Free Hollywood Murder by M. Z. Kelly Page A

behind one ear. “Allison’s…” She took a moment. “I think she does her best…it’s just that…”
    When she didn’t go on, I said, “What are you trying to say?”
    Her chest rose and fell. “I think she’s a little overwhelmed between Vince and the children. Sometimes she seemed a little lost.” She shrugged. “I really shouldn’t be saying anything, since I haven’t seen her in a while. Maybe things are better now.”
    I looked at Leo, then back at her. “When you say she’s overwhelmed, what exactly does that mean?”
    Dodd took a breath, “Let me just tell you what I think. Allison is a sweet, kind person, but…I think her marriage is a sham. I don’t think Vince ever really committed to her. If you ask me, they’re probably only together because of their children.”
    “When you say that he never committed to her, it sounds like you think he was continuing to cheat on her?”
    She nodded. “All I can tell you is that a year or so after he and Allison got married, Vince hit on me.” She shook her head. “And that’s about as low as it gets.”
    I thanked her for what she’d told us and asked about her and Allison’s relationship with their father. “Your dad seems pretty intense. How do you and Allison get along with him?”
    She chuckled. “Intense. That’s one way of describing him.” She took a moment. “I guess you could say we all try to do our best. My dad is…I guess there’s a reason why he’s worth a fortune. He wants things his way.”
    “Do you and your dad…do you still have a relationship?”
    She sighed. “If you want to call it that. I call him at Christmas, on his birthday. It’s polite, but I don’t think you’d call it your typical daughter-father relationship.”
    “And what about Allison and her dad?” Leo asked. “How do they get along?”
    “I think maybe they’re a little closer because of the kids, but…” She paused. “My stepmother’s crazy about her grandchildren. I think she’s the glue that’s holds everything together.”
    “Georgette,” Leo said. “Can you tell us what your relationship with her is like?”
    “She’s a nice person. We’ve been cordial to one another over the years, but we’re not close. I think she only wants the best for everyone, but she gets lost in the shadow of my father.”
    We spent another twenty minutes with Karen Dodd before thanking her for coming by and saying we’d be in touch. As Leo and I walked back to our desks, I said, “Any thoughts?”
    He looked at me. “Dad’s a hard-ass, Vince is a cheater, and Georgette’s glue.”
    I nodded. “And Karen?”
    “Not sure. Maybe time will tell.”

THIRTEEN
     
    A half hour after leaving the station, I found Robin at his work station at Sinclair’s, a trendy salon near the Melrose shopping district. As Bernie sampled the exotic scents of the establishment, I told my brother about being on Hollywood Detective and needing him to work a small miracle on my hair.
    “We could try a new look, just for the show,” Robin suggested.
    “If you remember, the last time I had a new look, I ended up looking like Ronald McDonald.”
    Robin had used a product called Lady Russet that turned my hair red for Nana’s wedding. I’d recently seen a couple of photographs from the event that left me needing Prozac.
    Robin went on, “I was thinking about something short and sassy. It would help with your hair’s tendency to…” He took a moment, maybe trying to come up with a description for hair that sometimes looked like it had been plugged into an electric outlet. “It might make it more manageable.”
    He had my attention now. When I’d been in Hawaii I’d fought a constant battle with the frizzies due to the humidity. Maybe it was sheer desperation on my part that caused me to agree to what he proposed “Okay, just be sure it’s not too short.”
    As he worked on my hair, Robin told me about his latest love interest. “His name is Adam. He’s a script