Done to Death

by Charles Atkins

  ‘She’s the last Parks standing. Unless we count our supposed test-tube babies. Either she did it or she’s a target. I think it’s the latter, or she’s smarter than we give her credit for. Could she have hired someone? Absolutely, but she wasn’t the shooter. Either way, she needs to be watched.’

  ‘There’s Mrs Strauss,’ Jamie said, as Ada and her grandson appeared at the front door. ‘You wanted to talk to her.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Mattie said, ‘but not here.’

  ‘Right.’

  They watched as Ada and Aaron got into his vintage blue Mercedes with its patches of sanded, but not yet painted, body filler.

  ‘It’s like end of shift at a factory,’ Jamie said, as the stream of cast and crew exited the brick mansion.

  ‘Or rats on a sinking ship,’ Mattie commented. Throughout the day they’d been on the phone with their New York counterparts, who in turn had been digging into the workings of LPP. Once word had gotten out that there was a pilot being shot, everyone wanted to get attached. That Rachel was on board as a producer, according to LPP’s head of HR, was a huge draw.

  ‘Could this have been predicted?’ Jamie asked.

  ‘What?’

  ‘This − the scale of this show? Is this the motive?’

  Mattie nodded. ‘I’m not certain, but it’s on the board.’

  ‘There’s Stromstein,’ Jamie said, as Barry, a canvas bag over one shoulder and a lawyer’s wheeled briefcase trailing from his other hand, appeared in the doorway. He was in animated conversation with his assistant producer, Melanie. ‘He looks angry.’

  ‘Yeah,’ Mattie agreed. ‘Wonder why?’

  ‘You know,’ Jamie said. ‘We could—’

  ‘Not without a warrant,’ Mattie said, referring to her partner’s enthusiasm for the high-tech listening device ‘the Little Whisperer’, which could only be used with a judge’s say so.

  ‘He gains the most,’ Jamie said.

  ‘If the show’s a hit, yes.’

  ‘You said always to follow the money.’

  ‘Yeah, and his alibi is tight and, according to the New York team, his crew was all together in a series of planning meetings when Lenore was shot. Can they swear to the occasional bathroom break?’

  ‘More than enough time to zip up to the penthouse and plug Lenore,’ said Jamie.

  ‘Absolutely. Or it could have been a group effort.’

  ‘That’s a stretch,’ Jamie said.

  ‘I know,’ Mattie agreed. ‘I keep getting this insane thought.’

  ‘You going to share?’

  ‘Sure, it’s like this. You know how we’re forever getting hit up for ten or twenty bucks for someone’s retirement, or when somebody’s in the hospital?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘Well, everyone hated Lenore. And the ones that didn’t hate her were afraid of her.’

  ‘Maybe not the girlfriends,’ Jamie offered.

  ‘Maybe not, until they found out they weren’t exclusive. So, what if everyone kicked a grand toward getting rid of her? That way everyone’s conveniently in meetings, or on a shoot out of town.’

  ‘Or at the hospital like Rachel and Richard. It’s a bit left field, and a lot of cutting off your nose to spite your face. But maybe …’ Jamie looked at Barry, ‘some could see a life at LPP without the L … like him. I’d like to know what has him so flustered. Should we ask?’

  Mattie thought about it. Their previous interview with Mr Stromstein had yielded little. ‘I’ve got a better idea. Let’s go visit the ladies and see what Ada found out. If something’s going on behind the scenes, she’ll know about it.’

  Jamie chuckled. ‘Yeah, better than the Little Whisperer, and no warrant required.’

  ‘It was awesome!’ Aaron said, as he and Ada met Lil at the door.

  ‘Exhausting,’ Ada said, as the two women kissed.

  ‘The kettle’s on,’ Lil said.

  ‘Lovely.’

  ‘How many cups of tea do you drink a day?’ Aaron asked.

  ‘I don’t count,’ Ada said, as she sank to the hall seat and eased off her pumps. ‘I’m bringing slippers tomorrow.’ She laid her head back and closed her eyes. She winced as the phone rang.

  ‘It hasn’t stopped,’ Lil said from the kitchen. ‘I’ve been letting it go to the machine.’

  ‘Who’s calling?’

  ‘Everyone; there’s a general sense that you’ve become a TV mogul. Who knew that half of Grenville was dying to get on air?’ Lil passed Ada her tea.

