Trix

by Kate Morris

  “Foster,” he answered.

  “Hi, Jack,” his ex-wife greeted. “I wanted to talk. Can…”

  He hit the speaker button again and put the phone to his ear instead. Lorena didn’t want to pry, but there wasn’t exactly anywhere that she could go, being stuck in the car with him.

  “No, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he told his ex-wife. Then there was a long pause, “Because I’m working…No, that’s not going to happen…Look, I need to go…”

  Lorena plugged in her earbuds to drown out his conversation with his ex. She didn’t want to get involved, and she was pretty sure Jack was uncomfortable. Also, he looked like he was getting pissed, another reason she didn’t want to be involved. She felt bad enough that she witnessed him kissing her. His relationship with his ex was obviously complicated.

  The entire rest of the ride to the headquarters went the same way. He talked with his ex-wife and Lorena studied her notes to the tunes of Blondie. When they arrived, he parked them and tapped her shoulder. His call was finally over. Lorena removed her earbuds.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  “Everything okay?”

  He frowned but gave her a curt nod before getting out. Lorena grabbed her bag and followed. They met Craig in the lobby and walked with him to the command room where many agents were scurrying around.

  “We found out from Interpol that Basil Kovak used to be called Basil Markovac. He was arrested in connection with a murder in Greece while living there. Guess what his profession was? Yep, music instructor. He isn’t a second gen American, and his family still lives spread around Europe. He’s only lived in America for the past sixteen years. Thus the accent he tries to cover. Before that, he lived in Serbia where he was born, then in London, and finally Greece.”

  “Was he convicted on the murder charge?” Lorena asked and accepted the printout from Craig.

  “No, got off on a technicality. Didn’t even make it to trial.”

  “Gotta love those,” Jack said sarcastically.

  “Yeah, his DNA was found on the victim. Plus, he was spotted with her the night before she was found dead where she worked as…drumroll, a stripper.”

  “This is getting interesting,” Jack commented as Lorena perused the paperwork on Kovak.

  “He owns property in Scappoose, Oregon, too,” Lorena said, reading and scanning quickly. “Fifteen acres, it looks like.”

  “Yes, I was just about to tell you that part,” Craig said with disappointment.

  “He lied,” she said. “I asked him if he owned other property.”

  “Yeah, well they can’t all be Boy Scouts, Evans,” Jack mused.

  “How far is that from Portland?”

  “Twenty to thirty-minute drive depending on the weather and traffic. It’s also just northeast of Kelley Point Park,” Craig told her.

  Jack said, looking at his notes, “Would’ve made it easy to dump the girl’s… McInturf’s body last night and then head home east of the city.”

  “How long’s it gonna take to get a search warrant for the property in Scappoose?”

  Craig said, “We’re working on it now, as well as his main residence.”

  “Good,” Lorena said. “What about Victor Neumann’s brother, Christof? Anyone make contact with him yet?”

  “Yes, he’s agreed to come down from Vancouver to talk to us. He thinks he’s coming to help with the case. I certainly didn’t mention that he was a possible suspect.”

  Lorena nodded thoughtfully and pinched the space between her eyebrows. A sinus headache was coming on.

  “When are we interviewing him?”

  “About ten o’clock. He said he would be wrapped up in meetings till then. Who the hell has meetings that late at night?” he said.

  He handed her another file, and Lorena took a seat at the end of the long conference table as men and women darted here and there, all talking at the same time, the noise and congestion of the room rising in unison. A few minutes later, Jack joined her, and for some odd reason, the annoying chatter was drowned out as her partner talked to her. She turned in her chair to face him.

  “Find anything on Christof?”

  “Yeah, he’s got a rap sheet about a mile long. Assault charges, a fight in a casino in Vegas. Assault charges from two ex-girlfriends. He sure likes his violence against women, huh? Did you know about the Neumann family? I mean, their problems with the feds before?”

