Evidence (29 page)

“Being
his arm candy.”

“We
all were. The men were really into business, the girls were mostly left alone
and a whole bunch of us ended up at the bar. That’s where I met Dahlia. We were
both getting drinks and hers was weird, bright blue. I said something about it
looking like dishwashing liquid. She laughed. We started talking, before she
left, she said, ‘It’s been fun, let’s hang,’ and she gave me her number.”

“You guys hit it off,” said Milo.

“Easy
with Dahlia,” said Ati Meneng. “She was pure sunshine. Even though she was rich
she was cool about it, I didn’t even know until we’d hung out awhile.”

“How’d
you find out?”

“I
mean I kind of suspected it because she didn’t have a job and she drove a Porsche
Boxster, really cool little red one. When I found out for sure was when she
took me to her house. Real nice and all done up. She said her parents bought it
for her ’cause they hated her.”

“Interesting
way to show hatred,” said Milo.

“I’m
sure they didn’t really hate her, she just meant they needed space from each
other.”

“She
had problems with them.”

“She
didn’t like to talk about it, just said they were all religious and stuff. They
sent her to Catholic schools, she kept running away, taking trains to Germany
and France, going to clubs, meeting guys. She never went to college, like her
sister did, and that made them mad. She just liked to ski and swim and travel
on trains and hang out. When she told them she wanted to see Hollywood, they
were happy to see her go, bought her a house. To her that meant
Stay away as
long as you want
.”

“How’d
she feel about that?”

“She
laughed about it. That was Dahlia. She used to say maturity was highly
overrated.”

“How
long were you guys friends?”

“Half
a year? Maybe a little longer? We actually didn’t hang out that much because I
had to work. Sometimes Dahlia would call, mostly she’d wait until I called and
if she was free, we’d hang out. She had platinum cards, was real generous, but
I didn’t take advantage. Being with her gave me a chance to dress up. Be my
best, you know?” Her eyes welled.

“What
else did she tell you about her family?”

“That’s
it.”

“Did
she say what her father did to make all that money?”

“Oh, yeah. He owned a bank. It was like in the family
for generations.”

“How
many siblings did she have?”

“Just
her sister, Dahlia was the younger one. She said her sister was the smart,
serious one. Studied to be an architect, or something.”

“The
two of them get along?”

“She
never said they didn’t. She didn’t talk much about her sister.”

“So
her parents bought her a house and she took that as their wanting her to stay
away.”

“I
used to say maybe you should call them, try to reconnect. ’Cause I did that
with my father. He’s real old-school, wanted me to marry an Indonesian guy,
stay at home and raise kids. When I got those commercials he refused to watch.
But now we get along.”

“Did
Dahlia take your advice?”

“If
she did, she never said.”

“How’d
she meet Prince Teddy?”

“At
first she didn’t know he was a prince.”

“She
found out after they’d been dating.”

“Uh-huh.
Guess she liked him for himself.”

“How
they meet?”

“At
the Le Beverly—it’s a hotel in Beverly Hills, small, from the outside you can’t
tell, it looks like an apartment building. Dahlia had a pass to get into the
private bar, it’s up at the third floor. I was supposed to go to a party but my
date canceled and I was bummed and bored and I called Dahlia and she said,
‘Let’s go to B.H., we’ll have some fun.’ She’d been there before. I could tell
’cause the bartender knew her drink—Blue Lagoon, they mix it with a special
orange liqueur that’s colored blue. Dahlia said she liked the taste but mostly
used it like an accessory.”

“Fashion
accessory?”

“She
had these incredible blue eyes, liked to wear colors that brought them out,
mostly red and yellow. But also a bit of blue, here and there. Like jewelry,
you know? She said the Blue Lagoon worked
like
jewelry, helped bring people’s attention up to her eyes. She was like that.
Artistic. Her house was full of her paintings. All blue, these wavy designs.
Like the ocean, you know?”

“So,”
said Milo, “you and Dahlia were in the private room of the Le Beverly.”

“I
was drinking my Mojito and Dahlia was drinking her Blue Lagoon and the only
other people were some Asian guys across the room, playing backgammon. Dahlia
made a joke about their being Asian. ‘I take you to this great place to get
away from work and it ends up looking just like work.’ I laughed and she
laughed and then one of them came over and for a second I thought they heard us
and were ticked off. But the guy was smiling, saying, ‘Women are beautiful when
they’re happy. If you’d agree to join us, we’d be highly proud.’ Something like
that, kind of lame. He had an accent but you could understand him. We figured
he was the assistant because he was the smallest of them and not the most
handsome and the worst dressed. The other two guys were younger, taller, real
handsome, in Zegna suits. Later I found out
they
were the bodyguards and
he had come over himself.”

“Prince
Teddy.”

“He
just called himself Ted. You’d never know he was anything important, he just
had on a sweater and jeans. And he looked real young. Shorter than Dahlia, but
she said, ‘Sure,’ and we got up and joined them. Without asking me, but that
was okay, mostly I let Dahlia make the decisions. It was her got me in there in
the first place.”

“So
you joined Ted and his bodyguards.”

“We
didn’t know they were bodyguards, we just thought they were three guys. They
ordered some bar food and more drinks, put their backgammon away. No one was
nasty or gross, it was nice and polite. The bodyguards, you’d never know they
were bodyguards.”

“They
didn’t act tough.”

“They
acted like his friends. Just guys hanging out.”

“Rich
guys.”

She
blinked. “Yeah, I guess so, being in the private lounge. But
that’s not what got Dahlia to join them, money didn’t
impress her, she had her own. She told me afterward she thought he was cute and
sweet and real smart. I guess he was smart, he could talk about all sorts of
things.”

