Free The Last Embrace by Denise Hamilton

vast majority turn up alive, and each one’s got her own reasons for not being found. They’re running from parents. Husbands. Boyfriends. Brats and bad reputations. They come to reinvent themselves, start new lives. And contrary to what the public may think, the LAPD is not a human fetch-and-retrieve service. Unless there’s evidence of foul play or reason to suspect a crime’s occurred, we don’t get involved. Which is why Mrs. Croggan’s calls to the Hollywood station got the response they did. But we’re Homicide. This is a whole different ball game.”
    “Now that it’s too late,” Lily pointed out.
    “Why don’t you go downstairs and have some coffee, calm your nerves,” Pico said. “The Crime Lab boys’ll be here any minute and they’ll turn the place upside down, dusting for prints, looking for blood residue.”
    Lily felt her heart flip over. “You think it happened here?”
    Pico crossed his arms and made a disparaging noise.
    “It’s all part of our investigation,” Magruder said. “Maybe the killer knew her. Maybe he left a pack of matches we can trace back to a bar he frequents. Maybe his dog shed on his sports jacket and we’ll match those to hairs found on the deceased. You’d be surprised at what we can do these days.”
    “Mrs. Croggan would like the body shipped home to Champaign for burial,” Lily said. “Do you know when the autopsy might be complete?”
    Magruder checked his notes. “She gave us permission to release the body to you,” he said. “But the coroner’ll need to run tests. With an open investigation, we’ll want to keep the body on hand.”
    Lily cleared her throat. “What tests?”
    “That’s police business.”
    “Did the medical examiner confirm how she died?”
    “Death by ligature,” Pico said. “She was strangled.”
    “Dear God.” Lily closed her eyes and prayed they’d catch Kitty’s killer soon so Mrs. Croggan could bury her daughter. “I’ll let the mother know.”
    “She knows,” Magruder said.
    Lily noticed Pico bending over the ashtray on the vanity table.
    “Did Miss Hayden smoke?” He held it up.
    “I keep telling you we never met,” Lily said. “Her roommates will know.”
    “You can bet we’re going to talk to them,” Magruder boomed. “Boarders, neighbors, boyfriends, studio people. Everyone she ever batted an eyelash at. We’ll research her life, her troubles, her finances. We’ll reconstruct what she did and who she saw the day she disappeared. Maybe she was careless about the company she kept.”
    Pico was behind her, just out of range of the vanity mirror. The skin along Lily’s back rippled. He was watching her. She moved to catch his reflection, but he glided back out of sight.
    “…and if you think of anything after we’re gone,” Magruder was saying, “pick up the phone.” He scribbled the number. “Day or night, someone’s there. Now. Do you know if she kept an appointment book? A diary? An address book?”
    Lily waved her hand. “You’re welcome to check. Did Mrs. Potter tell you that a man from RKO came by a few days ago, asking questions and looking through her room?”
    “Clarence Fletcher,” Pico said. “We intend to talk to him.”
    Magruder gave a sudden belch. “Excuse me.” He swabbed at his mouth with a handkerchief. “Big lunch today with the Culver City chief of police.”
    “Culver City,” Lily said. “Isn’t that where RKO is?”
    Where Kitty had worked?
    A foxy expression lit up Pico’s eyes.
    “Yes,” Magruder said with a hearty laugh. “And also Metro and Monogram and Vanguard. It’s quite a movie town and they’ve got their hands full with those unruly stars.”
    He shifted, and she felt suddenly how big and out of scale he looked in Kitty’s turret room.
    “Especially the ones who date gangsters,” Lily said offhandedly.
    Magruder was at her side in an instant.
    “What have you heard?” he asked in a menacing tone.
    She gave him an innocent look. “Weren’t