The Mystery of Jessica Benson

by Laurence, C. K.

  Karen cleared her throat loudly, wishing for some water, but knowing now was not the time to get it. “We’ve discovered some things, uh, evidence, in the Benson case that we need to address.”

  “New evidence? Jesus H. Kee-Ryst! You had me going there for a minute. That’s not a bad thing. Shit, doll, that’s a good thing. So what’re we doing here? You said you didn’t want to take this to the station. Why the fuck not?” He flashed a crooked smile and cocked his head as though he heard something that the other two didn’t, his right eye twitched in tandem with his violently bouncing leg.

  Frank moved closer and started to pace, then caught himself and began, “That’s why we’re here, buddy. We need to find out just exactly that, whether it’s a good or a bad thing. This is especially hard for us, but right now it looks as though the new evidence might be awful for everyone in this room and for the Department. You’re the only one who can clear it all up so we can discount and get past it.”

  The violent bouncing of his leg halted suddenly, and Will now sat very still. He looked from Frank to Karen, cocking his head and wrinkling his brows as though trying to understand the implication of his words. “Okay,” he drawled a little too slowly. “I’m here and I’m all ears. You’ve got my full attention. Now how about you stop jerkin’ me off and tell me what’s going on.”

  Frank looked pained, but asked, “Will, did you know Jessica Benson? I mean, before she was murdered? You’d been talking about some broad that’d been giving you a hard time. You were really pissed about it. Was it her? Was it Jessica Benson?”

  “What’re you, crazy? You two been over here drinking or what? What kind of bullshit are you throwing? Shit! Why don’t you just say whatever it is you have to say and stop with this mystery crap, huh? Did I know this cunt before she was murdered...”

  “No bullshit, man,” Frank interrupted. “Just answer the question. Be straight with us. We wanna help you, okay?”

  “Okay? Fuck no, it’s not okay. What kind of evidence do you think you have? And what’s it got to do with me? What is this, the fucking inquisition?”

  “Will...” Karen reached over and put her hand on his arm. He shook her off, but kept his hooded eyes on hers. He became deathly still now. His face was turning deep red, nearly purple.

  “Back off! You got your butt in the air over that shiteating jock and now all of a sudden you’re dragging me into his whore’s murder. You miserable back-stabbing slut…I see where you’re going with this!

  “And you, Frank. What’s your angle? Can’t fucking get your job right, so you decide to go and manufacture evidence, you sorry spic! I’m one of you! What’re you trying to do to me here?” His voice was taut and for a moment, it appeared he might burst into tears. Karen worried he might run for the door.

  Frank sat down next to him, and said, “Slow it down. We don’t want to be here, Will. Believe me we don’t. But your prints came back on Fraga’s gun. There’s no way they could have gotten there but by your own hand. No way. Stop fighting us. If there’s a story to tell, we want to hear it.”

  Will moved to the edge of his seat. “You’re crazy. You told me yourself that gun came back clean except for Batan’s prints. What are you trying to pull here? All of a sudden you’ve got my prints on it? This is garbage you’re throwing at me. Nothin’ but stinkin’ garbage!”

  “There were a couple of partials. It wasn’t wiped completely clean. I didn’t think we could get anything from it, ‘til I talked to my friend at Quantico after he took care of the stuff from Fraga’s for me. He told me to send what I had from Fraga’s gun and he’d run them and see what he could get. I couldn’t believe it myself when I got the results, but Sam assured me that the top agents, the experts, verified the computer match. I even argued that they were mistaken, but there was no way. They were yours, Will. No question. So, help us out here, man. Give us an explanation. Some plausible alternative...”

  “Shit. You never thought maybe I inadvertently touched the weapon at the crime scene? It was pretty chaotic there for awhile.” Abruptly, Will stood and started for the door. “You know, you’re crazy, both of you, flipped out. Me? I gotta get back to work. I’ll have both your fucking badges before this is over.”

  Frank got up and moved toward him. “Hold on, Will. Let Karen and me go over to your place and take a look around. Just us, huh? If it comes up clean, we’ll take this in another direction. It’ll look good that you didn’t make us pull a warrant. But it’s not going to go away. Don’t leave here like this. We’re going to have to pursue it, and if you don’t cooperate, it’ll go down bad for you.” He reached for Will’s shoulder.

