Sativa Strain

by Alexi Venice

  “Whoever smoked it was either in a hurry or didn’t care about getting his or her money’s worth,” Frank said.

  “Is that a hint of lipstick on the filter?” Amanda asked. She removed her sunglasses and inspected the filter more closely.

  “Could be,” Frank said. “It’s a very faint pink.”

  I’d like to know if Kara Montiago smokes Dunhills, Amanda thought. “How long do you think it’s been lying there?”

  “Judging by the quality of the paper, I’d say it’s pretty fresh. It rained night before last, and that would’ve soaked it. This paper is just a little damp, which would account for normal dew overnight. Given its condition, I’d say it was dropped here last night.”

  “Hopefully, that security cam captured whoever dropped it.”

  “We could only be so lucky.”

  Amanda turned to the officer. “Thanks for your help. Please bag and mark the cigarette butt. Talk to Detective Tommy Vietti about where the evidence from this scene will be locked. It’s not going to the Evidence Room at the Hall.”

  The officer did a double take. “Oh really?”

  “That’s right. My order.”

  “Okay,” the officer said.

  She continued, “Tommy will know where it goes.”

  After he left, Frank asked, “Evidence disappearing?”

  “All sorts of things have gone missing from the Evidence Room over the last few months. I have no faith that anything will be there when we need it for trial.”

  “That happens every five years or so. It’s usually an officer who needs cash, so makes himself available for hire by organized crime. I’ll talk to a few people.”

  Amanda looked at him. “Cyclical, huh? If you could put a stop to this, please do.”

  “Let me look into it.”

  They walked to the back door of the house, and Frank opened it to an officer who held up his hand, forbidding entry. “All entry and exit through the front door.”

  “Gotcha,” Frank said.

  They returned to the driveway and walked around to the front of the house, taking the steps to the upper level.

  Once they were inside the living room, they saw Tommy, blue gloves on, standing in the kitchen and talking to the coroner. Amanda observed what there was to see, as she and Frank walked through the living room to the kitchen. She let her eyes roam over the furniture and surfaces of the house as she passed through. Nothing was overturned or damaged, and the house looked well kept. She saw the shoes and pants of a man lying on the kitchen floor, and assumed it was Carlisle’s body.

  “Hi Tommy. Hi Steve,” she said when she and Frank entered the kitchen. She had known the coroner, Steve Strumboldt, for years.

  They both greeted Frank and her.

  “Before we talk about the body,” Amanda began, “we should tell you about a Dunhill cigarette butt outside. We asked an officer to bag it but told him to wait for your direction as to evidence storage at the Hall. I sure as hell don’t want it to go in the Evidence Room. Do you have any ideas?”

  “Good call. We could put it in the empty office in my suite. That door has a lock on it.”

  “Good thinking. Let’s keep this to ourselves for now,” she said.

  “Dunhill?” Tommy asked.

  “Probably from last night,” Frank said. “Only smoked half way…a faint smudge of lipstick on it.”

  “Dunhill is a British brand. Not available in every store,” Tommy said.

  Frank nodded.

  “Did the victim smoke? Any ashtrays or cigarettes in the house? In his pockets?” Amanda asked.

  “None,” Tommy said. “Let me tell you what we know. The murder weapon was an iron skillet. Already dusted for finger prints, swabbed for DNA, bagged up and taken outside.”

  Steve jumped in. “No signs of a struggle. Looks like the assailant caught the victim by surprise. As you can see, the victim has a goose egg on the back of his skull in the occipital region. There’s some blood that oozed into his hair and pooled on the floor. More importantly, though, if you get down close with a flashlight, you can see that the brain swelled out through the crack in the skull. He died of brain edema—swelling.”

  “How tragic,” Amanda said.

  “He would’ve fallen unconscious then died over the course of several hours,” Steve said. “I won’t have a solid estimate on time of death until I finish the autopsy, but it was certainly within the last 12-18 hours.”

