Pleasant Harbor

by Thomas Bloom

  Rusty rang the doorbell and after a few moments a short, heavy set woman answered the door. Her hair was mostly grey with a few splashes of black and she had a small mustache. She was wearing a shapeless and faded housedress.

  “Good morning Mrs. Jiminez. My name is Dusty Donovan and I am the local sheriff. This is mister Zitweiller. He is on my staff. Also, this is Amanda Stevens who is the Chief of Police here. I assume you know your son has turned himself in to my office and has confessed to several crimes. We would like to ask you a few questions if we could come in.”

  “What crimes? What crimes my son confess? My son good boy. He not commit any crimes.”

  “Please Mrs. Jiminez. We need to talk. Can we come in?”

  The woman opened the door and motioned them to a living room with several armchairs and a sofa. Rusty, Amanda and Zitweiller took the sofa and waited for Mrs. Jiminez to sit in one of the armchairs.

  “If you haven’t heard this Mrs. Jiminez I’m sorry to have to tell you,” Dusty said. “Your son has confessed to two murders and has asked to be incarcerated indefinitely. We are trying to verify his confession. We just need to ask you a few questions.”

  “Two murders? My son no murder anyone. There must be mistake.”

  “Maybe there is Mrs. Jiminez. That’s why we need to talk to you. Do you remember where you son was on the night of the fifteenth of this month?”

  “He live upstairs and goes out his own door. I don’t know when he goes out or comes back. We only eat together on Sunday. He grown man. I don’t watch him like a child.”

  “I understand but this is very important. This was on Tuesday about two weeks ago. Do you have any idea if Roberto was home that night or not?”

  “No. I don’t watch him. Driveway on side of house. I don’t see his car.”

  Zitweiller put his hand on Dusty’s shoulder. “One of the things your son told us was that he hears voices—voices in his head. Did he ever talk to you about that?”

  “No. He never say about voices. What do voices say?”

  “They tell him to do bad things. Has he acted differently lately? Have you seen him do anything unusual?”+

  “No. I see only on Sunday. Can I visit Roberto?”

  “Of course,” Amanda said. “We’ll let you see him anytime. But you should know that we record all conversations with a prisoner, unless it’s with his attorney.”

  “Okay. I come this afternoon.”

  “Thank you for your time Mrs. Jiminez.”

  The three of them left the house and Dusty said “Well that did a hell of a lot of good. What do you think?”

  Amanda said, “She could be covering for him but my gut feeling is that she doesn’t know anything.”

  “Same with me. Let’s go see his boss.”

  Wilson Industries was located in a large, one story brick building on the outskirts of Ludington. The sign in front of the building announced that they made plastic parts using injection molding.

  Dusty flashed his badge at the reception desk and said he needed to talk to whoever was in charge. The lady behind the counter said “that would be Mr. Wilson. Just a minute. He’s in the back. I’ll get him.” A few minutes later a large, rough looking man came into the reception area wiping his hands on a shop clothe. He looked to be in his sixties. “What can I do for you Sheriff? I’d appreciate making it quick. I’ve got a machine down.”

  “I’ll be as quick as I can,” Dusty said. “Can we talk in your office?”

  Wilson waved them into a small office with a beat up desk covered by a mass of paper including a number of blueprints. “Okay, what’s this all about? I know you’re not here for me. I’m too busy to get in any trouble.”

  “Actually, it’s about one of your employees—Roberto Jiminez. Incidentally, this is Edward Zitweiller. He’s working with us in this case and also Amanda Stevens the Chief of Police in Pleasant Harbor. Mr. Jiminez has confessed to a serious crime and we are holding him. He claims to have been hearing voices. I’d like you to tell me whatever you can about his actions the last few weeks. Particularly if you were aware he was hearing things.”

  “So that’s where he is. He didn’t show up yesterday or today. I had to pull someone off a machine to run the fork lift. I hardly ever see Roberto. He comes in, does his job and leaves. He’s no trouble. He pretty much stays to himself. If he has been hearing voices I didn’t know anything about it. I can check with some of my other people but I doubt they know anything. Like I say, he pretty much keeps to himself. What crime did he confess to?”