  Will pulled away, smacking wildly at Frank’s arm. “You think you can stop me from getting out of here? You and what army?” He gave a tight laugh. “Stay away from me, and don’t come within a mile of my fucking house.”

  Karen also approached him, hoping he’d listen to reason. “Will, stop. Why are you fighting us so hard? You say you’re clean, let us help you prove it. I don’t have to tell you what it looks like when you refuse to cooperate, you of all people! If you don’t give us permission, you know we’ll get a warrant. We’re trying to take care of this without alerting the entire Department. Dammit, Will. We’re your friends! We don’t want to take this to the brass unless you give us no alternative. You really don’t want to go that route, do you?”

  “My friends! Now that’s a laugh. Dragging me in here with the two of you questioning me like I’m dirty. Oh, yeah, big choice.” Will’s voice was rising, taking on a hysterical edge. His eyes darted around the room as though he were looking for an escape route. “You and Sherlock here have the case solved, so what difference does it make? Well I’m telling you that you got nothing but bullshit!”

  Frank edged his way in between Will and Karen and the door. Karen pleaded with her partner, “Please, don’t do this. I believe you. Just answer us. How did your prints get on the murder weapon? Give us something, anything, for the love of God, Will. Talk to us!”

  “Something to work with, huh? Okay, doll, how’s about working with this. You got it wrong. I must’ve touched the fucking gun accidentally. Like there’s never been a glitch in the chain of evidence before, right? You two think you’re gonna hang me on a couple of partial prints? Get real!”

  The thought flashed through Karen’s head that maybe they’d been too quick to accuse. Of course Will was angry. Who wouldn’t be if two friends cornered them and accused them of murder? She started to speak, but Garcia cut her off.

  “You’re too good a cop to have that big an accident, man. That’s a rookie mistake. I’ve seen you double glove before you even enter a murder scene, and I never saw you remove ‘em before you got outta the room. I’m just not buying it as an accident, man. But that’s not all, Will. You’re right, we wouldn’t come at you with just the prints as evidence. We got a witness. Someone who saw you at Batan’s right about the time of murder. They I.D.’d you from some mug shots. I threw your picture in with a bunch of thugs and they picked you out, not even a hint of doubt. So, c’mon here, just tell us what happened and we’ll see you through this.”

  It’s a bluff, Karen thought. Frank’s throwing out a bluff. Will will never buy into it. Frank can’t think this will work.

  “C’mon, Will. Make it easy on yourself. Talk to us.”

  Will eyed the door and then looked back at Karen and Frank, both of whom looked like waxen statues. He seemed to shrink, appearing resigned to his fate. Then he spoke. “Okay, yeah, I’ll tell you about it,” he surrendered. “Do you really believe I had something to do with the murder?” He made no move to sit and appeared to be collecting his thoughts. Looking from Karen to Frank and back to Karen again, Will asked, “What do you know? How much?”

  Frank Garcia shook his head and then let out a long, hard breath. “I think you killed both Jessica Benson and Feyzi Batan. I don’t think you can offer us anything that would prove otherwise. Look at yourself, Will. You’re losing control. Ther
e’s no way out of this now. Let’s talk it out…see what we can do to help you.”

  “Help me? Help like you want to give me I don’t need.” Will’s eyes narrowed to slits. “You want to railroad me for two fucking murders?” His eyes darted around the room and he rasped, “I can’t breathe from all the help you’re giving me.”

  “Will,” Karen offered, “Frank’s right, “Just talk to us. Give us a chance.”

  Will stood statue-still for a solid minute, and then, as though a dam had burst inside him, an unholy diatribe flowed forth. “Talk, yeah, let’s talk. It looks like you’ve been doing all your homework, okay? You got it right, right and right again. I killed Jessica. You better believe I killed that whoring bitch. You want to know all the dirty little details? I’ll tell you every one of them. Let’s see how much you want to ‘talk’ when I’m finished!” Then he lost touch with Frank and Karen, and wrapped in a cloak of darkness, continued his tale to no one in particular.