  Amanda looked at Jared Carlisle’s slack, ashen face. Although his eyes were closed, the image of his face would remain with her as she vowed to bring his assailant to justice. The ripe smell of urine and feces permeated the small area, overwhelming her senses. She reached into her bag and removed a Kleenex that she held over her nose. “Did we already get photos of the victim?”

  “Yes. Photographer has come and gone,” Tommy said.

  “Did he get several pics of the body?”

  “Of course.”

  “Anything else of interest in the house?”

  “I searched his bedroom, but the place is pretty clean.”

  “Talk more outside.” She turned and exited through the living room, leaving through the front door. Once she was outside and to the gate, she exhaled and breathed in deeply to expunge the putrid aroma of a corpse from her system. Frank was right behind her. He held the gate open and they passed through onto the busy sidewalk.

  Tommy caught up to them. “Pretty ripe in there, huh?” He removed a Marlboro from his pack of cigarettes and ran one under his nose, smelling the raw tobacco.

  “Give me one of those,” Amanda said. He set one in her outstretched fingers, and she ran it under her nose as well.

  Frank looked at the two of them like they were nuts.

  “Smells like a raisin, erasing the corpse.” She held it to his nose. “Here. Smell.”

  Frank leaned in and smelled of it. “Sort of.”

  She returned to running it under her nose.

  “So, we have an iron skillet, a Dunhill cigarette butt, Carlisle’s iPhone and potentially security video,” Tommy said.

  “You have his phone?” Amanda asked.

  “I don’t personally. Navarro has it. He already got Carlisle’s dead fingerprint to access it.”

  “Excellent. Might be a treasure trove on there,” Amanda said.

  “Exactly,” Tommy said.

  “How are you going to get the security video?”

  “Navarro is in Carlisle’s home office right now, securing the computers. Hopefully, the video will be on the hard drive or in the cloud. If Navarro can’t find it right away, we’ll ask Carlisle’s work colleagues. He told me they set it up.” Tommy removed a lighter from his pocket and lit his cigarette. He inhaled deeply and held the smoke in his lungs before exhaling. The look of satisfaction on his face was enough to push Amanda over the edge. Anything to get that macabre smell out of my system.

  She leaned in for a light, and he flicked the lighter.

  Frank didn’t conceal his surprise. “I smoked for several years then watched a close friend die of lung cancer. I stopped right away and never looked back.”

  “Smart man. I appreciate the words of caution.” Amanda inhaled deeply, allowing the hot, prickly feel to insufflate her lungs. By the time she exhaled, the nicotine rush arrived at her brain, providing a blissful, decadent lift. She smoked so rarely that the buzz was quick and distinct, hitting her neuron center like a roaring train. As the nasty smoke surrounded her face, the grisly murder scene faded. The cancer risk is outweighed by a murder scene.

  They had to move to the side of the driveway as two officers carried the body bag containing Carlisle.

  “I’ll be in touch,” Steve Strumboldt said as he passed by.

  “Thanks, Steve,” Tommy said.

  They turned and watched the officers load the body in Steve’s meat wagon.

  Frank scanned the area, and his eyes landed on Goat Hill Pizza, which was two doors down from Carlisle’s house. “I wonder if that
pizza joint has any security video.”

  “Good question,” Tommy said. “Do you want to walk over there and find out?”

  “I’d love to. Be right back.” Frank left them smoking their cigarettes.

  “He’s very good,” Amanda said. “I think he’s getting bored being just my driver. I like his input at the scene. What do you think?”

  Tommy took a drag and thought about Frank for a second. “Truth be told, I’ve never been good with partners, but he’s not my partner, so it might actually work. He has an excellent reputation on the force. Old guard loyalty. Solved crimes. Kept his nose relatively clean.”

  Amanda smiled. “Good to know. By the way, what’s up with the facial hair? Are you growing a beard?”

  “I guess so. No time to shave.”

  “Well, you might want to shave your neck up to the jaw line—here.” She ran her finger along his bearded jaw.

  If he was surprised, he didn’t show it. “I’ll keep that in mind.”

  “Cleaner look,” she said.