  “This is not public yet but it will be shortly. He confessed to two murders.”

  “Jez, you’re kidding me. I can’t believe that. Roberto was the most passive guy I know. I don’t believe he killed anyone.”

  “That’s what we’re trying to ascertain sir. Here’s my card. Please talk to your other employees. If you hear anything that pertains to this situation please call me. Thank you for your time.”

  Dusty started the news conference with a statement.

  “First, let me introduce Amanda Stevens. Ms. Stevens is the Chief of Police of Pleasant Harbor and we are sharing jurisdiction in this case. Also, on stage with me is Mr. Edward Zitweiller a licensed psychologist who is assisting us in this case. We have had several developments in this case. As you know by now, we have discovered a second female body in the lake. Like the first victim this person had been beheaded. We have identified her as Amelia Zugman age 73. She was a resident of St. Joseph, Michigan. She was a widow and lived alone. We have not yet found any next of kin. So far we have made no connection between Mrs. Zugman and Ms. Patterson, the first victim. We are working with the chief of police in St. Joseph, a Mr. John Rogers, who has been of considerable help to us already.

  “We have no suspects in either murder. We have ruled out several persons who were in contact with Ms. Patterson. We suspect that Ms. Patterson was abducted from a bar in Lansing on the fifteenth of this month. We believe Mrs. Zugman was abducted from her home but we have no specific evidence of that. We have no idea where the women were actually killed or how their bodies were deposited into the lake.

  “The second development is that someone has confessed to both killings. We are withholding his name until he is arraigned. He is a resident of Pleasant Harbor. He turned himself in to the Pleasant Harbor police the day before yesterday and asked to be incarcerated. However, he has refused to share with us any details of the killings. He also admits to hearing voices that have caused him considerable distress. We have contracted with Mr. Edward Zitweiller, a licensed psychologist, to help us work with the suspect to try to sort this situation out. There have been no further developments in the case.”

  Immediately twenty hands went up in the room. Dusty picked one at random.

  “Sheriff, what is your opinion of this suspect? Do you think his confession is genuine?”

  “I dearly hope it is but I really don’t know at this point. It is very unusual for someone to confess to a crime but then refuse to discuss it. With Mr. Zitweiller’s help we hope to have this sorted out in a few days.”

  Another hand. “How did you identify Mrs. Zugman and Ms. Patterson? “

  “Ms. Patterson’s prints were matched to prints in her abandoned car in Lansing. Mrs. Zugman’s prints were on file in Lansing relating to an old incident.”

  “Where do you go next with this case Sheriff? Unless the man who has confessed pans out it seems to be at a dead end.”

  “I hate to admit it but you are right. We did pick up a little evidence at Mrs. Zugman’s home in St. Joseph but it is nothing that will lead us directly to a suspect.”

  “Sheriff, no offense sir but have you thought of bringing in another agency?”

  “No offense sir but who would you suggest we involve?”

  “The FBI would be the logical choice.”

  “The FBI handles federal crimes. At the moment we have no evidence that a federal crime has been committed. We already have four agencies involved,
my office, the local police department, the St. Joseph police department and the State Police. In addition we have brought Mr. Zitweiller into the case. Our problem is not a lack of investigative capability. Our problem is the lack of anything to investigate. We know these poor women were killed and mutilated. We don’t know where this was done and most importantly we have no idea why. There is no evidence of any connection whatsoever between the two victims. These killings appear to be random. That is the frightening thing in this case. If there is to be another victim it could be anyone, anywhere, anytime.”

  “What do you know about the voices your suspect has been hearing?”

  “I’ll answer that,” Zitweiller said. “This falls into the area of medical confidentiality and we cannot discuss it.”

  After a few more minutes there were no more pertinent questions and Dusty closed the news conference.

