Conspiracy of Innocence

by Gene Grossman

  While I was incarcerated, Suzi was staying at Myra’s house, using her broadband Internet connection and District Attorney passwords to access all of the databases available to law enforcement, so the search field was widened. She read the crime report on Luskin’s first death in the street shooting and got his date of birth. With that small piece of information she was then able to search birth records throughout the states for that particular date and came up with a certain amount of paternal and identical births. By following through on those births, she was able to eliminate almost all of them except one pair of twins that was separated, each being sent to a different foster home. The philosophy behind doing things that way was to avoid the necessity of forcing one family to accept two children when there may only have been an opening for one. They also didn’t want the twins to bond and then be separated, so the two different homes were used right from the beginning.

  Continuing with her research, Suzi was able to track the placement for one of the twins and then found the couple that adopted and raised Michael Luskin.

  Working backwards from the couple that had the boy that they named Michael, Suzi and Jack located the agency that placed Michael Luskin and his twin brother.

  Knowing that that twins were involved, both being placed with different families, Suzi had the answer as to how there could be a match with the DNA, but not with the fingerprints. She then reasoned that if the most recent victim’s prints weren’t in any criminal database, then the person killed in Beverly Luskin’s house was not Kathy Potter’s husband. By a process of elimination, there was only one other person in the world who it could be: Michael Luskin.

  That answered a big question. We now know who was shot in Beverly Luskin’s house that day. But if Michael Luskin was the person who was killed the day that I was framed, then who was it that got shot down in the street by the guys who stole my Hummer?

  By further reasoning about the blood relative requirement, Suzi deduced that the first victim was actually Paul Potter, Kathy Potter’s husband, who was Michael Luskin’s twin brother. At the time of the murder, his prints weren’t taken because everyone in town recognized him. As a formality, they compared his DNA with some blood that had been previously stored for emergency purposes by Michael Luskin, but being twins, the DNA matched, so that was the end of it. Beverly arranged to have the body cremated, so there would be no opportunity for an autopsy to show that the victim’s limp was caused by an old prison-fight wound, instead of a recent trip-andfall accident.

  At this point, everyone in the room is still at a loss to understand how those dames could get one twin to kill another, but from what Suzi’s report theorizes they didn’t have to. The kid figured that Michael Luskin didn’t know that his twin was being set up, because up until that point in time, he didn’t know that he had a twin brother. All he thought he was participating in was just a plot with his wife to scam the insurance company out of a couple of million dollars, by setting up a drug dealer to get assassinated.

  Their miniscule consciences didn’t bother them much for that, because it would mean less dope being sold to kids. In their minds they weren’t causing a death: they were saving lives of kids and other people who might die of overdoses in the future.

  Now that we know the identities of the murder victims, the question still remains as to how these two women got together to begin with, and was it before or after they discovered they were married to twins?

  Once again, the answer was be found in one of my reports, because that first day in La Verne when the Chief was telling me how wonderful Beverly Luskin was, he also mentioned that she volunteered on a suicide hotline. At this point I see a light bulb go off over Jack B.’s head, because he now remembers that in one of his reports he mentioned that Kathy Potter mentioned she contemplated committing suicide, and one of the outgoing numbers on her cell phone billing showed that she did call to a Suicide Prevention Center. At the time, we didn’t know that is was the one where Beverly Luskin was a volunteer.

  This was the first hint of a connection between the two women. By some strange coincidence, that particular incoming call from Kathy Potter was routed to Beverly Luskin. Of course at first they didn’t know that they were sisters-in-law, or related at all, but after several conversations on the suicide hotline, they must have exchanged stories about their both being abused. This probably caused them to bond, and in violation of the hotline’s rules, they decided to get together.

  It’s not uncommon for women to show pictures to each other of their family or children, so it was no doubt a shock to both of them when they first noticed the similarities between the appearances of their husbands. They probably also discovered that both men shared the same birthday, and that final fact may have clinched their suspicions about the men being twins with neither one knowing about the other’s existence.

  Our information told us that Kathy was married to a bad guy, but no one knew that Beverly Luskin was also married to an abuser. For many years television magazine shows have always had good rating successes with stories about identical twins separated at birth, raised by different families, and then reunited as adults. I’ve seen several of them myself, and it always amazes me how often their lives follow almost identical paths. There was one instance where both twins married women who had the same first name, and the twins both became firemen. The stories and coincidences abound, and in this particular case it was obvious that both twins shared the genetic trait that caused them to abuse their wives, and both women probably exchanged horror stories about the similar types of abuse that they suffered.

  In 1951, famous mystery writer Raymond Chandler’s story was turned into a movie directed by Alfred Hitchcock. The title wasStrangers on a Train, and it became a cult classic, featuring Farley Granger, Ruth Roman and Robert Walker. The story was about two men who met on a train and made a pact. They both wanted their wives disposed of, so they agreed that each would kill the other’s wife.

  We don’t know if Beverly or Kathy had ever seen that old movie, but nevertheless, they obviously decided that a similar pact was in order between them. Not having any experience as killers, they brilliantly put together a plan by which they could get others to do the jobs for them.