  He dropped his cigarette butt on the sidewalk and crushed it with his heel. After one more drag, Amanda did the same.

  Chapter 11

  Potrero Hill

  “So, what’s next on the agenda?” Amanda asked, as she and Tommy gazed in the direction of Goat Hill Pizza, expecting Frank to emerge any second.

  “I’d like to talk to Kara Montiago. I’m thinking of driving down to her office in Palo Alto. Wanna join?”

  “Wouldn’t miss it for the world. Let’s take my car. Tell one of the officers to drive yours back to the Hall.” She didn’t want to waste any time, her adrenaline pumping like a retriever on a scent. Nothing compared to the excitement and purpose of investigating a murder. She’d never charged the CEO of a publicly held company, much less one who was running for President of the United States. The prospect lit a fire in her belly.

  “Good idea.” Tommy walked over to the officer in charge of the scene and gave him his car keys in addition to instructing him about where to store the evidence.

  A few minutes later, Frank returned with a DVD in his hand. He had already dropped it in a ziplocked bag and written, “Goat Hill Pizza Security Video,” and the date on the outside. Amanda was impressed at how prepared Frank was, the tools of his trade neatly hidden in his suitcoat pockets.

  “Goat Hill has a camera on this side of the building,” Frank motioned. “It picks up cars and people parked on the street. We might get lucky if the killer walked by, or even parked, over here.”

  “Excellent work,” Tommy said. “Thanks.” Tommy took the bag and gave it to the same officer who had his car keys.

  “Where to next?” Frank asked.

  “Tyche International headquarters in Palo Alto,” Tommy said. “That’s where Montiago’s office is.”

  “You’re going to interview Kara Montiago?” Frank asked.

  “Why not?” Tommy asked.

  Frank raised his eyebrows.

  “I have probable cause. She’s on video with the victim,” Tommy said.

  Once they were in the back seat of Amanda’s car, Tommy suggested they call Ryan to apprise him of the latest development. Amanda dialed him and put him on speaker phone.

  “Hi Amanda. What’s up?” Ryan asked.

  “Hi. You’re on speaker phone. I’m with Tommy and Frank. We’re investigating a homicide.”

  “I saw there was one reported on Potrero Hill. Why are you there?” Ryan asked.

  “This is a high-profile murder, so I wanted to see the scene because it helps focus my mind on the victim for trial.”

  “High profile?” Ryan asked.

  “The victim is Jared Carlisle, the guy on the sex video with Kara Montiago,” Tommy said.

  “Fuck,” Ryan breathed.

  “That’s why we’re calling you. We’re on our way to Palo Alto. I want to interview her right away—before her army of lawyers and handlers throw up barriers and coach her,” Tommy said.

  “I hope she’s there. She’s been on the campaign trail, you know,” Ryan said.

  “Do you want to call and see? I don’t mind you giving her a twenty-minute heads-up. Just make damn sure that we get access to her as soon as we get there,” Amanda said.

  “If she’s still the Kara I know, she’ll cooperate. Let me try her, and I’ll call you back,” Ryan said.

  They signed off.

  “Sounds like those two are pretty close,” Amanda said.

  “I hope he knows what he’s doing,” Tommy said.

  “Want me to play good cop or bad cop during her interview?”

  “Play DA and stay flexible.”

  “I’m very bendy, so I’ll see what’s required.”

  After some silence, he said, “That’s quite the house you’re remodeling for Jen and Kristin.”

  “Thanks. Jen has made it clear that she wants to live next to Ocean Beach, so who am I to deny her?”

  He laughed. “Taking it nice and slow, I see.”

  She shoved him in the arm. “I’m tired of driving back and forth to Sea Cliff. Poor Frank is even feeding Zumba for me now. Not a good use of your time, is it Frank?”

  “I’m fine,” he said from the front seat.

  “Are you neglecting Tom cat?” Tommy asked with mock affection.

  “Only a little. He spends the night outside, so it’s not like we cuddle. The point is that I’m over at Jen’s all the time, but all my stuff is still at my house in Sea Cliff. I had no choice but to find something in her neighborhood.”