  Dusty, Amanda and Zitweiller met in his office after the news conference. Dusty reminded Amanda that Mrs. Jiminez planned to visit her son that afternoon. “When she shows up please call me right away. The three of us need to listen in. It might be a break through opportunity.”

  Chapter Twenty One

  Mrs. Jiminez came into the Pleasant Harbor police station about four in the afternoon. Amanda immediately called Dusty. “Roberto’s mother is here. I’ll stall her until you and Ed get here.”

  “We’re on our way.”

  Dusty, Amanda and Zitweiller sat in her office and watched on the monitor as Roberto was led into the interrogation room and handcuffed to the table. A few minutes later the deputy escorted Mrs. Jiminez into the room. She sat in the chair opposite her son and just stared at him.

  Finally she asked “why you do this Roberto? You no kill any woman. I know my son. Tell me why you put yourself in jail.”

  Roberto looked away and hung his head. “I have this voice mama. It tells me to do bad things. It tells me to kill you. I cannot kill my mother so I kill someone else. I no want to do anymore. So I put myself here. Now I cannot hurt anyone.”

  “If you hear things you need to see doctor. Why you not see doctor?”

  “You are right mama. But they have doctor talking to me now.”

  “Roberto, look me straight and tell me you kill these women.”

  Roberto raised his head toward his mother. “I kill them but it is very confused. I no remember much. I no want to talk about.”

  “I go now and pray for you Roberto. You have hurt me much.”

  “So what do you think?” Dusty asked Zitweiller.

  “Same answer he gave us. I’m more and more convinced that he’s lying and very disturbed. I think he told the truth when he said the voice in his head told him to kill his mother. I think he was afraid he might act on that so he made up this story so he would not have to worry about actually being able to do it. The question is what kind of relationship he had with his mother that could have caused him to become so disturbed. He appears to have been pretty asocial since his wife left him. No girlfriends and no friend of any kind as far as we know. His boss said he kept to himself. This kind of isolation is typical of someone consumed by a mental disturbance. My guess is that his mother came down on him very hard after his divorce. He said she wanted grandchildren. His resentment and feeling of inadequacy probably started the voice. But like any child the thought of actually harming his mother causes an equal amount of stress. So he looked for an ‘off ramp’ from his dilemma and here he is.”

  “Makes sense,” Amanda said. “But it doesn’t help us much. We still have to find a way to definitively eliminate him as a suspect.”

  “I’ve got some personal business to take care of tomorrow but let’s take another crack at him the morning after,” Zitweiller said.

  “Okay,” Dusty said. “It’s after five. Let’s have some dinner.”

  Rather than Porky’s they ended up going to a higher end restaurant in the hotel where Zitweiller was staying. After they ordered Dusty turned to Amanda and asked “so who takes care of the boys while you’re working?”

  “I have an older lady in the neighborhood who comes in when they get home from school and stays until I get home. If I’m not there in time she fixes them dinner, makes sure they do their homework and gets them to bed at the right time. The boys like her and she’s been a real life saver. She even does some of the cleaning and laundry for me.”

  “When my wife died my daughter, Stacy, was a senior in high school so she pretty much took care of herself. She helped with the laundry and housekeeping too. I’m afraid that since she left for college I just barely keep up with that.”

  “So,” Zitweiller asked, “how are your boys doing without their father?” This was a question Dusty had wanted to ask many times but as he had been the one who put her husband in prison he had never had the nerve.

  Amanda got a pained expression on her face and hesitated a moment. “Most of the time they’re okay but I can see that it bothers them. Some of their friend’s fathers are good about including them in ball games and outings but it’s not the same as having your own father. They’re both small for their age and not very athletic. They know they will probably not be big enough to play the standard sports very well but they have told me that they would like to learn to play golf. The problem is that I don’t play and I can’t afford lessons and equipment for both of them.”

  “Hell,” Dusty said. “I play golf. I was pretty good at one time. I’m not a professional instructor but I could certainly show them the basics.”