“Like
what?”

“Nature,
travel? I really wasn’t listening.”

“Dahlia
reported to you afterward,” he said.

“The
next morning,” said Ati Meneng, coloring. “Yeah, okay, she went home with him.
But it wasn’t like she ditched me. When we were in the ladies’ room, she told
me she’d decided to do it, but only if I was okay with it. He seemed like fun,
she wanted some fun. She insisted on giving me cab money. I had an early
audition, anyway.”

“Was
that pretty typical for Dahlia? Going with guys she just met?”

Black
eyes sparked. “She was
not
a slut.”

“Of
course not,” said Milo. “I’m just asking if she made quick decisions.”

“No,”
said Ati Meneng. “She’d dance with guys, kiss them on the dance floor, even …
sometimes she’d go off to a private VIP room. But I never saw her leaving for a
whole evening with a guy. Never.”

“She
must’ve really liked Teddy.”

“Once
they started dating, I hardly ever saw her. But I was cool with that, everyone
has their own life.”

“Eventually,
she told you who he was.”

“That
was maybe… weeks after, I can’t remember. We hadn’t seen each other and all of
a sudden Dahlia called to catch up. Said he was out of town, let’s go to Spago.
She thought it was funny.”

“What
was?”

“How
we thought he was the assistant and he turned out to be from one of the richest
families in the world. She said he still didn’t like to dress up. Sometimes he
rented a cheap car and drove to McDonald’s and ate cheeseburgers. Next day he’d
be in his Gulf-stream, that’s a jet, flying anywhere he wanted. She flew in it,
too, said it was all pimped up, black wood, black everything inside.”

“Where’d he fly Dahlia?”

“Mostly
Vegas, but one time Hawaii. He liked to gamble. Dahlia’s only thing was when
she was with him she didn’t drink, ’cause he was Muslim.”

“He
wasn’t drinking that night at the Le Beverly?”

“Diet
Coke,” she said. “His thing was Diet Coke. But he wasn’t whack about it, you
know? Religion, I mean. Basically, she thought he was a cool little guy. That’s
what she called him. My cool little guy.”

“She
ever talk about problems in the relationship?”

“He
could get grumpy, had a temper, but not to worry, he was already a member of
the …” Blushing, she drew hair across her face.

Milo
said, “Member of what?”

“It
was just a joke.”

“A
joke about what?”

No
answer.

Milo
said, “What club was Teddy a member of?”

The
hair fell away. “Not a real club, just a joke. The Three F Club. She said it
was the only way to a man’s heart. Three F’s—feed ’em, flatter ’em, fuck ’em.
Don’t write that down, I don’t want my parents to see it.”

“You
see paper and pencil anywhere, Ati?”

“I’m
just saying.”

“So
Dahlia never complained about Teddy being aggressive or violent with her?”

“Never.”

“Just
grumpy with a temper.”

“Nothing
whack, like any guy.”

“But
you told Detective Reed he hurt her.”

“Because
I believe he did.”

“You
believe?”

“I
can’t prove it, but …”

“You
suspect.”

Nod.

“Why,
Ati? This is important.”

“Did he?”

“We
don’t know, Ati. Help us.”

She
breathed in. Exhaled slowly. “The last time I heard from her she was going
traveling with him, she said she’d be back in a few days, we’d hang out. But
she never called and I never heard from her again and when I called her phone,
it was disconnected and when I went to her house, no one was there.”

“Where’d
she say she was traveling with Teddy?”

“Back
home,” she said. “His home.”

“Sranil.”

She
frowned. “My parents told me about it. It’s a weird place, full of like
old-fashioned peasants. Indonesia’s modern. Sranil’s just an island that never
became part of Indonesia. Teddy didn’t like it himself, was going over there to
get a bunch of his money and come back here and live with Dahlia. He was
already building a house. He wanted to be modern and be with any woman he
wanted even if she was white, not be under his brother’s thumb.”

“Dahlia
told you all that.”

“Yes.”

“Maybe
she went there with Teddy and decided to stay.”

“No
way,” said Ati Meneng. “That’s why I know something happened to her. She
totally planned to come back. Promised me we’d hang out when she got back. But
she never got back.”

“Did
you report her missing?”

“She
wasn’t missing, she was with
him
.”

“You
suspected he’d hurt her.”

“I
didn’t think so at the beginning. I just … I don’t know, maybe it was his
brother but I was too afraid to say that. His being a sultan, who’d believe
me?” Looking at Reed. “I didn’t think you’d believe any of it, period. Mostly I
forgot about it, then you showed up and it was like something clicked inside my
head, you know?”

Milo
said, “You told Detective Reed about a Swedish girl but you didn’t use Dahlia’s
name.”

“I
didn’t—I wasn’t sure. It’s not like I was still thinking about it. I
used
to think about it. Then it stopped. Then he
showed up … I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“No,
no, you did great, Ati. We really appreciate it. Now tell us everything you
know.”

“That
is everything.”

“Dahlia
definitely planned to return to L.A.”

“We
had plans,” said Ati Meneng. “A whole day, soon as
she got back. First we were going to the Barney’s warehouse sale and have lunch
at this café at the Santa Monica Airport—that’s where the sale is. Then we were
having dinner at the Ivy—not the beach, the one on Robertson. Then we were
going dancing. But she never came back. And she left her car at her house and
when I looked in through the window, all her stuff was still in there.”

“You
went over because you were worried.”

Tears
turned the black eyes to pond-stones. “I kept calling. Her cell was
disconnected, she had no more Internet for IM’ing, her house was dark. My mind
started running. I mean I liked him the couple of times I met him, but I didn’t
really know him. And what my parents said, that started to bother me.”