City of the Dead (Alex Delaware, #37)(72)



“Heart attack,” said Milo. “Did you ever learn differently?”

“Just from the papers,” she said. “They said it was a gang thing, a home invasion. They never said more. I figured he got scared.”

“You never talked to the police.”

“They never talked to me and Tyler scared me not to.”

“Did you ever suspect Tyler had murdered Forrest?”

Her eyes drifted to the left and back.

Bloomfield said, “I can’t help you if you don’t help yourself, Lisette. Please. Read.”

“Okay, okay.” She looked at the second page, seemed lost. Bloomfield poked a spot. “You were here but skip that, we’ve covered it…here.”

“So…” said Montag. “Tyler moved back to L.A. and I stayed there. Then The Style-Right Hair and Beauty Salon closed because the owner, Mrs. Tranh, decided to retire. She only told us a month before, I was already late in my rent and without Forrest I was totally messed up inside. So I also moved back to L.A. and got a chair in a place but it was all the way in Alhambra and I was living in my aunt’s place in Venice and the commute was difficult. So I finally made some contacts and started to freelance and soon after I heard from Tyler. He was back but still looking for work but he had some money saved up, he never said from where. But he was saying the truth because he was wearing a Rolex watch.”

Milo said, “Several watches were taken from Forrest’s house the day he was killed.”

“I know that now. Tyler told me. And that’s why it happened.”

“Why what happened?”

“What happened to Tyler.” She pushed the papers aside. “That’s why.”

Bloomfield said, “I give up, just tell it the way you want, dear.”

“Okay,” she said, suddenly perked up and eager. “Tyler and I started to…you know. Not regularly, he’d call, if I was free, why not? Then last week, it happened. He got crazy stoned on meth and got that same look he had when he grabbed me in his office, the red dot eyes. And he did it again. Grabbed me. Not mad, just…you know, intense. I said what’s going on? He said, I need to tell you. I’m like about what? He’s like about Forrest. Then he gives a creepy smile and says Forrest didn’t die of a heart attack. I snuffed him, Lisette. I snuffed him while he slept because he was an asshole and a traitor, even when he did my divorce he fucked me over, someone else would’ve got me more money for the gym.”

Her hands rose to her temples. “I was so so so so scared. And yeah, mad, I loved Forrest, Forrest was going to make my life better and look where my life was, living in my aunt’s garage. I could’ve had that house in Palm Desert, Forrest had a pool and a sauna and an eighty-inch high-definition Sony and…whatever I wanted. And Tyler had ruined everything. For what? Because he didn’t get his way and had anger management issues? Because Forrest changed his mind? But I said nothing, with Tyler if you said the wrong thing when he was on meth, anything could happen.”

Al Bloomfield said, “Exactly, anything. It’s a narcotic with unpredictable side effects but violence isn’t uncommon and the person in question was violent, unstable, and had shown himself capable of becoming cataclysmically enraged.”

As good a summation as I’ve ever heard.

Milo said, “So you did nothing.”

“Yes, sir. Not that time. Then I started thinking. And that’s what happened.”

“You decided to kill Tyler.”

“I was scared, sir. He killed Forrest, I was terrified he’d kill me because now I knew and when he came down from the meth, he’d think about that.”

“You didn’t call the police in Palm Springs.”

“They never spoke to me, sir. They said it was a gang home invasion. Why would they believe me? And even if they didn’t, Tyler would find out I snitched and snitches end up in ditches? Don’t they?”

Milo said, “See your point, Lisette. So what actually did happen to Tyler’s demeanor when he did come down?”

“Back to the same,” she said.

“Meaning?”

“Wanting to put his dick in me. I got texts, you can read them.”

We had.

Milo said, “So back to normal.”

“But he could change anytime,” she said. “What if he got loaded again and started to think? He already killed Forrest for nothing, Forrest didn’t deserve that. I didn’t deserve anything but a good life so why should I let Tyler kill me?”

“Obvious threat,” said Bloomfield.

Milo said, “So you got the Tabash twins to help you. How do you know them?”

“I cut their hair. I cut their caretaker’s hair.”

“They have a caretaker?”

“Not a nurse, just a nice woman their parents hire because Rod and Ren are kind of retarded. Not real retarded, they just need a little help.”

“What’s this woman’s name?”

“Siobhan,” she said. “I cut her hair and she said I could cut the boys’ hair, it was basically skin them or do a faux with color when they wanted to let it grow out. They changed their appearance to do muscle shows.”

“Ah. They pretty nice guys?”

“The best. Sweet. I’m so so so so sorry for getting them involved. They didn’t do nothing except help. I did it. The shooting part, they didn’t know. I had to. I was saving my life, Tyler already killed Forrest. I had no choice.”

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