“Eight hundred a week.”

“Very creative consultant,” said Milo.

“No kidding,” said Dowd. “That’s my point. Nora has no concept of finances. Like a lot of artistic folk.”

“How long ago did she ask for the money?”

“After she offered him the job. A week or so before Meserve and the girl pulled that stunt. Maybe that’s why he did it.”

“What do you mean?”

“Trying to win Nora’s affections with a creative performance. If that was the idea, it backfired.”

“Nora wasn’t pleased.”

“I’d say not.”

“Was she upset at the hoax or something else?”

“Such as?”

“Meserve being with another woman.”

“Jealous? I seriously doubt it. By that time Nora was finished with him.”

“She gets over ‘things’ quickly.”

“Nothing to get over,” said Brad Dowd. “She saw my point, stopped paying attention to him, and he stopped hanging around.”

“What bothered Nora about the hoax?”

“The exposure.”

“Most actresses like publicity.”

Brad placed his beer on the porch deck. “Detective, the extent of Nora’s acting career was a single walk-on part on a sitcom thirty-five years ago when she was ten. She got the part because a friend of our mother’s was connected. After that, Nora went on audition after audition. When she decided to channel her efforts into teaching, it was a healthy move.”

“Adapting,” said Milo.

“That’s what it’s all about, Detective. My sister has talent but so do a hundred thousand other people.”

I said, “So she prefers to stay out of the public eye.”

“We’re a private bunch.” Dowd took a long swallow and finished his beer. “Is there anything else, guys?”

“Did Nora ever talk about Michaela Brand?”

“Not to me. No way she was jealous. Gorgeous young people stream in and out of Nora’s world. Now, I really think I should stop talking about her personal life.”

“Fair enough,” said Milo. “Let’s concentrate on Meserve.”

“Like I said, a gold digger,” said Dowd. “I meddled but sometimes meddling is called for. In the end my sister was grateful not to get involved with someone like that. Maybe you should be looking at him for the girl’s murder.”

“Why’s that, sir?”

“His view of women, he had a relationship with the victim, and you just said he’s missing. Doesn’t running away imply guilt?”

“What view of women are we talking about?” said Milo.

“You know the type. Easy smile, cruising on looks. He flirted with my sister shamelessly. I’ll be blunt: He kissed up and Nora bought it because Nora’s…”

“Impressionable.”

“Unfortunately. Any time I’d drop by the PlayHouse, he’d be there alone with Nora. Following her around, flattering her, sitting at her feet, shooting her adoring glances. Then he began giving her cheap little gifts- doodads, tacky tourist junk. A snow globe, do you believe that? Hollywood and Vine, for God’s sake, when’s the last time there was snow in Hollywood?” Dowd laughed. “I’d love to think it was Nora’s soul and inner beauty that attracted him, but let’s get real. She’s naive, menopausal, and financially independent.”

I said, “How’d you convince her Meserve’s intentions weren’t pure?”

“I was calm and persistent.” He stood. “I hope you catch whoever killed that girl, but please don’t involve my brother and sister in it. You couldn’t find two more harmless people on the face of the earth. In terms of Reynold Peaty, I’ve been asking tenants and the only complaints I’ve received are along the lines of not emptying garbage in a timely manner. He shows up diligently, minds his own business, has been a first-class worker. I’ll keep my eyes open, though.”

He cocked his head toward the open door. “Coffee or a soft drink for the road?”

“We’re good,” said Milo, getting up.

“Then I’m hitting the sack. Buenas noches.”

“Early to bed?”

“Busy day ahead.”

“Beats honest labor,” Milo said.

Brad Dowd laughed.

Milo took Channel Road down toward the coastline. “There’s time till the class at the PlayHouse. How about we grab a couple of beers at a place I know.”

“Coronas?”

“Good brand.”

“As long as Brad Dowd’s not offering.”

“Never fraternize with the citizenry. What’d you think of our grown-up surfer dude?”

“You saw the knots, too.”

“And the board.”

“He’s the family guardian, takes well to the job.”

He reached PCH, stopped at the long red light that can keep you there for what seems to be hours. The ocean’s always changing. Tonight the water was flat and gray and infinite. Slow, easy tide, steady and metallic as a drum machine.

“Maybe I’m making too big a deal out of this, Alex, but Brad’s parting words seemed off: asking me to keep both Nora and Billy out of the investigation. We’d been focused on Nora, why bring in Billy?”

“Could be force of habit,” I said. “He lumps the two of them together because they both need protection.”

“Maybe that’s it.”

“Billy interests you?”

“Adult male with immature social skills who needs to be supervised covertly?” As we waited, he ran a DMV check on William Dowd III, hung up before the light changed. “Wanna guess how many vehicles are registered to Billy?”

“None.”

“And just like Peaty, never had a license.”

“Tagging along with Brother Brad,” I said. “When Brad drops in at the PlayHouse, Billy’s right there with him. All those good-looking starlets-in-training.”

“Getting an eyeful of girls like Michaela and Tori Giacomo, could be overstimulating.”

“Billy seemed gentle,” I said. “But crank up the id and who knows?”

“What if the real reason Brad didn’t want to talk to us in front of Billy was because he was afraid Billy would give something away? And here’s something else: Billy lives in an apartment in Beverly Hills. Reeves Drive, just off Olympic.”

“Couple of miles from Michaela’s place.”

“A guy with no wheels could walk it.”

“Same problem as Peaty,” I said. “How to transport a body. And I don’t see Billy getting away with an unregistered ride. Not with Brad that protective.”

That turned him silent until we reached Santa Monica’s gold coast. Beachside mansions, once private enclaves, were now exposed to the clamor and the reality of the public sand that fronted them. The clapboard monster William Hearst had built for Marion Davies was ready to crumble after years of Santa Monica city council dithering. A moment later, the exoskeleton of the pier came into view, lit up like Christmas. The Ferris wheel rotated, slow as bureaucracy.

Milo drove the ramp up to Ocean Front, continued onto Pacific Avenue, crossed into Venice. “So now I’ve got two strange guys with access to the PlayHouse.”

I thought about that. “Billy stopped living with Brad two years ago, right before Tori’s disappearance.”

“Why would Brad get Billy out of his house at this point in their lives? These guys are middle-aged, all of a sudden it’s time for a change?”

“Brad wanted to keep his distance from Billy? But if he suspected something, he’d tighten the leash.”

“So what’s the answer?”

“Don’t know.”

“For all we know,” he said, “Brad did try to clamp down and Billy’s a lot more difficult than he seems. Hell, maybe Billy insisted on breaking away. Brad pays some nice lady to ‘look after him,’ because he knows Billy bears watching. Meanwhile, if something does happen, he’s across town in Santa Monica Canyon.”

“Less liability,” I said.

“He thinks in those terms- foundations, tax breaks, keeping things organized. That rung of the social ladder, it’s a whole different world.”

He looked at his watch. “Let’s see how Nora reacts when I push her a bit. How long it takes for her to cry to Brother Brad.”