  First of all, there were some obstacles to overcome. Kathy’s husband was injured in a prison fight many years before, and he walked with a limp. He also had a full, but short beard.

  When Beverly first got her husband to agree to go along with the insurance scam, they both knew that in order for it to work, Michael Luskin would have to make some changes in his appearance, in order to look like the ‘double’ that his wife found, to be the sacrificial lamb in their insurance fraud scam. Over the next few months, he grew a beard and Beverly advised him exactly how to trim it. About a week before the first murder, Michael faked a trip and fall in a place where there were plenty of witnesses. He now completed the makeover by having both the requisite beard and limp.

  Beverly and Kathy both knew that Paul Potter was dealing drugs, so they decided to let others do their dirty work. They would arrange for Paul’s main drug supplier to have a reason to kill him. Kathy used Paul’s cell phone to arrange a large buy from his dealer. By using Paul’s phone, the supplier would see a familiar number on his caller ID display. Drug deals rarely go down in bright afternoon sunlight, so it wasn’t too difficult to have Michael Luskin successfully masquerade as Kathy’s husband to pick up the drugs. Because of their many past dealings, the drug supplier extended the usual two days of credit, so that Paul could sell the merchandise and earn the money to pay his supplier. They gave the drugs to Kathy, so that she could sell them to her trailerpark cottage neighbors and build up a little nest egg for future travel expenses.

  Of course the real Paul knew nothing about the purchase, so he made no effort to pay his debt. After the deadline for payment to the supplier had gone by, Michael Luskin, pretending to be Paul, called the supplier and told him that he had no intention of paying him, and that he was mov
ing to La Verne, where he was quitting the drug business and using the supplier’s money to open up a coffee shop. He was even brash enough to invite the guy to stop by for a free cup of coffee on the day of their grand opening, which happened to coincide with the day that I visited La Verne for the first time.

  Not having ever been involved in the drug trade, I’m not sure what the proper etiquette is between a dealer his supplier, but I’m pretty sure that Luskin, pretending to be Paul, didn’t follow the usual protocol when he told the guy that he was intentionally stiffing him out of almost fifty thousand dollars. This is definitely not a good career move if you want to move up the ladder of success in that business.

  The next step in the plan was for Kathy to convince her no-good husband to drive to the coffee shop in La Verne, where he could be in place for the assassination. She set up a phony appointment for him with an alleged La Verne millionaire who wanted to spend a lot of money on drugs. Paul Potter believed the story, and drove to La Verne, followed instructions and stood outside the coffee shop, where the local townspeople would think he was Michael Luskin, but the drug dealers would recognize him as their deadbeat dealer.

  Shortly after Paul left the Potter cottage, Kathy called Michael Luskin and told him exactly what Paul was wearing when he left the house, and also gave him a description of Paul’s vehicle. Michael and Beverly knew that Paul would be arriving in La Verne, so they watched for his truck to arrive, and shortly after the shooting, using the spare keys that Kathy provided them with, they waited until Beverly could get the blood-stained shirt that Paul was wearing when he was shot. Once it was released to her, they bought a matching shirt, Michael put it on, and then he drove Paul’s vehicle back to Kathy’s trailer park in Oregon, so that he could pretend to be Paul, slap Kathy around, and drive off in a huff. This was the scene that witnesses testified to, and also established Kathy’s alibi.

  As expected, Paul’s drug suppliers didn’t turn down the invitation for that free cup of coffee. They drove to La Verne, borrowed a nice yellow Hummer, and cruised down the street looking for Paul Potter. When they saw him on the street in front of the coffee shop, they tooted the horn. Potter recognized them, but had no idea why they were in town, because he was completely unaware of the fact that he had stolen their drug money. He probably thought they were in on the big deal he was supposed to be in town working on, so it must have been a big surprise to him when they greeted him with that barrage of lead.

  The rest of that afternoon is history. One of the husbands was now dead, and we now know why Beverly Luskin pleaded for the release of that bloody shirt, as a morbid remembrance of her husband. There was no reason to take fingerprints off of Michael Luskin’s body, because everyone including the coroner knew him personally. The DNA test was only performed as a formality to satisfy the insurance company and compared to Michael Luskin’s stored blood. The test was done as a matter of course, and not for any criminal investigation, so it became just another non-publicized procedure of the coroner. Michael didn’t know that he helped have his long lost twin brother killed.

  After they planted the bloody shirt in Paul’s vehicle, one of Snell’s people helped Kathy have Paul declared legally dead, so she could collect on his Uniman Insurance policy. They were tricked into helping her because she contacted them and offered information on past drug deals and other crimes.

  The first time I spoke to Snell about this case, he told me to back off. That warning, along with a complete lack of publicity about Paul’s supposed murder in Oregon, gave me a feeling that Snell was trying to protect a witnesses. Evidently, my hunch was correct. And I now know that Snell didn’t completely believe Kathy Potter, so he decided to use us to flush out whether or not she was legit.

  The next step in the wives’ plan was to finish off Beverly’s husband, but for real this time.

