Hotline to Murder Read online

  “We’ll have to get a search warrant,” the officer said.

  “Nathan has moved out so I suspect all you need is the manager’s permission,” Tony said. He had a thought. “Give me five minutes, and I’ll get you the manager’s phone number.”

  He hung up and said to Shahla, “The manager is in the first apartment on the right as we came into the courtyard.” They went to the front door. “Wait. Let’s see if anybody is about.” They peeked through the drapes and saw no sign of life. They went out the door and shut it behind them.

  As they walked to the manager’s apartment, Shahla said, “If the manager is a woman you do the talking. If he’s a man, let me talk.”

  “Who died and left you boss?” Tony asked. When Shahla looked ready to retort, he raised his arms and said, “Just kidding. We’ll go with that.”

  They knocked on the manager’s door. A small, elderly woman opened it. She was bent over, which made her look even shorter than she was. Tony had the nod.

  “Good morning, ma’am,” he said. “My name is Tony and this is my sister, Sally. “We are friends of Nathan Watson.”

  The woman looked at them without speaking for a moment. Then she said, “Friends of Nathan? Then why did you break into his apartment?”

  “Break in?” Her drapes were open. She had seen them through the window. “Er…we were trying to find Nathan.”

  “Nathan is gone. He moved out two days ago. So I’m sure you didn’t get anything. But I’ve called the police, anyway, in case you caused some damage.”

  “You called the police?” This was a reversal. Tony couldn’t think straight. “What police?”

  “LAPD, of course. They’ll be here shortly.”

  Shahla was tugging on Tony’s arm. “Let’s go.”

  “Do you know what Nathan is going to do?” he asked.

  The woman stared at him coldly, without speaking. Considering her small stature, she looked formidable.

  Shahla tugged harder. “Let’s go,” she said again.

  Tony went with her. They moved swiftly through the outside gate and along the street to his car. He looked back when they reached the car. She wasn’t watching them. He suspected she had stayed within the safety of her apartment. They got into the car.

  “Drive,” Shahla said. “If we get detained by the police, we’ll never find Nathan.”

  Tony drove. He wound through the largely residential streets for a mile or so and then, figuring they were safe, he parked again.

  “It’s a good thing they didn’t respond faster,” he said, “or we would have been trapped like a fox in the henhouse. I’d better call Bonita Beach and give them an update.” He got out his cell phone.

  “Don’t tell them we broke into the apartment.”

  “I won’t.” He told the desk officer that LAPD was going to the apartment building and suggested that this was a good time to coordinate with them to search Nathan’s apartment.

  “How do you know this?” the officer asked.

  Tony disconnected.

  “I hope it doesn’t get screwed up and the evidence lost,” Shahla said.

  “We can’t worry about that,” Tony said. “We’ve got to find Nathan.” His shoulders slumped. “But how do we find him?”

  “Give me his cell phone number,” Shahla said.

  “Why?”

  “I’m going to call him.”

  “You’re what?”

  “I’m going to call him. What else can we do? We have to keep Nathan from killing Tina.”

  ***

  Shahla took the cell phone and the piece of paper with Nathan’s address and telephone numbers on it from Tony. Her mind was moving faster than his. And it was going to take speed if they were going to save Tina. But before she tried to call Nathan, she had to call the Bonita Beach Police one more time.

  She called, using redial. The desk officer answered after two rings and said, “Bonita Beach Police.”

  “This is Shahla.”

  “Where are you?”

  She wasn’t falling into that trap. “I’m only going to say this once, so listen carefully. We believe that Nathan Watson has kidnapped Tina. He belongs to the Church of the Risen Lord. The church is on…” she looked at Tony and he said, “Brora Street.” She repeated, “Brora Street, in LA. The minister is Luther Hodgkins. The members think that they are going to ascend into heaven tonight at midnight. We don’t know the location where they are gathering, but it’s probably a local hilltop. We know it’s somewhere near a bus line. We are hoping that Nathan is going to take Tina there so that she will ascend with them.”

  “Spell the name of the minister.”

  Shahla spelled it. “Have you got that?”

  “Where are you now?”

  “Have you got all the information?”

  “I want you two to come to the station and stop playing detective. You’re going to mess this whole thing up. Or get yourselves killed.”

  Shahla disconnected and said, “He wants us to come to the station.”

  “You did that better than I could have,” Tony said.

  Shahla was pleased with Tony’s compliment. But the hardest part was yet to come. She punched in Nathan’s cell phone number. As it rang, she wondered if he still had the phone with him. Or whether the number was disconnected. She should at least get some kind of a message. Finally, voice mail came on. It was Nathan’s voice. Shahla felt some relief.

  “Nathan, this is Shahla,” she said after the beep. “I-I have changed my mind. I feel in my heart now that you are correct. The website of the church says that the ascent into heaven is going to be tonight. I want to go with you, Nathan. Please. Give me a call.” She recited Tony’s cell phone number.

  “Did I put enough passion into my voice?” she asked after she disconnected.

  “That will get him if anything can. What should we do while we wait for him to call back?”

  “I saw a McDonald’s a couple of blocks from here. Let’s get something to eat.”

