“Stephen, I didn’t want it to come to this either. But, like Mark said, John was getting careless and was going to bring the law down on us.”
“Hell, of what I heard, you guys were already being looked at.”
“They haven’t talked to you, and Mark would like to keep it that way.”
“Well with John murdered, I have a funny feeling I will be on their visiting list real soon,” he says in a disgusted tone, “take my word for it.”
“But your timing couldn’t have been worse. Shit, did you have to come over right then? The detective was just leaving as you drove up. You should have called,” David points out and adds. “Can I get a drink?”
“Have I ever stopped you before? Get me one also.”
“Hey, I heard you got a new part? Do you think they might have a spot for me?”
“I’ll check tomorrow.” He tried to say it reassuringly.
Chapter 36
Right away, they all start working on their assignments. Susan is assigned the four dead women. She knows some information through the newspapers, grocery tabloids, etc. but she knows that alone is not what Mike wants. He wants to know what really lies behind the women.
Susan moves to Patricia’s body first, following the same precise follow-up. From her body to Michelle’s, to Barbara’s, then to Gracie’s. On Patricia’s, Barbara’s, and Michelle’s second autopsy, nothing worth noting was found outside the first autopsy results. She goes over all the bodies more thoroughly. She knows this is going to take a couple of days, but she doesn’t care. Hopefully, she hasn’t missed anything, or in another thought, hoping she has missed something, anything that would help with the case.
She goes over Gracie’s, who was the first to die, and whose husband had said he would have someone pick her up a week ago, and still no one has shown up.
She had mainly checked the puncture wounds; she did check the rest of the body, but nothing seemed out of line. This time, she went inch by inch, just to see if she had missed anything, just as she has done with all the others. She rechecks all the blood specimens, rechecks all the crime scene evidence. She was astonished to see what she had missed the first time, along with a further test on the blood.
Susan starts compiling information about the four of them. She finds out where they went to school, which colleges they attended, where they grew up, who their parents were.
Paul works on his assignment beginning with David Brenner since we know the least about him. Just like Susan, he finds out where the three grew up, went to school, which colleges, and what their degrees were in.
Two days later, after Sharon picks me up, we all meet up in my office, and everyone brings the files they had on each of their assigned people. Sharon starts first.
“Mr. Tan, as we know is a billionaire, has his own private plane, and flies all over the world. He was not in this country when the four ladies were murdered.” She continues, “I know this because I checked business reports and the paparazzi. Did you know magazines pay people to take photos of not just kings, queens, and actors, but also very rich businessmen?” She looks around. “Well, I didn’t. But I thought that was kind of interesting. So we can rule him out unless he hired someone to kill his wife, and then I need to do more checking. He has villas on three continents, along with several here in the States and Canada. Mrs. Tan’s home was hers since her parents died; she inherited the estate. You may ask why did he marry her or vice versa. Well, he likes having a beautiful woman beside him, as Susan and Mike found out downstairs in the morgue. Because she was a big TV star, he wanted the notoriety he got when she was at his side.” She continues, “I couldn’t find out where she went to high school, but she graduated from UCLA, with a degree in drama.” After taking a sip of water, she added, “Now, more on John Jacobs. We know he had an apartment in downtown L.A. and was a very talented and well-known photographer, but you may be surprised to know he grew up just several houses down from Gracie Tan’s home. He took notable pictures of famous people, from high officials in the government, royalty, and sports figures. He was even the photographer who took the official pictures for the last three governors and the last two mayors as well as the last two presidents. He also graduated from UCLA, with his major in, guess what, photography.” Looking over to Mike, she said, “I’m sorry, but I couldn’t find out anything on the fifth man in the photo, without asking Mark who he is. We may never know.”
“Okay, Paul, what have you found?” I ask, hoping he might just have something new to report.
“You know Mark Jacobson. He inherited his wealth from his grandfather. Of all of our suspects, outside of Mr. Tan, Mark is the wealthiest. Estimated net worth around two hundred twenty million dollars, give or take a few. He too has several homes around the world, including one country that doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the United States. He is an avid hunter and sports fisherman.” He places the photos of the hunting and fishing pictures up on the screen, “He graduated from MIT with an electrical engineering degree. So he could have designed the device that was used to block out the pictures, and probably did. He thinks he is a ladies' man and he believes himself irresistible to women. He even went to grade school with three of the ones in the picture.”
“David Brenner is the odd man out. As we now know, three of the guys, or I should say four, lived within walking distance from each other. That’s John, Mark, Stephen, and Jerry.
We all look at each other in puzzlement and ask, “Who’s Jerry?”
“I will get around to him in a second, but first going back to David. He was in high school with these four and is a follower, not a leader. He idolizes Mark, probably because of his money or his charisma. I got hold of one of their coaches, and he told me they were inseparable, and I got the feeling he would do anything Mark asked of him. They played football and baseball together, so that cemented their relationship. They all enjoyed fishing and hunting and seemed to have gone all four years to Hawaii for marlin fishing, Nebraska for pheasant hunting, and Colorado for Rocky Mountain sheep.
