the chair closest to him shook his head and, even though he was only feet away, bellowed his reply. Jessie winced at the volume of his voice.
“Friday was Jenna’s Malibu thing,” he barked. “Remember, we jammed on the beach until the neighbors called the cops.”
“Oh yeah,” Avalon remembered, turning his attention back to Karen and Jessie. “It seems some people don’t like impromptu concerts outside their window at two in the morning—lame. So what about Jasper’s party?”
“We’re looking into the death of Millicent Estrada at the party that night,” Karen announced loudly. “We understand that you knew her, that she was your attorney, in fact.”
Avalon sat up straight in his chair.
“Shut the music off!” he yelled to no one in particular. “Shut it the hell off!”
A second later, everything went quiet.
CHAPTER TWENTY ONE
“Milly’s dead?” he asked, sounding serious for the first time.
“I’m afraid so,” Jessie said, watching him closely. “She was murdered at the party.”
Avalon lowered his head, as if he might be saying a silent prayer. When he lifted it again, he looked somber.
“That’s a real bummer, man,” he said quietly. “She was a cool lady, super tough. You know she helped me out of a jam a little while back. I could have spent some serious time behind bars if it wasn’t for her. And she helped my boy Wavy Davey over there too. She got a four-year sentence knocked down to just over a year, didn’t she, Davey?”
Wavy Davey, the guy sitting on the water slide, nodded. He didn’t look nearly as appreciative as Avalon.
“Yeah,” Avalon said. “He’s my roadie extraordinaire. Things just weren’t the same on tour without him. Nobody else knew how set up my snacks right.”
Jessie tried to get him focused back on the case. The guy seemed easily distracted.
“So you didn’t have any animosity towards Milly for not preventing you from spending time in jail while you awaited trial?” she asked.
“Nah, man. She didn’t have control over that. And she got me a sweet private cell—said I was at risk in general population. She was a smart lady.”
“So where were you that night?” Karen asked.
“Oh jeez, it was a long night. But we spent most of it by the fire pit, hanging out and doing an acoustic set. How long were we out there, boys?”
At the mention of the fire pit, Jessie suddenly realized that this was the same band that one of the party girls sipping mimosas on the patio yesterday had referenced listening to. Apparently the girl was too young to know that the band was called Humbert Humbert and not Hubert Humphrey. It seemed that Jessie wasn’t quite as culturally illiterate as she’d feared.
“We probably jammed non-stop from about one a.m. until after four,” the guy sitting next to him said. “We only stopped because Jasper’s house lady shut us down, said the cops were going to show up.”
“Oh jeez,” Avalon said, hitting himself in the forehead. “I remember that. I thought there were neighbors complaining about the noise, like at the beach house in Malibu. You don’t think it was because of Milly, do you?”
“That’s very likely,” Karen said. “So can anyone verify this jam session outside of your friends here?”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, madame detective,” Avalon replied laconically. “You could probably check with the couple dozen chicks that were with us. Lots of them were shooting video on their phones. Find them and it should show what was up.”
“I think we’ll do that,” Jessie said before turning her attention to the roadie extraordinaire. “Hey, Davey, can you come over here? I have a few more questions for you but I don’t want to yell.”
Wavy Davey pushed himself off the slide into the water and swam over. While they waited, Karen asked one last question.
“What do you think of Jasper, Mr. Avalon?”
The singer smiled, revealing yellowed, tobacco-stained teeth.
“He’s solid—knows how to throw a party and how to party. That’s a special skill set.”
“He ever seem to party too hard?” Jessie probed.
“Is there such a thing?” Avalon asked seriously.
Wavy Davy grunted as he pushed himself out of the pool. Someone tossed him a towel as he stood up. Karen pointed back to the house and he followed the women back down to the living room at the bottom of the stairs.
Wavy Davey looked like a guy used to living his life on the road. His skin was blotchy and his stubble was patchy and uneven. His hair was thin on top but long in back, resting on his shoulders