  “Yeah, some. Like I told you, he was the D.A. It wasn’t like I could do anything about it. If you’re gonna run drugs in and out of the country, it helps to have a few lawyers in the family to keep you out of jail.”

  “The feds have been watching this family for years.”

  He nodded and handed her a mug of coffee.

  “Thanks,” Lorena said and took a sip. “Yuck. Tea? Really?”

  “With honey. It’ll help. Drink it, or I’ll have to pour it down your gullet,” he said with one of his charming grins. “Anyway. Yeah, I knew. I tried to warn Liz not to get involved with him, even though I was pissed that she was screwing him behind my back. I dug around a little and found enough to know that the family was dirty and linked to a lot of foreign drug connections. The import business,” he said with air quotes, “is a front. They import crap for retail stores and run a wholesale company, but their real money, the big money comes from drugs. I think they’ve always been this way.”

  “Wow,” Lorena said with a soft sigh.

  “I know,” he agreed, leaning back in his chair and lacing his fingers behind his head.

  “This could complicate things. I mean, these people could have any number of enemies overseas and here if they really are running drugs.”

  “I know,” he said more emphatically this time.

  She sat back and whispered to herself, “Damn.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Christof also has an ex-wife we could talk to. Looks like she filed assault charges and domestic battery against him.”

  “True. I’d be interested in talking with her.”

  “Sometimes the ex isn’t the most reliable source since they don’t usually get divorced because they still like each other.”

  “I know that firsthand.”

  “Sorry,” she apologized, realizing the insensitivity of her comment. “She might be worth talking to, though.”

  “I’ll go dig up what I can find on her contact info,” he said and left.

  Lorena plugged in her earbuds and read through the files as she snacked on peanut M & M’s. Then she swirled in her chair and stared at the long whiteboard covering most of the west wall. Their top suspects were listed along with their photos and vital information about them that pertained to the case. Lorena stashed the rest of her candy. She pulled a cold lozenge from her backpack and sipped her hot tea, hoping it had caffeine in it.

  There were good candidates, some still being looked into. For some reason, there just wasn’t that feeling she got from any of them. That hair-standing-up-on-the-back-of-her-neck feeling she got when she knew she had her man. Something kept nagging at her that they hadn’t even met Trix yet. If he kept his promise, she would tonight.

  Chapter Twenty-two

  Jack

  He spoke on the phone conference style to Christof Neumann’s ex-wife with Craig and Lorena in the room. She currently lived in Boston, which was about as far away from her ex-husband as she could get, according to her.

  “Mrs. Ericsson,” he said, using her new married name, “could you tell me about the domestic abuse charges you filed against Christof about seven years ago?”

  “Yes, of course,” she said. “I threatened to go to the police if he didn’t give me a divorce, so he hurt me.”

  “Why did you want a divorce?”

  She chuckled and said, “Why wouldn’t I? Chris was violent, horrible, controlling. I couldn’t take it another day.”

  “And what happened the night of the domestic charge?”

  “He choked me. I passed out. I tho
ught I died. When I woke up, Chris was standing over me with a knife. I screamed, and he set it down. I think he was going to kill me that night until I woke up and caught him. It threw him off. I don’t think he wanted to kill me with me staring at him. I know it was the only reason he stopped.”

  “I’m so sorry,” Jack said. Her story pretty much lined up with the police report she did file. “And you left him after that?”

  “Yes, I told the police I couldn’t go back home. I sneaked out that night after he went to sleep and went straight to the police station. They put me in protective custody until I could get out of there. I moved to Boston with a friend of mine from college. Chris never knew about her, so I figured I’d be safe going there. I never took alimony or anything like that from him. I told the judge in California I just wanted to get away from Chris because I was afraid he was going to kill me. The judge and my lawyers helped me out a lot. I got a settlement payout and never went back. I even considered changing my name I was so scared.”

  “But he was never charged with attempted murder, just assault,” he said.