“Stephen, the movie actor, the film that helped him was Nobody’s Perfect. He was nominated for an Oscar, and without that part, he probably would have been written off of everyone's list of getting any further parts. He graduated from UCLA in drama along with Gracie.Right now, he is one of the principal actors in a new series which is in pilot mode, of that being a serial killer of famous movie stars. Boy, doesn’t that sound familiar. But before that, several years ago, there was another pilot which didn’t make it, where he had one of the lead roles as a surgeon. Mike told me Julius mentioned to him Stephen is really putting himself into the part. So with that being said, his part is the serial killer, by stabbing his victims. And now knowing him better, he probably knows how to place an ice pick into a human neck with precise measures and kill a person. When speaking with the coach, he told me when Stephen was on the deer and ram hunting trips, he was the skinner. They used to brag about that in the locker room along with who shot what and caught the biggest.
Jerry, oh yes I mentioned Jerry. And you all looked shocked, just as I was. Jerry, who the hell is Jerry? The coach at the school and even the principal doesn’t know what happened to him. I’m told, and you all know, they were as thick as thieves. Other than being one of the five, he seemed to have disappeared. He hasn’t been back for any of the class reunions. They believe he joined the military and possibly got killed in the line of duty. He’s the one in the picture sitting in the middle.”
“Now, Susan, what have you got?” I ask.
“I might just have the most important news of all.” She looks around to see if she caught their attention. “But I will start out first with Michelle Borne. As you know, she and Mark dated for about eight months. But it was told by the tabloids she broke up with him, and if so, he would have been very upset. With just listening to what Paul said about him being a 'ladies' man,' Michelle, even though very young, was known to be not only mature for her age but very independent. As
we know, she was planning on buying her first home. She was about half his age, which almost makes him a predator in my eyes.
Patricia Wright, as you know, lived in the same three-block area as John, Stephen, Gracie, and Mark. She was not one of the ones that grew up with them. She bought her mansion just several years back, got most of her wealth from her late husband—no one knows for sure how he died. He had made his money in oil. She didn’t get any degree that I could find. We are all aware she was in love with herself. And she was not afraid to use people to get what she wanted.” She leans over to get a sip of water. “Now for Gracie Ta, Paul, I’m surprised your facial recognition didn’t pick out who she really was.” With Paul looking in questioning amazement, she goes on: “We know she was a huge TV star, with winning two Emmys and creating some enemies along the way. We know she knew the four and lived right up the street.” Now looking around to see if she has their attention, “Yes, she is the fifth male in the picture. She is Jerry.”
Susan wished she could have had a photo of the looks on the faces of all of us in the room.
“She had a sex change right after high school, so Sharon that is why you couldn’t find out what school he went to. I missed it the first time, as I wasn’t as thorough as I normally am, as my attention was mostly on how she was killed. How I found it, was in a retest of the blood. I discovered that the hormone level wasn’t quite right. In fact, the hormone was estrogen, which stimulates the development and maintenance of female sexual characteristics. Estrogens are secreted by the ovaries and the placenta in women and by the adrenal cortex in both human males and females. It has been prepared synthetically by conversion of other sterols, for example, cholesterol. This includes the testosterone, and that is where I found it. You have to know John, David, Stephen, and Mark all knew who he was and what she had become. You have to say one thing for them; they stayed friends even with him getting the change.”
Chapter 37
I get up after the three of them are finished. “Great work to all of you, and especially you, Susan, for finding that on Gracie and Paul, you finding out about Jerry.” I go to the whiteboard. “Now let’s see what we have. Let’s move the most important items over here.”
1st: Gracie was he before he became she and was Jerry, the one male that we couldn’t find.
2nd. Even though the four other men knew what he had done, at least for most of the time, they stayed friends.
3rd: Mark has a degree from MIT in electronics, and his grandfather was an inventor, so it must have rubbed off on him.
4th: They all liked deer hunting and didn’t mind killing, at least animals.
5th: Michelle broke up with Mark, and not the other way around.
6th: Patricia used John to promote herself further.
7th: Four of them lived within walking distance from one another.
8th: David Brenner was the only one who wasn’t a neighbor and looked up to Mark.
9th: Stephen is playing a murderer now and before his part was a surgeon with a scalpel.
10: Sandra Lee, she was in our minds just another actress to try to throw us off.
“Looking at what we have, I doubt very seriously if Mr. Tan knew she was a he. You would have thought that a man that rich would have had her checked out from top to bottom, so to speak, and would have had a prenuptial. And if he found out that she used to be a he, that would be an excellent reason to have her killed. He is known for womanizing and would not want the world to know his wife wasn’t as advertised. Mark probably built the device that made the cameras so they wouldn’t work. They are hunters, so familiar with killing. Michelle broke up with Mark, and a man who has that big an ego might have gotten very upset. Angry enough to have her killed. John, I’m sure, felt used and may have wanted revenge.” I reach for my cup of coffee, “So, let’s look at it this way: Mark wanted Michelle dead. John wanted Patricia dead. John was getting us too close to finding out who might be responsible. But why Gracie?”
