City of the Dead (Alex Delaware, #37)(43)

She stroked black fur. “Aren’t you, little man?”

The cat purred, shut its eyes, sank lower.

“Goo-boy, you rest. So I get Boris and check with Mrs. Lipschitz if anything weird has happened. One time there was a suspected burglar, so I called West Hollywood Sheriff’s to see if there was anything I should know and they said they caught someone who was probably him. After Mrs. Lipschitz, I check my camera feed on my phone, then I make sure the alarm’s still set and I untrigger it on my phone. Then I step in.”

Milo said, “Impressive.” He scanned the room.

Shari Benedetto smiled. “Looking for the cameras? The first one’s right in the peephole. Then there are two magnets on the fridge and in two of the lamps. In my bedroom, I’ve got six more plus a motion detector. The alarm code’s on my phone but there’s also a keypad in my bedroom closet and both have a two-digit panic number.”

“Beyond impressive.”

“My dad’s idea, he insisted. He’s a Broward County sheriff in Florida. Didn’t want me to leave until I put together what he approved of as an adequate security plan. When I got off the phone with you, I called him and he checked you out. If you’d have been hinky, I’d have called the cops.”

Her fingers danced just above Boris’s spine. “What kind of security did Cordi have?”

“Nothing like yours.”

“It happening in her house, does that mean probably someone she knew?”

Milo said, “We’re nowhere near theorizing.”

She nodded. “That’s what my dad says. Assume means make an ass of you and me.”

Something her security setup had illustrated brilliantly.

She uncrossed her legs, stretched them in front, retracted, placed her feet on the floor and her hands back in her lap.

No more fatigue in her eyes. Talking about frightening things can do that.

I said, “Caspian didn’t talk about himself much. Did Cordi?”

“Oh yeah, all the time. But not about being afraid of anyone. I have to say, to me she always came across pretty frickin’ fearless.” She looked away. “Guess that wasn’t the best approach.”

I said, “Fearless as in risk-taking?”

“I can’t tell you anything specific, it’s just a feeling I had. Like she wanted to conquer the world and would do what it takes.”

“What about her dating life?”

“I never heard about one. She never got personal, it was all about her career, how excited she was about her videos, why she wanted a specific look. Like, check me out today, I’m a professor type. That kind of thing.”

“She had serious professional goals.”

“Oh, definitely. She thought she’d found the perfect way with her videos. But that’s risky, isn’t it? Put yourself out there and talk about emotional issues to a world of strangers? It’s bound to attract at least some crazies.”

I nodded. “Did she ever mention anyone bothering her?”

“No, she was always up. Full of positive energy.”

“How about guys in the past? Someone she’d cut off.”

“Hmm,” she said. “She did hint around about when she was younger she’d made mistakes. Tied it in with her mom, who she said had a total thing for wrong guys.”

“What else did she say about her mom?”

“It was pretty clear they had issues,” she said. “I mean it’s not like her mom came up as a frequent topic. But when Cordi did mention her it was to point out the wrong thing to do. It’s something she was planning to do in a video.”

“Talk about her mom.”

“Yes, but she said she wasn’t ready.”

“Afraid of causing conflict with her mom?”

“I guess.”

“Did she mention any other family members?”

Shari Benedetto thought. “Not to me. And when her mom did come up it was basically pre-shoot talk. Caspian’s blow-drying her and she’s like ‘My mom had low self-esteem so she gravitated’—that was a favorite word of Cordi’s, gravitated, gravitational pull—‘she gravitated toward losers. And that’s what I’m going to discuss today.’?”

I said, “She used her mother as source material but didn’t mention her.”

“Exactly.”

“And she told you when she was younger, she’d made some of the same mistakes.”

Emphatic nod. “That was a topic on one of the videos I worked on. How to get away from old patterns. Cordi was a very wise person.”

Milo said, “No hint someone from her past had reappeared.”

Shari Benedetto’s dark eyes widened. “That would be scary, wouldn’t it? Like one of those slasher movies?” Her voice caught. “This isn’t a movie. This is frickin’ real.”





CHAPTER


    21


We sat with Shari Benedetto awhile longer, rephrasing questions we’d already asked in a way that wouldn’t seem repetitive or manipulative.

Boris the cat began viewing us with increased suspicion but the woman he loved remained pleasant, bright, and eager to help. When we left, Milo thanked her and used his best smile but the moment the door closed behind us, he was downcast.