  “I know. I shouldn’t have done it, but I let the charges get plea bargained down. I didn’t want to have to face him in court anymore, and I figured if I pushed, he’d find a way to kill me.”

  “I understand,” he said. “Did they ask you to testify against him? Turn over evidence against him or his family for drug trafficking or anything else?”

  “Yeah, but I’m not a total idiot. I was never gonna squeal on those people. It’s the only reason I’m still alive. If I would’ve said anything to the cops, I’d be dead already.”

  “Do you think his family is importing drugs?”

  She sighed, “No comment.”

  “That’s fine. Let’s move on,” Jack said, assuring her. He didn’t want her to hang up on them. She was speaking to them of her own free will, and he didn’t want to break that connection. “Did Christof ever go to strip clubs or anything like that?”

  “Ha! Are you kidding? All the time. He went with his younger brother, Kyle. And even went when his other brother Victor when he was in town. They’re all disgusting excuses for men. But, trust me, Chris didn’t need encouragement. He went by himself, too. He cheated on me. He slept with hookers. Had affairs, went to strip clubs. All of it. He doesn’t have one, single loyal bone in his body. Jackass.”

  “How do you know he paid hookers?” Apparently, Victor wasn’t such a loyal, devoted husband, either. Jack really wanted to punch that guy.

  “I confronted him, and he had to admit it finally. Trust me, a wife knows these things.”

  Jack wanted to tell her that husbands know when they’re being cheated on, too, even if it took a while to admit it to themselves.

  “What about obsessing over anyone in particular at a strip club or prostitutes? Do you know if your ex-husband ever stalked any women?”

  “I don’t know. You’d have to ask him about that. It wouldn’t surprise me, though. He had a very domineering, controlling personality. He used to monitor my every move. Restrict every little thing I did and track me with my phone. He was very obsessive with me, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he was the same way with his women.”

  “Where did he go to college?”

  “I don’t know. That was before me. Let me think…” she said, pausing. “He told me once. Somewhere in the south.”

  Victor was forty-seven, and his brother Christof was younger at forty-five. It put him in the right age bracket. Jack tried not to let his own prejudice of his ex-wife’s new in-laws get in the way of keeping a clear head on this case.

  “Perhaps Florida?”

  “I can’t remember. Maybe.”

  Craig was typing away on his laptop, likely researching it.

  “Look, I don’t know why you’re asking me questions about Chris, but my answer is yes.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Whatever it is you’re suspecting him of doing, he probably did it. That family is all bad. The brothers, the father, even the sister. I’m sure his mother was, too. The grandparents immigrated from Germany after World War II. They were probably freagin’ Nazis. Wouldn’t surprise me. They were all assholes if you ask me. I was glad to be rid of him.”

  “How’d you meet Christof?”

  There was a long pause.

  “Ma’am? Are you still there?”

  “I was an exotic dancer at the time, okay?” she asked with hostility, and what he guessed was a lot of embarrassment.

  “Alright,” Jack said.

  “Look, that part of my life is over. I’m a mom now. I’m happy. I don’t want anything to do with that control-freak. I mean, good Lord, he even made me track my food intake so I wouldn’t gain too much weight. He made me get braces, dye my hair blonde, and keep spa appointments for Botox and facials. He wants a plastic Barbie doll, not a wife.”

  “Did you say he made you get braces?”

  “Yeah, when we first got married. He made me get braces. That sucked. I’ve got perfect teeth now, but I didn’t want to get them. It was really painful.”

  “And you bleached your hair for him?”

  “At first, I just did it to please him, but as time went on, he wanted it blonde and didn’t want me to let it go back to natural. He had a thing for blondes. It was very demeaning knowing that I was married to someone and could never be enough for him.”

  “Did he tell you why he wanted you to be blonde?”

  “No, probably some mommy issue thing. She was blonde. See what I mean? Control-freak, psycho.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jack said.

  “You know his dad killed the mom, right?”