  ***

  Shahla ate her Big Mac with gusto and popped each ketchup-drenched French fry into her mouth, separately, in order to fully savor it. Since her brush with hunger, yesterday, food had risen in her scale of importance. She hoped that this newfound appetite wouldn’t make her fat. Tony was eating a more sensible fish sandwich.

  They were sitting in the car, parked outside the McDonald’s. A Porsche wasn’t the most comfortable place to eat lunch, but at least it was temporarily shaded from the September sun by the fronds at the top of a tall palm tree, and the top was down so they benefited from a wisp of a breeze.

  Other people, young and old alike, continuously streamed in and out of the restaurant, like bees at a hive. The young ones looked like high school students. Apparently this was a lunch hangout for a local school. Shahla remembered that she should be in school. She felt a pang of conscience. She hated to miss even one day.

  When the cell phone rang, it startled her, even though she was hoping it would ring. She had the Big Mac in one hand and a couple of fries in the other. “Let me answer it,” she said, desperately trying to free her hands without spilling food all over herself and the car. She gave a quick swipe to her greasy fingers with a paper napkin and pressed the talk button on the phone.

  “Hello, this is Sa…Shahla.” She had almost given her Hotline name of Sally.

  “Are you alone?”

  Shahla felt a chill as she recognized the voice of the Cackling Crucifier. Or was it Nathan? It was both of them. Tony was right; the Crucifier and Nathan were the same person. She had never heard Nathan’s voice on the phone before.

  “Yes,” she lied.” She looked at Tony and put her finger to her lips.

  “I hear noises in the background.”

  “I’m in the parking lot of a restaurant.” Stay as close to the truth as possible.

  “Where is your maniac boyfriend?”

  “He…had to go to work.”

  “You’re using his phone.”


  “He…he lent it to me. I left mine at home.”

  “You said you wanted to be part of the Ascension.”

  “Yes.” She clamped her mouth shut so she wouldn’t be tempted to say anything more. She had to find out how much information Nathan would give her before she started asking questions and made him suspicious.

  “You haven’t given up your worldly possessions.”

  “Can’t I…that is, can’t you take me as your…guest?” She couldn’t bring herself to use a stronger word, such as concubine.

  “Is that what you want?”

  No. “Yes.”

  “How can I trust you?”

  That question was unanswerable and might lead to her babbling. She remained silent, with an effort.

  “Will you still feel the same way tonight?”

  “Yes.”

  “We’ll see.”

  Shahla was afraid that Nathan would hang up. She said, “There is one thing.”

  “What’s that?”

  “If you take me, you have to let Tina go.”

  Silence. Had he already killed Tina? Was this in vain? Shahla could hardly breathe. Beside her, Tony had cocked his ear and was staring at her, as if he wanted to snatch the phone. She put up her free hand to forestall him.

  “That might be arranged.”

  Shahla exhaled. “Let me speak to Tina.”

  More silence. She wanted to yell into the phone. Only her Hotline training prevented her from doing that.

  “Shahla?”

  It was Tina’s voice, soft but unmistakable. “Tina, are you all right?”

  “My hands and feet are taped. He says if I scream, he’ll tape my mouth too. He…he’s got a knife.”

  She was crying. Shahla had heard Hotline listeners cry on the phone, and she knew the sounds well. At least Tina was still alive. “Are you in the car?”

  “Yes.”

  “Answer yes or no. Do you know where you are?”

  “No.”

  “Did you travel on the 405 to get where you are?”

  “Uh…yes.”

  “Do you see any hills close to you?”

  There was some confusion on the other end of the line. Then Nathan’s voice said, “So you know she’s all right. I’ll call you later to make sure you’re still interested.”

  “Nathan, wait.”

  There was a click and the silence that signaled a hang up. Shahla turned to Tony. “You may be right. They may not be far from here.” She filled him in on the rest of the call.

  “You did a good job.”

  “That isn’t going to save Tina.”

  “It helps.” He patted her shoulder. “Let’s do some exploring.” He started looking at the Thomas Guide.

  Shahla was glad Tony was with her. He would keep his cool. He would prevent her from going off like a rocket ship.

  CHAPTER 37

  One of the reasons that Tony was driving around was to show activity. He hoped that they—especially Shahla—would see activity as progress. In any case, it was better than sitting in one place and waiting for Nathan to call again.

  Tony and Shahla explored the open areas adjoining La Cienega Boulevard. Tony hadn’t realized how many grasshoppers pumping oil still existed in the middle of Los Angeles. They sat on various levels of the hillsides, bobbing their heads up and down with a regular beat, oblivious to the city that had grown up around them.

  But the most logical place from which to ascend into heaven seemed to be the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area. Tony remembered that there had been a Los Angeles county supervisor named Kenneth Hahn, one of the five powerful people who governed one of the most populated counties in the nation.

  The spacious park had amenities to suit various tastes. Some people fished in the lake and others picnicked on the grass of the urban oasis, sheltered from the traffic and noise. But what caught the eyes of Tony and Shahla was the hillside. It was steep, and it had a ridge that extended for some distance along the north side of the park. But the first trails they saw that led to the ridge appeared to go straight up.