  “For yourself,” he added under his breath.

  She squinted at him. “Are you insinuating that I should’ve rented a small apartment next door to Jen, so we could take turns staying overnight at each other’s place? Wouldn’t that be confusing for Kristin?” she asked.

  “You’re right. I’m just teasing you. Not too many people can move as fast as you. ‘Go big or go home,’ right?”

  She inclined her head. He’s jealous. Jen moved out of his place and now plans to move into mine. “Does it bother you that Jen and I are back together?”

  Accustomed to Amanda being direct, he didn’t miss a beat in replying, “Not at all. She obviously loves you. Just please do right by her this time. For all of our sakes.”

  “I promise I will. In fact, I asked her to marry me last night and she said yes.” Amanda couldn’t suppress a smile, but she tempered it with a soft look, so he wouldn’t think she was gloating.

  “Isn’t this the second time you two have discussed marriage?”

  “Well, yes, but this time I gave her a diamond ring, and she accepted it.” Amanda knew this might be a sore spot for Tommy, since Jen turned down his marriage proposal and returned his ring three years ago, but he was the one who brought it up. If he wanted to know whether Amanda’s intentions were long term, putting a ring on Jen’s finger answered that question.

  “A ring, huh?” He was silent for a sec while he absorbed the news. “Did you set a date?”

  “I think we want to get settled in our new house first.”

  “If you’re really gonna get married and live in that house permanently, then I might consider buying a house over there, too. I want to be close to Kristin.”

  “Absolutely. You should. Are you going to live with Cy?”

  He groaned. “Not my first choice, but if we pool our money, maybe we can afford something decent.”

  She patted his leg. “I’d really like that. I know Jen and Kristin would be thrilled.”

  “Of course, living with the old man will have its challenges. How am I supposed to bring a hot date home to that situation?”

  Is he asking me about dating? “I’m sure you could find something spacious enough for both of you to have your privacy. Cy wants to be a part of Kristin’s life.”

  “I know. He was in our business every day when Jen lived with me in North Beach. He absolutely loved walking Zane, meeting Kristin and Jen after daycare, and eating dinner with us. Kristin loves playing with hi
m, too. He makes her laugh.”

  “I think grandparents serve an important role in a child’s life,” she added.

  “I’m glad you believe that because, if we move over there, he’ll be at your house a fair amount.”

  “I’m good with that as long as he’s comfortable with our relationship. He was a little judgmental in the past.” She paused to get Tommy’s reaction.

  “That’s true, but I think he’s coming around. Please don’t take it personally. I think he feels bad for me that I lost Jen to you.” Tommy shrugged. “He’s from an older generation where everyone was expected to act the same. He’s really fond of you, Amanda.”

  “I’m fond of him, too. As for grandparents, I want Jack and Chloe to be involved in Kristin’s life as well. They said they might keep the Sea Cliff house for themselves, so they can be available for babysitting. There’s a beautiful nursery in that house for Kristin.”

  “Good plan. I’ll talk to Pops. I don’t know how much longer he’ll be able to live independently, so I guess I don’t have a choice about living with my aging father.

  “You’re a loyal and loving son,” she said.

  “Thanks.”

  Good talk, she thought.

  Amanda’s phone rang. She looked at the screen and said, “It’s Ryan.” She put him on speakerphone. “Go ahead, Ryan. You’re on speakerphone again.”

  “I got ahold of Kara. She’s expecting you and will cooperate.”

  “Did she tell you anything?” Tommy asked.

  “She started to, but I told her I didn’t want to know because it isn’t my file. I just told her to answer your questions truthfully and honestly.”

  “So, she didn’t blurt out anything to you?” Amanda asked.

  “I told her not to. Just go to the main receptionist at Tyche and give your names. You don’t have to show your badges. You’ll be escorted to the executive suite right away. Keep a low profile.”

  Tommy and Amanda exchanged looks. “Okay. Got it,” Tommy said.