  “What?” Jack said, and they all frantically dug through paperwork trying to find information on that.

  “It was their dad’s first wife, the boys’ mother. The sister is from the second wife. They lived in some other state at the time, Iowa or Illinois or some crap. He got away with it, though, or so Chris told me. He said his family would never be pinned to any crimes, not ever. Trust me, they have too many dirty politicians in their pockets. His dad eventually got caught, and they did bring charges against him. But he got away with it for years. I think he died in prison or something. Then the grandfather ran the family business again until the boys took over.”

  “I don’t have a record of that. Thanks,” Jack told her.

  “Chris isn’t even the kind of man I’d want around my daughter, and she’s only six. He’s a pervert sicko, and I never want to see him again for the rest of my life.”

  “Did he like young girls like that?”

  “Well, no, but he liked ‘em young. Or at least that’s the impression I got. It wasn’t like he was screwing around on me with a forty-year-old woman. One of the girls he was having an affair with was a blonde warehouse worker at his company. She was like eighteen or nineteen. Sickening.”

  “Yes, I understand.”

  He thanked her for her time and asked her the names of the strip clubs he might’ve frequented in California and Vegas. Jack wrote down the two she could remember, and they disconnected.

  “That was informative,” he said to Craig and Lorena.

  “This family is surrounded by a big smoke screen,” she commented and tapped her pencil eraser to her notepad. Then Lorena swiveled in her chair and stared outside at the rain. “I wonder if the boys ended up not in foster care but with their grandparents. If any of that about the dad killing the mom is true, then he very well could be our Trix.”

  Craig turned to him and said, “That was all good information. I don’t think she was lying or making anything up, either. Christof Neumann sounds like a real dirtbag. Not sure how he got off on the strangling-his-wife charge.”

  “Money,” Jack said. “Makes the world go round, keeps assholes out of prison.”

  “True enough,” Craig concurred. “I’ll have the Vegas branch get working on these clubs and dig up unsolved’s in the area.”

  “But Trix said he grew up poor, on
a farm, that was all very detailed or insinuated. The Neumann family has always been wealthy,” Lorena said, chewing her lower lip.

  Jack said, “Yeah, but he could be trying to throw you off a little, or else the ex doesn’t know them as well as she thinks.”

  She offered a quizzical expression as she contemplated that.

  An agent stormed into the room and rushed to Craig. “We’ve got our warrants, sir.”

  “Thanks, Seth,” Craig answered, dismissing the younger agent.

  “More than one?”

  “Yes, we asked to get a warrant on Basil Kovak’s current home and the one out in the boonies that he bought under his old name.”

  “Good.”

  “The M.E. also said that he thinks he’s got a hair,” he said, piquing Jack’s interest. “Yep, found it on the missing shoe.”

  “Where was the shoe again?”

  “About twenty yards away from the body. He must’ve dropped her halfway to the creek. That’s what the crime scene analysts are thinking, just like Lorena said. The hair is short and gray. We don’t think it belongs to the victim because she had long blonde hair as you saw.”

  “A hair?” Lorena asked, surprising Jack that she was listening. She didn’t look like she was. She seemed to be in a daze.

  “Yes, we’re having it analyzed.”

  “We need samples from Archibald and Kovak for sure,” she said, coming closer and sitting on the edge of the table.

  “We’re on it,” he said.

  “By the end of the day, we might want Victor Neumann’s little brother to give one, too,” Jack added, getting a snort from Lorena.

  “It’s getting late,” she said. “We should head to the Kovak place in Scappoose.”

  “We should let them work it,” Jack said. “You should take a break.”

  “No, I want to be there,” she argued. “I think this could be important.”

  “We’ve only got four hours till you need to be somewhere,” Jack reminded her.

  “I know. We’ve got time.”

  “Hell, Evans, in the shape you’re in, you need to rest before you go on this five-mile hike,” he said, his irritation growing.