  Amanda gave him a long look. “That would be wonderful. When could you start? They don’t have clubs and I don’t want to spend the money until I’m sure they’re serious and will follow through.”

  “No problem,” Dusty said. “They can use Stacey’s clubs. They might be just a little big for them but for starters we’re not trying to get them on the tour just to teach them the basics and also the protocol of the game which is just as important. How’s this? Unless something comes up I’ll pick them up as soon as they get off the bus tomorrow and we’ll go to the range. That will give us a few hours of daylight. I always start someone new slow so they don’t get overwhelmed or discouraged. After four or five sessions on the range we can try actually playing a round on a real course. Unfortunately, this time of year, we only have a few weeks until the weather goes to hell. But we can at least get them started.”

  “That would be great,” Amanda said. “Thank you so much.”

  Chapter Twenty Two

  I’m working on it mama. I’ve found a few prospects but they are not perfect and I want you to be perfect. They have to be mean, spiteful and selfish. They have to be the right age and someone I can get to. It may take another week or two but I’ll find you. Then watch out mama. This one will be the best and I’ve got a special treat planned for you.

  Chapter Twenty Three

  At 3:30 the next afternoon Dusty was waiting in front of Amanda’s home. As soon as her sons got off the bus they ran up to Dusty’s vehicle. The oldest was named Elliott and the younger Bill. Amanda had obviously briefed them. “Hey, boys. Go in and put on a pair of jeans and sneakers. Make it fast. We don’t have much daylight.”

  Dusty had been taught the game by his father and he used the same methodology. Start them slow. Work on the basics. Don’t worry about how far the ball goes. Just try to groove a routine swing. Hit the ball the same way and in the same spot every time which is very much harder than non-golfers imagine.

  “Okay,” he said, once they were on the range. “Are you both right handed?” Both boys nodded yes.

  “Good. All we’re going to do today is work on getting you used to swinging the club. There are four things that give power to a golf swing. First, you start with your weight evenly distributed on both legs. As you go through your backswing you transfer almost all your weight to your right leg. Then, as you bring the club back you twist your body so that your torso is turned about thirty degrees to the right. You stop the backswing when the club is over your sh
oulders and parallel to the ground. As you start to swing at the ball you do four things in order. First, you reverse the back swing and start to bring the club head down. Next, you start to un-torque your body. Third, you start transferring all your weight to your left leg. Finally, as the club head approaches the ball you uncock your hands to give more speed to the club head. In effect you snap your wrists. This is called the release. All this happens in just a couple of seconds.

  “I don’t expect you to really remember all this. We’ll work on it one step at a time. It’s like riding a bike. You can read a dozen books on how to ride a bike but the first time you get on one you’re going to fall off. It’s a question of muscular memory. The only way you get it is to do it over and over thousands of times.

  “All we’re going to do today is to start to get a feel for the swing. Elliott, I’m going to give you a seven iron and I want you to work on hitting the ball with just half a swing. Bill, you’ve got a six iron and the same thing. Just take half a swing and concentrate on making contact with the ball. Don’t worry about where it goes or how far it goes. That comes later.

  The boys stared at him with a mixture of interest and concern. He showed them the basic grip and the standard stance. Then he let them swing the club but without taking a full backswing. Like all beginners they were totally erratic and occasionally missed the ball altogether. But after a half hour they were hitting the ball with some regularity. Bill appeared to have the better swing because he was not trying to hit the ball hard. Elliott made the same mistake as most beginners. He wanted to hit the ball over the fence.

  As darkness neared Dusty said “okay, now we’ll hit a few with a full swing.” Just as he expected they started to miss the ball altogether again but each managed a few good shots. “Two things before we go,” Dusty said. “Try to remember that hitting the ball as hard as you can will almost always lead to a bad shot. Technique is a lot more important than strength. One of the things I want you to do over the winter is to watch as much professional golf on TV as possible. Note that many of the players are just average sized guys. They are not three hundred pound muscle bound defensive tackles. The reason they are on the tour is that they have mastered the technique and not because they can swing harder than the average player.