the Pallbearers (2010) Read Online Free PDF Page A

the other mourners why Diamond Peterson was put in charge of the funeral. It turned out that she was the current secretary-treasurer of Huntington House. After two years as a foster child here, she'd been taken by a family that eventually adopted her. She graduated from a high school in the Valley and had gone on to community college, where she took sociology. Diamond told us she'd stayed in touch with Pop and wanted to help him, so she'd come back and, for the last six years, had been working on staff. Pop made her the secretary-treasurer two years ago. It was a paid appointed position that, according to the California Department of Social Services, didn't require any special certifications or accounting degrees.
    We walked through the milling mourners and finally rounded the corner of the boxy, gym-sized, seventies-era addition known as the rec center. The bungalow that had always served as the office used to sit behind the recreation building, but now all that was left was a charred hulk. The fire looked recent. Ash and debris were everywhere.
    "What happened here?" Jack Straw asked as we looked at the small house, now burned to the foundation.
    "It accidentally caught fire the same day Pop died. He was so distressed, I guess he must have . . ." Diamond stopped, then changed her thought, "I guess we don't really know what happened."
    I looked over at Alexa. She didn't give me much, and, like me, she had on her cop face. She was thinking what I was thinking. Too many bad things in one time and place. It was starting to look like more than a suicide and accidental fire. It made us both suspicious.
    Diamond mustVe picked up the vibe, because she quickly added, "The arson investigators haven't quite finished. We don't know yet if it was deliberately set."
    "Really?" It was the first time Sabas Vargas spoke since the tour began. But that one word was packed with skepticism. "I wonder if this is connected to why he called me," he added.
    "He called you?" I asked the middle-aged Hispanic man. "You do criminal law, right?"
    "Yeah. But he called a couple a days before all this happened. He wanted to have a meeting. He wouldn't tell me what it was about. I assumed he wanted a donation for the home. We set it up for next week."
    Why would Pop call a criminal lawyer? I wondered.
    "Pop didn't do this," Vicki Lavicki said, refuting his unstated accusation. She was standing with her arms crossed defensively, glaring. "He loved this place. He wouldn't burn it down. That's pure bullshit."
    "Nobody said he did," Sabas Vargas said softly. "But come on, the office burns and he kills himself on the same day? Maybe he was so depressed he just snapped."
    "What if the office accidentally burning was like the last straw that pushed Pop over the edge?" Vicki challenged, glaring at him. "Ever think of that?"
    "He's dead," Diamond said, heaving a sad sigh. "Even if he did set this fire, who are you gonna prosecute? I'm trying to get the arson investigators to do us a favor and just close it. We desperately need the insurance check."
    I looked over and noticed Seriana Cotton standing next to Jack Straw. They were wearing flip sides of the same expression. Seriana had a slight frown, Jack a slight smile. Both expressions said, "What the hell is going on here?"
    We went into the rec center, where the staff had set up three card tables with refreshments. It was a meager feast. Cheese squares with Triscuits and Dixie cups half full of supermarket wine.
    After an hour, Alexa wanted to leave. Because we'd pushed our trip back, she said she had a few more things to do at Parker Center downtown. But I wasn't ready to go just yet, so I told her to take the car. I'd get back to Venice some other way.
    Vicki Lavicki was standing nearby and overheard us. "I live in the Marina," she said. "I could drop you, Shane. I go right by there."
    "Sounds good," I told her and handed Alexa the keys to my MDX.
    "You sure?" Alexa said.
    I could tell she really wanted to get me