  “If they have to climb one of these,” Tony said, “only the fittest and healthiest are going to get into heaven.”

  They looked around some more and found an official trail that snaked up the west side of the hill and then went along the crest, according to a map they found at the trailhead. It did not ascend as steeply as the others they had seen. They decided to climb it and did so, slowly, to allow for Tony’s knee.

  The dirt path was wide enough for a four-wheel-drive vehicle to navigate. They walked east along the ridge and found several roofed shelters where hikers could receive a temporary respite from the unforgiving sun that baked the brushy hillside, parched from a summer without rain. They could see a substantial sweep of the Los Angeles basin. It was like looking over a calm sea—but the sea in this case was composed of houses.

  “I’ll bet this is beautiful at night,” Tony said, “with all the city lights. You can picture millions of people peacefully going about their business.”

  “Or in some cases, not so peacefully,” Shahla said. “Maybe we should have told the police that we talked to Nathan and that Tina is with him.”

  “If we told them that we talked to him by cell phone they might try to call him. If they did, don’t you think he would suspect that we’d tipped them off?”

  “That I had tipped them off. You’re not with me, remember? But you’re right. Of course, they may try to call him anyway.”

  “That’s the chance we have to take. But we can be sure they’re working on it from the church angle. Maybe they’ve found the good reverend.”

  “And maybe not. Los Angeles is so big. How are we going to find Nathan if he doesn’t call back?”

  “If he comes here, we’ll find him. And this looks like a logical place.”

  Tony tried to exude confidence. Shahla looked vulnerable. He placed a consoling hand on her arm. They held each other for a while. Tony pictured a battery charger connected to a cell phone to recharge it. In this case, both of them were the chargers and both of them were the cell phones. They were trying to recharge each other—with courage and hope.

  ***

  It was 5:30 when the cell phone rang again. Shahla and Tony had eaten more fast food a while ago. Shahla had lost her appetite, but Tony said they needed to eat to maintain their energy levels. She forced herself to swallow, but this time the food was tasteless, and she realized that if Tina was killed, the whole world might be tasteless for a long time to come.

  They were sitting at a picnic table in the Kenneth Hahn park, surrounded by the green grass. The grass must be regularly watered or it would look like the brown brush on the hillside. Tony was making notes. He said he was writing a plan of action, in case Nathan didn’t call again. Shahla suspected he was doing it primarily to try to keep his spirits up.

  Shahla was holding the phone when it rang. She activated it and said hello. Nobody answered and at first she thought it might be a hang up. But there were noises in the background. The line was still open.

  “Nathan? Is that you?” There were times when it was just too difficult to stay silent.

  “Are you alone?”

  She wanted to snap, “Of course I’m alone; let’s get on with it,” but she forced herself to modulate her voice and said evenly, “Yes.”

  “Are you still…interested?”

  “Yes. Where should I meet you?”

  Silence. Had she pushed too hard? But acting passively hadn’t gotten her very far.

  “Have you got a car?”

  “Yes. I can meet you anywhere.”

  “You’ll have to give it up.”

  “The car? If I’m going to heaven, I won’t need it anymore.” It was difficult for her to speak those words. She watched Tony’s reaction out of the corner of her eye. He was showing signs of impatience again.

  Nathan named the two streets of an intersection and said, “Meet me there in an hour. Make sure you’re alone.”
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  Shahla repeated them out loud so that Tony would hear them. “Is that where the Ascension is going to be?”

  “I’ll drive you from there.”

  “What about Tina?”

  There was a pause. Then Nathan said, “I will release Tina at that time. Unless she wants to be part of the Ascension.”

  “Let me talk to her.”

  She heard a click.

  “Tony, he didn’t guarantee he’d release Tina.”

  “He’d better release Tina,” Tony said grimly.

  ***

  “The intersection he named is not far from here,” Tony said, checking a page of the map book. Let’s reconnoiter the area.” He got up and started walking back to the car.

  Shahla followed him. “He may already be there. He’ll recognize your car.”

  “Well, maybe we can park a few blocks away and walk to it.”

  “If he’s there, he’ll see us. It’s still daylight.”

  True. But Tony was running out of ideas.

  “Can we rent a car?” Shahla asked.

  “There isn’t time. By the time we drove to a rental agency, did the paperwork, drove back…”

  “Okay, what are we going to do? Call the cops?”

  “The question is, what does Nathan do when he spots a police car? Stab Tina, figuring he’s going to be taken up to heaven even if he isn’t at the exact right spot at midnight?”

  “Yeah, too risky. He’s unpredictable. What else can we do?”

  What, indeed? He certainly wasn’t going to let Shahla meet Nathan alone. They exited from the park and started driving in the direction of the rendezvous, still discussing the issue. Soon they were going slowly through a residential neighborhood. A couple of hundred feet ahead of them a man came out of his house and walked toward a pickup truck parked in the driveway.

  “Change cars with that man,” Shahla said suddenly.

  “You’re kidding.”

  “I’m not. Stop, Tony.”

  “He’s….” Tony hesitated.