Dylan Meserve had cleared out of his Culver City apartment six weeks ago, failing to give noticeto the company that owned the place. The firm, represented by a pinch-featuredman named Ralph Jabber, had been more lax than Michaela’s landlord: Dylan owedthree months back rent.
We encountered Jabber walking through the empty flat and jotting notes on aclipboard. The unit was one of fifty-eight in a three-story complex the colorof ripe cantaloupe. The Seville’stripometer put it three miles from where Michaela’s body had been found. Thatplaced the murder scene roughly equidistant from the couple’s respectiveapartments and I said so to Milo.
“What, the two of them reaching some kind of common ground?”
“I’m pointing out, not interpreting.”
He grunted and we walked through unguarded double glass doors into amusty-smelling lobby done up in copper foil wallpaper, pumpkin-coloredindustrial carpet, and U-build Scandinavian furniture made of something yellowthat yearned to be wood.
Dylan Meserve’s unit was on the far end of a dark, narrow hallway. From tenyards away I could see the open door, hear the supercharged whine of anindustrial vacuum cleaner.
Milo said, “So much for trace evidence,”and walked faster.
 
Ralph Jabber motioned to the dark little woman pushing the vacuum. Sheflipped a switch that quieted but didn’t silence the machine.
“What can I do for you?”
Milo flashed the badge and Jabber loweredhis clipboard. I caught a glimpse of the checklist.1. FLOORS: A. Normal Wear B.Tenant Liability 2.WALLS…
Jabber was sallow, short, and sunken-chested, in a shiny black four-buttonsuit over a white silk T-shirt, brown mesh loafers without socks. He hadnothing to offer about his former tenant, other than the outstanding rent.
Milo asked the woman what she knew and gotan uncomprehending smile. She was less than five feet tall, sturdily built,with a carved-teak face.
Ralph Jabber said, “She doesn’t know the tenants.”
The vacuum idled like a hot rod. The woman pointed to the carpet. Jabbershook his head, glanced at a Rolex too huge and diamond-encrusted to begenuine.“Elotro apartmente.”
The woman wheeled the machine out of the apartment.
Dylan Meserve had lived in a rectangular white room, maybe three hundredsquare feet. A single aluminum window set high on one of the long walls granteda view of gray stucco. The carpeting was coarse and oat-colored. Thevest-pocket kitchenette sported orange Formica counters chipped white alongvarious corners, prefab white cabinets smudged gray near the handles, a brownspace-saver refrigerator left open.
Empty fridge. Bottles of Windex and Easy-Off and a generic brand ofdisinfectant sat on the counter. Scuff marks bottomed some of the walls. Littlesquare indentations compressed the carpet where furniture had sat. From thenumber of dents, not much furniture.
Ralph Jabber’s clipboard lay flat against his thigh now. I wondered how he’dscored the scene.
“Three months back rent,” said Milo. “Youguys are pretty flexible.”
“It’s business,” said Jabber, without enthusiasm.
“What is?”
“We don’t like evictions. Prefer to keep the vacancy rate low.”
“So you let him ride.”
“Yeah.”
“Anyone talk to Mr. Meserve about it?”
“I wouldn’t know.”
“How long would Mr. Meserve have had to go before you threw him out?”
Jabber frowned. “Every situation is different.”
“Mr. Meserve asked for an extension?”
“It’s possible. Like I said, I don’t know.”
“How come?”
“I don’t handle the rents. I’m the termination-transition manager,” saidJabber.
That sounded like a euphemism for mortician.
Milo said, “Meaning…”
“I fix the place up when it’s vacant, get it ready for the new tenant.”
“Got a new tenant for this one?”
Jabber shrugged. “It won’t take long. The place is high-demand.”
Milo looked around the small dismal room.“Location, location, location.”
“You got it. Close to everything, Lieutenant. The studios, the freeways, thebeach, Beverly Hills.”
“I know it’s not your area of expertise, sir, but I’m trying to trace Mr.Meserve’s activities. If he hadn’t asked for an extension, would there be somereason you’d simply let him go for three months?”
Jabber’s eyelids half closed.
Milo moved closer, used his height and bulkto advantage. Jabber stepped back. “Off the record?”
“Is it a sensitive topic, Mr. Jabber?”
“No, no, not that…to be honest, this is a big building and we’ve got otherseven bigger. Sometimes things get…overlooked.”
“So maybe Meserve got lucky and just sneaked by.”
Jabber shrugged.
“But eventually,” said Milo, “his failureto pay rent would’ve caught up with him.”
“Of course, yeah. Anyway, we got at least his first month and damagedeposit. He’s not getting nothing back ’cause he didn’t give notice.”
“How’d you find out he was gone?”
“Phone and electricity got shut off for nonpayment. We pay the gas but theutilities notify us when the other stuff goes.”
“Kind of an early warning system.”
Jabber smiled uneasily. “Not early enough.”
“When did the phone and electricity get shut off?”
“You’d have to call the main office.”
“Or you could.”
Jabber frowned, pulled out a cell phone, punched an auto-dial three-digitcode. “Samir, there? Hey, Sammy, Ralph. I am, yeah, the usual…tell me, when didthe juice get squeezed off at Overland D-14? Why? ’Cause the cops wanna know.Yeah…who knows, Sammy, they’re here now, want to talk to them yourself…okay,then, just tell me so I can get them outta—so they can find out what they wannaknow. Listen, I got six more to deal with, Sammy, including two in the Valleyand it’s already eleven…yeah, yeah…”
Ninety seconds passed. Phone tucked between his ear and his shoulder, Jabberwalked into the kitchenette, opened cabinets, ran his finger inside drawers.“Fine. Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I will, yeah.”
He clicked off. “Utilities went four weeks ago. One of our inspectors saidthere’d been no mail for six weeks.”
“Four weeks ago and you just came by today.”
Jabber colored. “Like I said, it’s a big company.”
“You the owner?”
“I wish. My father-in-law.”
“That him you were talking to?”
Jabber shook his head. “Brother-in-law.”
“Family affair,” said Milo.
“By marriage,” said Jabber. His lips twisted into a tight, pale blossom.“Okay? I gotta lock up.”
“Who’s the inspector?”
“My sister-in-law. Samir’s wife. Samir has her come around, check thingsout. She’s not too bright, never told anyone about the no-mail.”
“You have any idea where Mr. Meserve went?”
“I wouldn’t know him if he walked in right now. Why all the questions?What’d he do?”
Milo said, “Would anyone at the companyhave information about him?”
“No way,” said Jabber.
“Who rented to him?”
“He probably used one of the services. Rent-Search, or one of them. It’son-line or you can call, mostly people do it on-line.”
“How’s it work?”
“Applicant submits an application to the service, service passes it along tous. Applicant qualifies, he puts down the deposit and the first month and movesin. Once we get occupancy, we pay a commission to the service.”
“Meserve have a lease?”
“Month to month, we don’t do leases.”
“Leases don’t keep the vacancy rate down?”
“You get a bum,” said Jabber, “doesn’t matter what’s on paper.”
“What does it take to qualify as a tenant?”
“Hey,” said Jabber. “Lots of homeless would kill for a place like this.”
“You ask for references?”
“Sure.”
“Who did Meserve give?”
“Like I said, I’m just the—”
“Call your brother-in-law. Please.”
 