  After his supposed murder in La Verne, Michael Luskin had to immediately go into hiding because there were millions of dollars involved in everyone believing that he was dead. To avoid being recognized, he shaved his head and beard, lost the limp, and grew a handlebar moustache. He never realized that he was the next target of these two women, instead thinking he was still part of the insurance fraud plan. After changing his appearance he hid out in a motel a few miles west of La Verne.

  Now that Kathy was able to get around unrestricted by her husband, it was time to finish off the plan by helping Beverly in finishing off Michael. The women both continued to feel that they weren’t conspiring to commit any crimes, because other people are pulling the triggers. They were completely innocent and merely enabling others to do their dirty work for them.

  These women also both knew that their luck couldn’t hold up forever, because sooner or later someone might figure out that there were twins involved. They just wanted to get rid or their abusive husbands, divvy up a couple of million dollars in insurance money, and head for greener pastures. They were both still in their thirties and not bad to look at, so they would have no problem in starting over again somewhere else.

  It wasn’t too hard for Beverly to convince Michael to meet with Kathy because she helped make their insurance scam possible, and with the loss of only one drug dealer. Kathy wouldn’t have to suffer any more abuse, and everyone was a winner. As the women knew, Michael would soon tire of the motel. He thought that with his new appearance it would be less of a risk for him to be in his own house with his wife. It was tricky business trying to sneak in and out of the house at night, and Michael soon got tired of that routine too.

  Beverly played me like a jukebox. The only snag was probably when her husband unexpectedly snuck back into the house one night and found her coming in after she had been in bed at the motel with me. This didn’t set too well with him, and because abuse was an inborn trait in his family, he took it out on Beverly, resulting in that shiner. And she couldn’t complain to anyone, because that would blow their whole plan.

  Beverly knew that I was coming to town for my big parking ticket trial, so the girls put together the last part of their plan. The finale was supposed to include getting rid of Michael Luskin and pinning it on me. Beverly knew that she couldn’t keep up a relationship with me, because she feared I was smart enough to find out the truth about their plans. She also knew that if she disappeared with the money I would sense something wasn’t kosher, so there was only one alternative: kill her husband and frame me for murder. Two birds with one stone.

  Beverly thought that after refusing me some sexual favors for a while, I would probably not be able to resist her invitation to stop by before the trial. Being the dog that I am, she was right. The only thing left to do at that point was arrange to have someone kill her husband, because they realized there was no way they could trick me into doing it. Here’s where Kathy Potter’s knowledge really came in handy.

  I finally got Snell to admit that Kathy’s husband Paul was in the Federal Witness Protection Program. This was a result of a deal he made to testify against Georgio the actor Crescendo, a mobster that the government had been going after for a long time. Paul worked for him a couple of years and knew enough to put him away. Unfortunately, Paul got a little greedy. When his boss found out about it, Paul logically reasoned that testifying for the feds would be a better option then being fired by Crescendo, because the mob’s severance package is a little different than those offered by other large organizations.

  When Georgio heard about the alleged disappearance of Paul Potter and the bulletridden bloody shirt that was found, he suspected that it had to be some of the feds’ shenanigans, designed to make him call off the contract on Paul’s life. Even Snell was suspicious of that phony death when he heard about it and admitted to me that it was the type of trick that the feds might pull.

  The girls figured out that Georgio would be the perfect candidate to do their next murder, so they arranged to have Kathy call him and pretend to offer up Paul. At that point, Georgio’s suspicions about Snell faking Paul’s death were confirmed, so he was very
receptive when Kathy acted hysterical on the phone, telling him that she can’t stand Paul beating her any more, and that she doesn’t care about being a protected witness. She went on to tell him that no amount of money can make her want to stay with Paul, but she has nowhere to go.

  Georgio then used a technique he learned from the feds: he made her a deal she couldn’t refuse. All she had to do was tell him where he could find his former employee, and the rest would be taken care of. He had no interest in harming her, because she had no first-hand knowledge about any of his business affairs. Once Paul was dead, Georgio knew that anything Kathy would say about him was hearsay, so unless she tried to hold him up for information about where he could find Paul, he had no beef with her. What finalized the deal was when Kathy went so far at to tell Georgio that she didn’t even want any of his money for fingering her husband, because the insurance money would help her disappear and go back home to somewhere in the Ozarks. Kathy also gave Georgio a description of how Paul had changed his appearance, complete with shaved head and moustache. All she wanted was for him to use a throwaway untraceable gun and leave it on the floor, so that they could frame someone else for the hit. Georgio especially went for that part of the deal, and the plan was put in motion.

  Because my trial was set for the afternoon, they arranged for Georgio and his men to show up in the morning, telling them that the target would be there at ten AM promptly, waiting for some cable repairmen, and the front door would be left open. They told Michael that they were going to take the minivan to the market to load up on groceries for the week, and that while they were gone, the front door should be left open for the cable repair guys. Instead of going to the market, they drove around the block and then parked down the street, waiting for Georgio’s men to show up. The front door of Beverly’s house was wide open.