiny diamond necklace. He told her what was a months salary…..and my Dad wasn't the poorest guy on this earth'.

'Ok well, we get some help then' Starsky said, levering himself to his feet and helping Hutch up. They both grimaced at the move, straightened and looked around the room one more time. 'Seems wherever he got his bucks, he didn't spend 'em on lessons in taste' he grinned, walking to the door.

'Starsk, aren't you forgetting something?' Hutch asked mildly.

The brunet held up the huge emerald ring, tossed it into the air and caught it before stuffing it into his jeans pocket. 'No, I think I remembered just about everything' he said happily as Hutch followed him out of the room.

They got to the top of the stairs and were just about to head down when Hutch held up his hand and stopped stock still, his eyes focussed on the hallway beneath them. The door opened slowly and the huge bulk of Pete Regan emerged from outside, closing the door behind him.

'Juanita?' he bellowed to no-one in particular. There was no answer and he tries again, louder. 'Juanita! Get your bony butt over here now. I'm home and I want coffee, a donut and your ass on my bed in 15 minutes'.

There was the sound of scurrying stilettos on the marble tiles floor and a young girl dressed in every man's wet dream of a maid's outfit appeared. The short black skirt barely covered the essentials and was overlayed by a frilly white apron. Although neither detective was overly familiar with having a personal maid, Starsky was fairly sure that they didn't usually wear seamed black stockings and 4 inch stiletto heels. She all but curtseyed in front of Regan, muttered something in Spanish that ended with Si Senior, then scurried away again.

The brunet and his partner had flattened their backs against the wall of the first floor landing, hiding their presence from Regan, but now, they heard his heavy footfall start to mount the stairs and Hutch looked desperately round for an exit route. He grabbed hold of Starsky's arm and pulled him through a door on the blond's left hand side, closing the door with a soft click just as Regan got to the top of the stairs. They collapsed back against the wall, breathing heavily even though they had covered barely 5 yards.

'I thought you said Berkovitz had Regan covered' Hutch hissed.

'I thought he had too, but you know Pete. If he wants to do sumthin, there really aint a lot that'll stop him. And right now, I think he wants to do the maid' the brunet replied, his ear to the door.

'He wants to do the maid' Hutch echoed in a deep slow voice. 'Jeez Starsk! Where's your finesses?'

'Have you got a better term for it?'

The blond paused a moment as they heard the tap tap of the girls heels on the solid floor again. 'No, you're right. He wants to do the maid' he conceded.

There was the sound of the door to Regan's bedroom opening and closing, accompanied by the lingering aroma of fresh coffee, and then, to their horror, the door opened again, a few more footfalls then the door to their hiding place opened. Both men tried to shoot for cover, but in their injured conditions neither got very far.

Turning slowly, and sure his badge if not his life was in jeopardy, Starsky was surprised to see the maid standing in the doorway, her finger over her lips in the universal sign for "be quiet". Cautiously, Starsky retrieved his shield from his back pocket and held it up for the girl to see and she nodded, beckoning both men to follow her. Hutch cast a suspicious look at his partner, but they hesitantly followed the retreating back and shimmying tush down the hallway, away from the main stairs. There was a small, insignificant door in the corner of the landing and through this the maid pushed them, closing it behind her.

'You are police?' she asked.

'Didn't you now that before you came into the bedroom?' Hutch replied.

Juanita giggled. 'I liked the look of …..no. I didn't know. You are friends of Senior Regan?'

'Well we know him' Starsky said ruefully.

'But not friends' she smiled, showing them down the flight of stairs which brought them out into a big kitchen.

'Not exactly friends, no' the brunet admitted. 'How did you know we were there?'

The girl took them through to a small room off the kitchen and pointed at a bank of television screens on the wall, each showing a different part of the house. Hutch whistled. 'Regan sure knows how to keep himself safe'.

'Uh huh. But why? What's he got here that's so worth guarding? This is what those filmstar types have. Not working cop' Starsky sounded puzzled. He turned back to Juanita. 'Are ya gonna tell your boss we were here?' he asked.

Juanita shook her head decisively. 'No. I will not tell. Are you going to…….how do you say?...inves…….inv……'

'Investigate him?' Hutch offered and she nodded. 'Yeah, we're gonna investigate him. But are you ok? We heard him shouting. Does he expect more in the way of maid service?'

She nodded sadly, the grinned up at the blond. 'It will be fine. I have my ways' she said mysteriously.

'Ways?' Starsky asked.

The girl went to a small drawer in the kitchen and pulled out a brown glass bottle. She rattled it and the detectives heard the sounds of the pills. 'Seniora Regan's sleeping pills. I put one in his coffee, which he enjoys strong and black, so he doesn't taste it. He will sleep for the rest of the day' she said happily.

'And are you going to tell him about us?' Hutch asked

Juanita shook her head. 'No, no. You can go out through the back door again, once he has gone to sleep. I will not tell him'.

Hutch reached down and dotted a small kiss on the girl's cheek. 'Thanks honey' he smiled, as she melted into him.