  “I met her at a club one night. I got a hard on just watching her. She was dancing by herself…sweating…halfnaked…moving those hips till I thought I was going to lose it right there. She was a tease. The witch was a tease, a real cunt, just like you been hearing from everyone in town. I couldn’t stand it. I went over and slid up behind her, grabbed her hips and ground my dick against her ass. She ground right back at me. Then she turned around and pushed those big, ripe tits of hers against my chest. I was hotter than I’d ever been. I couldn’t believe that magnificent piece was going to let me have her. I took her back to my place and she was all over me on the way. She sucked me dry while I was driving. I could hardly keep the car on the road. I came twice. Twice, and I couldn’t wait to get inside of her...“

  “Will, stop. Don’t go any further,” Garcia admonished. “Let us saddle you up with an attorney. We’ll get someone good to help you. You’ve said more than enough.”

  “Stop?” Will asked, “Why stop? This is the good stuff. The good memories. The best. Let me tell you how it was for me. You wanted to hear it, now let me share it with you.”

  Garcia and Karen were stunned. They looked at one another, horrified at what might come next. The situation was turning dangerous. But Will was lost in that long-passed night. He continued, “She was all over me and we fucked right there on the front porch. I swear to God, I thought I would die that night. In the saddle, with my boots on. She fucked with me for a few months more, ‘til she was tired of me, then told me to get lost. I could take that, though. I been dumped by a higher class of slut. Right, Karen? But dumping me wasn’t enough for her. She’d video taped us in the sack. She showed me and, Jesus, what an asshole I was, I thought we had this chemistry thing going, but then she tells me I’m just another lay, and not even a good one at that. She laughed at me. It was a big fat joke to her. ‘Police protection,’ she said, my best asset. That’s what I was good for. I was just one of a string of assholes she had walking a tightrope for her.” He stopped talking for a moment and wet his lips with his tongue, then continued.

  “Ha! And guess what else she had on those smut tapes. Me, doing junk with her. Cocaine. That fuck Fraga was her supplier all right. I paid and she purchased. My entire savings and pension fund went up our noses. You really bought into the allergy thing, huh, Karen? All my trips to the doctor to get allergy shots? Then the bitch starts blackmailing me and threatening to turn me in if I didn’t watch out for her and her ‘friends.’ If any problems came up, she wanted me to bury them or she would send the tapes to the Captain. Don’t imagine the Captain would be happy to see the head of Homicide with a nose full of candy, huh, baby, she said to me. Yeah, and she wanted money, too, money I didn’t have. You two didn’t know her, how she manipulated people and always got what she wanted from them. And she got to me, too, after I’d sworn to never again let a woman dig her claws into me like you...” He pointed his chin toward Karen.

  He paused again and swallowed, and after a prolonged clearing of his throat he started speaking again. His voice was hoarse and gravelly.

  “You played me for a fool too, didn’t you babe? Oh, c’mon, don’t look so surprised. I knew you laughed at me behind my back. Reeled me in with your little Goodie Two Shoes act, and then when you knew you had me, left me with my dick standing at attention, and my mind blown.”

  “Will, stop.” Frank raised his voice for attention. “Take it easy. Let’s sit back down.” To Karen, “Get him something to drink.” But Karen seemed rooted to the floor. Then back at Will, “Easy man. It’s okay. It’s all going to be okay.”

  Will glared sharply at Garcia. “Fuck off, you phony bastard. Lemme finish what I got to say. You wanted to hear it. Just shut up now and listen!”

  Frank made a move toward him and Will yelled to back off. “Don’t come near me, don’t take another step...” Before anyone could stop him, he pulled his gun, grabbed Karen to him, and pointed the muzzle at her head. “I’ll blow her head off if you so much as inhale too hard. You want the truth? I’m gonna give it to you, and then we’ll talk about what we’re gonna do next. Sound like a plan? Now sit your ass back down, Garcia, and listen carefully.”

  Frank backed his way toward the sofa and sat, raising his hands in defeat.

  “I planned this so carefully. No way could I get caught.”

