"I thought only teen girls were shy."
"Think again."
Our drinks came, although I was using the word "drink" loosely in his case. The milkshake might as well have been ice cream. In fact, Hammer quickly ditched the straw and used his spoon.
He said, between slurps, "So how did you hear about the Evelyn case?"
"Her son hired me to find her."
Hammer choked on his milk shake. I could have been wrong, but I think some of it even came out of his nostrils. He covered his face and coughed some more and I handed him a napkin.
"He does realize his mother is dead, right?"
"Yes," I said. "He also understands that her body is missing."
"He hired you to find a corpse?"
"Somebody has to."
Hammer continued shoveling in his shake. Some of it got into his cop mustache, where it was quickly absorbed. I wondered what else had been absorbed into his mustache.
"Yeah," said Hammer. "I suppose someone's got to." He shook his head. "My first grave robbing case. I mean, have you ever heard of such a thing?"
"Not since Frankenstein."
Hammer shook his head. "What the hell would anyone do with it?" He turned green and actually set aside his shake. "On second thought, I don't want to know."
"Who worked the initial homicide?"
"Yours truly."
"Full circle," I said.
"Yeah. First we catch the killer - the husband, always the husband - and now I have to run down the fucking body. What are the chances?"
"Slim to none," I said. "Where's the husband now?"
"In San Quentin. Death Row."
"Tell me about it," I said.
"The usual story. An abusive bastard. Beat her up often. One day he doesn't stop punching and brings a knife into play. A fucking butter knife that he kept near his bed."
"Premeditative?"
"Yup. Stabbed her seventy-two times."
Now I nearly choked on my orange juice. "Jesus."
"Bloodiest crime scene I've ever seen."
"So why was the body exhumed?" I asked.
"There's a paternity case going on. Apparently, a son has appeared out of nowhere, claiming to be an heir. I'm assuming it's the same son who hired you."
"An heir to what?" I asked.
"A significant fortune. The family was loaded. The loving couple left behind boat loads to two legitimate kids."