“Well, I just talked to the water department and the Shallenbargers have put the water service in their name. I’m not sure about gas or electricity. I know they don’t have their garbage picked up.”
“I’ll ask Dale if he’s been receiving statements. If these people have put utilities in their name, the bills might be going directly to them.”
“I guess we can sort this all out once we talk to them. As long as you’re in agreement, we’ll go next door and have a conversation. I didn’t want to mention this to Henry until I talked to you.”
“Well, thank you. I appreciate that, and I’m sure Dale will as well. Of course we want them out of there, so do whatever’s necessary. You have our permission to take any action required.”
“Perfect. We’ll have a chat with them and get back to you.”
After I hung up, I sat and considered the situation. I’d certainly served enough eviction notices in my capacity as a process server. A tenant can be terminated with a thirty-day, sixty-day, or ninety-day notice, depending on the circumstances. Grounds for eviction include damage to the property or illegal activity on the premises. There is also a three-day notice to pay rent or quit, but I couldn’t think how that would apply to someone who wasn’t paying rent to begin with.
38
The address Kim had given me for the condominium she shared with Teddy was part of a complex in an area called Paloma Run, located on a sheltered stretch of beach south of Montebello. Teddy was expecting me at 5:00, and I allowed sufficient time to account for rush-hour traffic. There was ample parking provided so as not to annoy the rich in their efforts to park their Mercedes, Maseratis, and Bentleys, many of which were neatly tucked into small cul-de-sacs, landscaped to disguise their purpose. We would have taken offense if we’d been confronted with an acre of unsightly asphalt.
I followed a series of flat stones that wound through the low-growing ground cover. Landscaping was limited due to a proliferation of pines that left the needle-matted ground under them impossible to plant. The building itself comprised two-and three-story sections, set at angles to maximize privacy without obstructing the views of the Pacific. Their apartment was on the second floor, linked to adjacent units by way of open loggias.
When I rang the bell, Teddy came to the door. She was barefoot, in formfitting jeans and a loose gauzy shirt with voluminous sleeves. As was true of the caftan she’d worn the night I met her, the style of the garment was vaguely Indian—small mirrors embroidered along the bodice, the hem beaded.
She stepped back, admitting me, and then closed the door behind us. “This should be interesting,” she said. “Make yourself comfortable. I’ll only be a minute.” She turned and padded down the hallway, disappearing from sight.
Setting my mental timer to “one minute” was a smart move on her part, as it suggested I wouldn’t have time to search the premises in depth, which is how I normally occupy my time when afforded the opportunity. I circled the big open room, which served as living room, dining room, and study. The decor was nautical—no big surprise there, given the ocean beyond. Pale grays and blues, enormous glass goblets filled with sand where hermit crabs walked, leaving tracks like the stylized rake marks in a Japanese garden. Throughout, I saw bleached hardwood floors, floor-to-ceiling windows along the front and floor-to-ceiling bookshelves on two interior walls. A glass-paned door leading to the patio was open to admit an ocean breeze. A stack of coffee table books served as a doorstop, all of them lavishly illustrated with the paintings of J.M.W. Turner. There was one boxed set, two eight-by-twelve-inch volumes, one of text and the other of black-and-white and color plates of his works.
I moved out onto the balcony and looked over the rail. Below, a wooden walkway stretched from the first-floor deck across the ice plant as far as the loose sand. Waves broke in a series of thunderous reports, the surf washing up and back. I could see the appeal of living a stone’s throw from the ocean. The sounds were restful and it was lovely to look out and see nothing but ocean all the way out to the horizon. On the downside, the salt air took its toll and the occasional strong storm could plant a sailboat in your front yard.