  A familiar voice came over the machine. ‘Hi guys, it’s Mattie Perez. I realize it’s late.’

  Before she could say more, Lil grabbed the handset. ‘Mattie, how are you? Sorry the dinner thing didn’t work out.’

  ‘Yeah, the day kind of got away from all of us. Any chance Jamie and I could still stop by and ask Ada a few questions?’

  Lil stared at Ada who, despite her exhaustion, looked adorable in her blue suit, with her spiked hair. ‘She’s about done in …’

  ‘We’re right outside.’

  ‘Of course you are, so come on up.’ And then to Ada, who was sipping tea with her eyes shut, ‘We’ve got company.’

  ‘Really?’

  The phone rang.

  ‘I’ll turn the ringer off,’ Lil said.

  There was a knock at the door.

  ‘Aaron?’ Ada asked, not wanting to move.

  He went to let the detectives in as a girl’s voice came through the answering machine.

  ‘Ada? Are you there?’

  Ada strained, hearing what sounded like a child … a frightened one.

  ‘Ada … Mrs Strauss. Are you there? Ada? Ada?’ the girl’s frightened voice called out.

  ‘It’s Rachel,’ Ada said. ‘Something’s wrong. Lil, pick up.’ She looked up. ‘Mattie, Jamie, come on in.’ She put a finger to her lips and pointed to Lil.

  ‘Rachel?’ Lil spoke into the phone.

  ‘Is Ada there?’

  Lil shook her head and looked at Ada. ‘Hold on.’ She passed the handset.

  Ada took it and put it on speaker. ‘Rachel, what’s wrong?’

  ‘I’m scared.’

  Ada felt the young woman’s fright through the line but couldn’t understand the breathy child’s voice. ‘What’s happening, Rachel?’

  ‘I’m being silly.’ Her voice was like that of a lisping five-year-old. ‘All these policemen … but I’m scared. Can you come over?’

  Ada was torn. It had been an exhausting day. Admittedly, most of it was spent with Rachel, learning all about what it was like to grow up as Lenore’s unloved daughter. ‘Why are you scared?’

  ‘It’s dark, and Richard isn’t here. I’m scared. There are people here. I don’t know them.’

  Ada looked at Lil and twirled a finger around her ear. Rachel was making no sense, and what was with the little girl routine? ‘It’s late, dear, and I just got home. The police will keep you safe. That’s their job.’ Ada listened to the sound of her own voice, like she was talking to a five-year-old. ‘The policemen are there to keep you safe.’

  ‘Could I come over?’ she asked. ‘Clarence will drive me. Please?’

  Ada felt trapped. On the one hand this was fascinating. On the other, no way did she want to invite Rachel’s kind of trouble into their home. And having spent the last couple days around Rachel she knew that the woman could not handle frustration. Telling her ‘no’ was a sure way to set her off. ‘I’m not certain that’s a good idea.’

  ‘Please. I can’t stay here. I won’t stay here.’ Her scared five-year-old shifted to a petulant one. ‘I want to stay with you and Lil. Please. Please.’

  ‘Sure,’ Ada said. She felt something tighten in her gut. ‘Get a pen and I’ll give you the address.’

  Lil stared at Ada and slowly mouthed, are you insane?

  Ada shrugged.

  Rachel giggled. ‘It’ll be like a sleepover.’

  ‘Yes,’ Ada said, and she gave her the address.

  Mattie had h
er phone out as Ada hung up.

  ‘Where are we putting her?’ Aaron asked.

  Ada looked to Lil. ‘The couch in the living room?’

  ‘I guess. Ada, what’s going on? Why in God’s name did you say yes?’

  Ada winced. ‘I’m not a good person at this moment, Lil.’

  ‘What are you talking about? You just offered our home to a near stranger. With double emphasis on the strange. For all we know she killed her mother and her brother.’

  ‘I know. I think I’m becoming one of them,’ Ada said. ‘This is terrible.’

  Lil sat next to her and took her hand. ‘Do you have a secret?’

  ‘I’m a bad person,’ Ada admitted. ‘I’m ashamed to say what I was thinking.’

  ‘Really?’ Aaron asked, listening in. ‘Now you’ve got to say.’

  ‘Yeah, I didn’t want to get her angry. Rachel’s got a hair-trigger temper, it’s like she goes from zero to a thousand in a heartbeat.’

  ‘So? You were more than kind with her on the phone,’ Lil said.