Three references: a previous landlord in Brooklyn, the manager of the FootLocker where Dylan Meserve had worked before getting arrested, and Nora Dowd,Artistic Director of the PlayHouse, in West L.A.,where the young man had been listed as a “creative consultant.”
Jabber examined what he’d written down before passing it along to Milo.
“Guy’s an actor?” He laughed.
“You rent to a lot of actors?”
“Actor means bum. Samir’s stupid.”
 
I followed Milo to the West L.A. station, where he parked his unmarked inthe staff lot and got into the Seville.
“Meserve stopped his mail soon after he got busted,” he said. “Probablyplanning to rabbit if things didn’t work out in court.” He searched his notepadfor the acting school’s address. “What do you think of that ‘creativeconsultant’ business?”
“Maybe he apprenticed to earn extra money. Michaela blamed Dylan for thehoax but obviously Nora Dowd didn’t.”
“How’d Michaela feel about that?”
“She didn’t talk about Nora’s reaction to Dylan. She was surprised at Nora’sangry reaction to her.”
“Dowd boots her but keeps him on as consultant?”
“If it’s true.”
“Meserve faked the reference?”
“Meserve’s been known to embellish.”
Milo phoned Brooklyn, located the landlordDylan had cited as a reference. “Guy said he knew Dylan’s father because he’s apart-time musician himself and they used to gig. He has a vague memory of Dylanas a kid but never rented him an apartment.”
“Creative consultant,” I said.
“Let’s talk to the consultee.”