  Leering at Karen, he said, “Your jock friend was perfect for her. He was so busy with football, out of town while she did everyone who was in town. Just like the faggot down the hall in her building said that first day. She tells me she’s tied up with her modeling and that’s why we can’t be together more of the time. Then she decides she’s tired of me. I could’ve lived with that, could have, ‘til she showed me the damned tapes. She had me by the balls then and knew it. So I waited. I watched her, what she did and who she was with, and I waited. I fucking stalked her, and it paid off. I was right there the night Sands dumped her. I saw him leave and could hear her cursing after him. I made sure he wasn’t going back, and then went up to her apartment. She’d stopped yelling. Her door was wide open. You know what that slut was doing? She was fucking fixing her make up. That fast! He dumps her and like he was never there, she’s doing her face again. It made me nuts!”

  He took a breath. “I startled her, and when she realized who it was, she laughed. Oh, it’s only you, she tells me. She says she’s waiting for someone, would I move along. Would I ‘move along’? That’s when I decide to teach the little cock-sucking whore a lesson. I closed the door and locked it behind me. At first that cocky smile of hers stayed frozen on her lips. Like maybe she thought I just wanted to get laid or something. Or something. I kept walking toward her, and she started stepping backwards.”

  His eyes were blinking in short spasms, as though he was watching a film and reliving the scene. He began to nod and a self-satisfied grin came over his face. “Then I shouted at her, Don’t move bitch! She’s still smiling, thinking maybe I just wanted it a little rough, wouldn’t have been the first time. She did rough real good.” He laughed, a deep, wicked sound.

  “Then I saw that statuette and picked it up. I got close to her and whacked her across her shoulder. She was scared so fucking shitless that she didn’t even scream. But finally, finally she knew I was a force to be dealt with, and I hit her again. Once I started I couldn’t stop. I beat her and beat her ‘til she was passed out cold but not dead. I looked down at that douche-bag bitch and then I started laughing! Ha! For once I had the last laugh on a woman! I beat her, not just for her, but for her and every other woman who hurt me throughout my life.”

  He stopped again and looked at Karen, tightening his grip on her until she gasped. “I beat her for you, too, Karen. Then I taped her mouth up. Nice touch, huh? I made sure she couldn’t talk to anyone ever again. And then I carved her name into her forehead, WHORE. I watched her bleed out for awhile and all the time I’m getting hotter and hotter and I’m horny as hell. I came with the death blow.” He began to laugh hysterically and then stopped short. “I literally came lik
e a motherfucker with the death blow. It was so sweet. Maybe better than sex. But then again, I guess we all have our own definitions of sex, don’t we?” Beads of sweat had gathered above his lip. When he started talking again, his breath was ragged.

  “Think about it. We’re always analyzing why the bad guys do this and why they do that, and what was he thinking when he did so and so, but Frank, Karen, I gotta tell you, I was having too much fun to think about much of anything but how good it felt. I just did it. No deep psychological whatchamacallit, I just wanted to kill her, and kill her and kill her... But I had to hurry. If there really was someone else coming, I didn’t want to be there. Not that I wouldn’t have gladly killed him, too. I ran through her stuff for tapes, pictures, anything that could incriminate me. Then I wiped the place clean and took off.”

  He had loosened his hold on Karen and she tried to pull away. “Will, she pleaded. “Please, stop this.”

  He tightened his grip and cold-cocked her with the side of the pistol. She gasped. Frank made a move to get up. Will pointed his gun toward him and shot. The bullet grazed Garcia’s thigh. With a yelp of pain, he dropped back down on the sofa, throwing his hands up again in feigned surrender.

  “Hold off, Will. You gotta...”

  “Shut up.” Will cautioned. “Don’t say another word.” Then to Karen, “Don’t make me hurt you more, baby. I want you nice and healthy ‘til I’ve fucked you like your little quarterback does.”

  He turned to Frank Garcia and gave him a depraved wink, “You can watch, pal, but you can’t touch. This time Miss Priss is finally gonna give it to me, and before she’s dead, she’s gonna know what getting fucked is really all about.”

  Karen’s eyes widened in disbelief, but she was motionless. “Yeah, baby, I know all about you and loverboy. Your little secret visits to his place. I know everything about it. Was he good, baby? Were you thinking about me when you were doing him? Well, I’m gonna show you good real soon. I’m going to make you forget all about that washed up jock.” He reached down, unholstered her gun, and threw it to the ground, then kicked it out of reach.