  ‘It’s what was running through my head, that if I make her mad this will all end. I’ll be off the show.’

  ‘Oh,’ Lil said, her mouth in an O. ‘Bitten by the bug?’

  ‘I guess. It’s not like anything was all that glamorous. We spent most of the day just sitting and waiting, but it’s exciting, Lil. Even now, I’m exhausted, but I can’t wait to go back. Everyone is so young and enthusiastic.’

  Lil butted her forehead against Ada’s. She whispered, ‘You’re allowed. Think of Rachel as your crazy boss. I’ve got my editor, who as we both know can be an opinionated prig. Sometimes you have to do a little kissing up. That’s life.’

  While Lil, Ada and Aaron made plans for Rachel Parks’ sleepover, Mattie was giving instructions over the line. ‘If she moves, stick with her.’ She gave the address for Lil and Ada’s condos. ‘This is too bizarre,’ she said, to whoever was on the line. ‘I’ve got the number of her shrink; maybe this will make sense to him.’ She hung up and looked at Jamie. ‘She hasn’t moved,’ she said.

  ‘What do you mean?’ Ada asked.

  ‘Rachel’s still where you guys were shooting. That was Kevin Simpson. He says she’s sitting in the chair sucking her thumb. She’s certifiable. She should never have been allowed to leave Silver Glen.’

  ‘It’s got to be an act,’ Jamie said.

  ‘Then she doesn’t let up,’ said Aaron. He looked at his grandmother. ‘You were with her all day …’

  ‘I was,’ Ada said. ‘I guess we’ll be babysitting whoever she thinks she is tonight too.’ She looked at Mattie. ‘I don’t feel equipped. You said you had her psychiatrist’s number. Do you think it’s too late to call?’

  ‘Probably,’ Mattie admitted, ‘but this isn’t the time for niceties.’

  ‘Agreed,’ Lil said. ‘Aaron, would you mind getting some linens and making up the sofa bed in the living room?’

  ‘You don’t want to put her in the guest room?’

  Ada shook her head. ‘Absolutely not.’ Between their two condos they had six bedrooms. In Ada’s, two were taken by Aaron and her mother and the third had become the repository of decades in the garment industry. In Lil’s, the master was their bedroom, one was Lil’s office and the third was for guests. The thought of Rachel in their home was scary enough. She glanced at Lil. ‘It’s better to have her in the open.’

  ‘No problem,’ Aaron said, his focus split between his grandmother and wanting to eavesdrop on Mattie’s phone conversation with Rachel’s shrink.

  ‘Dr Ebert. Hi, it’s Detective Perez. I hate to bother you, but we’ve got a situation with Rachel.’

  Amos Ebert eased out of bed. His wife looked at him and mouthed, Rachel?

  He nodded and headed into his home office in their Upper West Side home. ‘Is she OK?’ he asked, feeling his anxiety spike as it did with late night calls. Sometimes from Lenore or Richard, sometimes from emergency room doctors and social workers, but usually from Rachel.

  ‘She’s been acting strange all day,’ Detective Perez said. ‘She’s insisting on spending the night with a woman she just a met a couple days ago … she’s dyed her hair to look like her mother. We just got off the phone with her and she’s sounding like she’s five.’

  Ebert listened. ‘Where is she now?’

  ‘About to leave the mansion to spend the night with two women she just met in Grenville.’

  ‘Is she alone?’ he asked.

  ‘No. She’s on round-the-clock security.’

  He felt his anxiety ease. At least she hadn’t hurt herself, and this other stuff … he’d worked so hard to keep this from happening, to keep the hysterical aspect of her personality disorder from fracturing into distinct ‘as if’ personalities. ‘I should never have let her leave Silver Glen.’

  ‘She didn’t give you much choice,’ Mattie said.

  ‘True. Look, I’m in the city, I can be out there in an hour and a half, two tops.’

  ‘I don’t know if that’s necessary,’ Mattie said. ‘Can you at least tell us what we’re dealing with? I mean, is she safe?’

  ‘She’s never hurt anyone other than herself, if that’s what you mean.’

  ‘So you’ve said. But what’s with all the different people?’

  ‘Rachel dissociates. It’s like spacing out but even more so. I think with the trauma of seeing her brother die, and having it so close to her mother’s murder, she’s literally splitting apart. Rachel has Borderline Personality Disorder, and she has a strong histrionic streak.’