“Maybe if she was going to go public with the news. You know nowadays it isn’t a shocker to have a sex change, but back when she had it done, it was taboo.” Susan answers.
“Good point. If she did, it could be seen as a black mark against the men, and devastating for Mr. Tan. ”I look back at Susan. “But Mr. Tan doesn’t seem to have anything do with the other ladies, or at least not to date. But Mark and John had good reasons, and those two fit a lot closer to this case than anyone else.” I look around the room. “Now all we have to do is prove it, and that isn’t going to be easy. The only good thing about this is we are pretty sure on who to follow on the murders.”
“Yes. All of them,” comes the reply from Sharon.
Chapter 38
“I like your changes, Stephen; it almost seems like you were there,” Mr. Sharp says in congratulating him. “I am, though, a little confused about the pier. I don’t remember anything about a pier in these murders?”
“I thought first; we needed to establish how it all started. The first death, his first death. Getting him to feel how it is to be responsible for someone’s death. And how it becomes easier and easier as the murders go on.”
“A good perspective, I wouldn’t have thought of that.”
“Thank you, Mr. Marks.” He shakes his hand.
“I mean it, I like it, I really like it.” Julius pulls Stephen closer and places his arm on his shoulder.
“Well, start shooting tomorrow. Why don’t you take the other four scripts and run over them once more, and make any changes you feel would make the story better?”
Stephen goes to his wife’s home, even though he was thinking about just going to his for peace and quiet, and to keep away from the old bitch. But he thought he should show his face at least once in a while.
“Where the hell have you been, out screwing the whole town?” she says as he walks through the door. He thinks this was indeed a mistake for even coming here.
“No, been busy, just left the Fox studio. I got a new part.”
“Well, good, then maybe you can start paying for some of your fucking expensive habits.” She is drunk again, staggering around, almost falling, as she slurs her words. “I’m going to bed, so try not to make too damn much noise as I have a headache.”
As she is staggering up the staircase, he says, “Here, let me help you.” He rushes up the stairs to grab her elbow to assist her up the stairs.
“Why are you being so fucking nice to me, shit, you’ve never been nice to me since we got married?” She's still slurring her words and almost falling over.
Almost to the top, she is now leaning quite heavily upon him, being held up by his steady, strong grip. He steps aside quickly, flinging his arm in an upward manner; she loses her balance and falls all the way down the stairs to the landing. She slides down the marble steps as if on a snow sled. Her neck is broken, facing at an odd angle, her sheer negligee ends up around her waist, and her limbs look like a broken mannequin. Stephen looks down to see her broken, mangled mess of a body. “I guess she deserved that,” he says, as he very carefully tries not to step into the pool of blood, now oozing out of her skull. Her eyes are still open. He bends down to see if she is still breathing. “Damn, now that’s too bad.”
He moves into the den, to sit and to think. How could I make it like I just got home, and I found her that way, as he is thinking of an explanation to tell the police? He picks up the phone. “Mark, it’s me. Esther just fell down the steps, and I need you to reset the alarm system showing that I got home after the fact.”
“Why don’t you come over here first, stay here for a while, then we go over to your place and do the changing in a couple of hours. That way, her body temp would have dropped, and you will have an alibi.”
“Good thinking, glad that I called.”
Stephen leaves the house and drives over to Marks. Upon his entering the mansion, “Are you still upset about John?” were the first words out of Mark.
“Yes. I don’t know why you didn’t ta
lk it over with me first.”
“Well, I would have, but the timing was perfect, and you would have agreed with David and me that something had to be done.” As he pours himself a drink, he asked, “Do you want one?”
“Make mine a double,” he says, as he takes a seat.
“We’ll wait for a couple of hours, then we both will drive over in our own cars. We will drive in together, and I’ll reset the timer, then I will drive out. All it will show is the gate was opened, won’t show which way traffic was,” Mark says assuredly.
“She had videotape cameras also put in,” Stephen adds this to the problem.
“I’ll take care of that also. Don’t worry; I got your back.”
“I know.”
“How did you do it?” Mark asks.
“She was drinking again, real heavy tonight, more than normal.”
“And she fell down the stairway?”
“Yeah, with a little help.” Mark raises his glass.
Stephen takes one more sip from his drink. “Ya, with a little help.”
Chapter 39
The police arrive along with the local ambulance, with lights flashing and the sirens blaring; a few of the neighbors wake up and walk out towards the street to see what all the commotion is all about.
I’m called because Sarge is the first on the scene and knows Stephen was part of the group and he knew that I would want to know. I told him not to let anyone else touch anything in the area, not even the other medics. I wake up Susan and have her go directly over to Stephens’s wife’s home and take care of the crime scene. After one more call, Sharon drives up and picks me up.
We arrive at her mansion. The police still have their lights going. Sharon pulls alongside one of the police cruisers. As we walk in, we see Stephen sitting in a chair in the entry, with his body bent over and his hands over his eyes. I walk up to him; you could see he was crying.
The Hollywood Serial Killers: A Mike Kane Mystery Series Page 9