  ‘Translation, please,’ Mattie said.

  ‘The borderline is like she’s always in an emotional mine field. The slightest rejection, misperceived insult, frustration … anything can set her off to where she’s unable to contain her emotions − rage, self-loathing, depression. It’s extreme, and before all of this she had made progress, fewer trips to the emergency room, less cutting, fewer drugs and less alcohol.’ Dr Ebert looked at the framed diplomas above his desk. It was nearly midnight. He wondered if this were a breach of the doctor–patient relationship. ‘Here’s the thing; Rachel is a hysteric. What that means is she’s an incredibly good hypnotic subject. In a sense that’s what dissociation is, self-hypnosis. She’s able to shut down and wall herself away if things get too hot. Sometimes she does it because she’s frightened of what will happen if she feels her emotions.’

  ‘But the little girl stuff, and dying her hair?’

  ‘That’s what I was trying to avoid.’

  ‘I’m missing something.’

  ‘Borderlines who are also hysterics can turn into multiple personalities.’

  ‘So you are talking about the Sybil thing.’

  ‘Yeah, and if she’s headed in that direction I need to do something about it. Because once someone starts naming and identifying different personalities the whole thing takes on a life of its own, and it can take years to undo.’

  ‘I’m missing something. Is it real or not?’

  A vein pulsed on his forehead. ‘Depends how you look at it. Rachel is adept at self-hypnosis. If she tells herself she’s Lenore − she’s Lenore. This little girl is some remembered construct of a younger self. Detective Perez, I’ve been with Rachel for a long time. In the past when these personalities emerged, I’ve been able to help her put them back, let her conceptualize them as part of who she is as a whole. Right now, maybe it’s the extreme stress, the loss of Richard, pregnancy hormones … it’s gone further than in the past. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

  ‘That would be good,’ Mattie said, as she tried to think through the doctor’s explanation of Rachel’s mercurial shifts.

  Ebert paused, thinking through the logistics of getting his car from the garage at this hour. ‘You did say she’s under observation.’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Mattie said. ‘There’s a couple dozen state and local police at the estate.’

  ‘Good. So someone’s actually watching her, as in line-of-sight.’
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br />   Mattie’s breath caught. ‘I don’t know that for certain. Why?’

  ‘History,’ he said. ‘I suggest you check and request that a couple of those officers keep their eyes on her at all times. I’ll be there as soon as I can.’

  They disconnected and Mattie immediately rang Kevin Simpson.

  ‘It’s bad,’ were Kevin’s first words. ‘I was just about to call.’

  Mattie braced as Ebert’s last warning, possibly prophetic, rang in her head.

  ‘She’s gone,’ Kevin said. ‘Or she’s hiding. Or … someone took her.’

  ‘How long?’ Mattie asked.

  ‘Not more than five minutes. She went to her bedroom to pack a bag. One of the officers went in to check on her, the door to the deck was open, she was gone.’

  Mattie stared at Jamie. ‘Kevin,’ she said, trying to keep her voice calm. ‘Comb every inch of that mansion and the grounds. Five minutes isn’t a lot. Did anyone hear anything?’

  ‘No … the officer who was with her left her at the bedroom door. Rachel said she just needed to get a few things and she wanted to change.’

  ‘Kevin, just find her. Call in everyone you need. If we don’t have her back in fifteen minutes, I’ll see what I can do in shaking loose some more manpower from the state.’

  ‘There’s more,’ he said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘In her bathroom. There’s blood, a lot of it.’

  The pit in Mattie’s gut deepened. ‘Every inch, Kevin. Find her.’ And what she wouldn’t say … or her body.

  ‘What about dogs?’ he asked.

  ‘Do it. I’ll get there as soon as I can.’

  Mattie looked from Jamie to Lil and Ada. She was about to tell Jamie that they needed to get back to the mansion, and then remembered why they’d come here. ‘Ada, something happened today between Rachel and the producer.’

  ‘Yes, late this afternoon. Rachel was worried that Barry didn’t have things figured out for tomorrow’s shoot.’

  ‘What did she do about that?’

  ‘I didn’t hear the details, but you could tell she was angry.’

  ‘How did he handle it?’

  Ada recalled the way Barry’s face turned red as Rachel had laid into him. ‘What could he do? She’s the boss. He wasn’t happy.’

  ‘And you didn’t hear any of it?’