Shadows of Doubt

Shadows of Doubt Page 32

by Corcoran, Mell

  “I think it was four or five months ago, but I’ll verify.” Frank consulted his Blackberry. “I’ll have to check my records back at the hotel to give you a list of his entourage, but I know that he had seven with him when he landed, and has thirty-two on record right now. I looked into all of that when you got the invitation, though. Before Winslow turned up dead.”

  Max thought for a moment. “Talk to all of them again. Perhaps one of them crossed Winslow’s path or has some sort of detail that will be helpful, that was overlooked the first time.”

  “None of those people that loan their collections to museums ever has anything to do with the actual exhibit, you know that Max.” Niko raised a valid point. “They just dump their valuables on one facility or another and take the bows. Highly unlikely they ever had direct contact with Winslow.”

  “I realize that, but get the detective dossiers on all of them and have them delivered to her as soon as possible anyway.” Max looked back at Lou. “Abby will make sure you have copies of everything we have on the rogue as well. You’ll need to keep me up to speed on your findings. I would prefer daily briefings.” Abby and Caroline snorted at Max’s handy way of keeping in touch with Lou, but hushed themselves quickly.

  “My findings? I won’t find shit unless this rogue is hiding in the supply closet at the bureau. My captain has me sitting on a desk for the week.” Lou grumbled and slumped in her chair.

  She looked to Max like a little girl who had just been scolded. She hated being on the sidelines, it was very obvious, and she made no attempt to hide her disdain of it.

  “I wouldn’t worry too much about that.” He grinned and sipped from his glass.

  Anticipating taking the train in to the office, since Vinny was working the case she should have been working on, Lou had gotten up very early. She peered out through the binoculars at Max’s construction while she drank her coffee and wondered what it would be like living so close to him and her new extended family. The previous night had been really wonderful, even if it was shocking and hard to take in at first. But dinner had been truly enjoyable with the mundane chatter and silliness. Even the discussions on her unknown suspect and learning things about him that filled in gaps and created even more.

  The serial freak had been murdering women off and on for the better part of two and a half centuries. He had been a thorn in Max’s side for all that time and one in hers for only the past couple of weeks. She really wasn’t sure how the hell she was going to make a difference in catching this guy if they hadn’t been able to yet. Max had insisted that she would be invaluable and that her fresh perspective alone would be the turning point. Whatever. Aside from the rogue, she had been informed that she would be playing an integral part in the actual law enforcement aspect of Max’s operations in Los Angeles. A secret agent within the department, as Caroline had put it. That made Lou laugh even now.

  It was just after seven when her cell rang and she heard Vinny’s muffled voice calmly telling her to wake up on the other end.

  “I’ve been up for half an hour already.” She grinned.

  “Well good! We can grab some pancakes before we head over to, get this, Spank Me Productions.” Her partner said it with a snort but still sounded like he was talking through a pillow.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Ms. Purr’s last known place of employment. She had a contract at that porn studio.”

  Lou could hear him lay on his horn. “Vinny you sound funny, are you talking on a cell while driving? That’s illegal you know?”

  “Vera got me this headset thing. It’s hands free.” He shouted obscenities at someone who had apparently cut him off, again.

  “Vinny, I’m on desk duty remember? Captain’s orders?” Lou hated reminding him of that.

  “What? No, he called me around nine last night. Said to make sure you and I checked the studio out before we came in. I asked him about you being benched but he said that was over, said you would know why. You don’t know why?” Vinny suddenly sounded like he was falling down a hole as he muttered more obscenities. “I dropped my headset, I can’t hear you Lou. I’ll be there in about a half hour. I gotta fill up the clunker first. Hanging up now!”

  Lou hung up and stood there a moment, puzzled. She wasn’t clear on what her captain had meant but she had an idea that needed following up on.

  “You awake, sunshine?” Joe popped his head in to see if Lou was up.

  “I am.” She smiled at him. “What are you up to?”

  Joe walked in with a mug of his famous coffee and swapped it for the one she was holding. “Thought you might like this before you took off.”

  “Thanks! This is just what the doctor ordered. Mine sucks.” Lou drank deeply from the mug then looked back at Joe. “Hey, so you’re real deep in the Sanguinostri stuff right?”

  “That would be one way of putting it.” He grinned.

  “Would you know who everyone is? I mean like Captain Davidson or some other high up in the department?”

  “Yes, Davidson is one of us. He’s a Steward though, not turned.” Joe confirmed what Lou had only just suspected and she could only roll her eyes. “I think Abby will be providing you with all the contacts you’ll need. Although Max may want to do that personally.”

  “I don’t understand why, if Davidson is one of us, he would bench me.” She knitted her brows trying to make sense of it.

  “Well honey, at the time, you weren’t one of us, were you? Remember, he’s brass, not out in the trenches, which means he mitigates and manages. We can’t have civilians running around possibly revealing things that could wind up throwing a light on us. I’m sure the second you were indoctrinated Max gave Davidson the go-ahead to let you work.”

  “But Vinny gets to work the case and he’s not indoctrinated?” The logic was not clear to Lou.

  “Yes, that’s true but Vinny didn’t put the cases all together did he? You did. If not for you and Caroline he would never have put the cases together so he’s not entirely a worry is he?” Joe tried to make it sound not too terribly insulting to Vinny’s detective skills. “Plus there’s the whole matter of his looking to take a desk and get off the beat. He’s far more focused on that right now.”

  “So basically you’re saying I was benched because I’m so damn good?” She batted her eyelashes as she finished her coffee.

  Joe grinned at her and felt so happy at the fact that they were actually having a conversation of this nature at all, after all these years. “Basically. Now I’ll let you get on your way, but remember, when you get any pangs of guilt about fibbing to Vinny, it’s for his own protection.”

  Lou nodded, understanding it all very clearly. “I know that. I don’t have a problem with that at all. It’s like you did for Mom and me, for love. I understand that completely.” She took that opportunity to hug him tight. To reassure him that she loved him and didn’t harbor any bad feelings over his keeping such a secret from them for so long.

  Joe hugged Lou tightly and tried not to cry for the hundredth time since yesterday. He was just so relieved and happy to have both of his worlds merged into one. Finally. Joe had feared for so long that if he told Shevaun and Lou, they would hate him and leave him. He wouldn’t have survived that.

  When Vinny pulled up into the driveway, Lou bounced over to the car and hopped in. It took her about four seconds of looking at him for things to really register, then she burst out laughing.

  “What?!â
€ He demanded.

  “Vinny...” Lou tried to control herself but it was almost impossible. “That is not how you wear that hands-free setup.”

  Looking at her technologically challenged partner, she could not contain her laughter one bit. Vinny had the earbud portion exactly as it was supposed to be but the microphone section that was several inches down on the cord, should have been clipped to his shirt. Instead, Vinny had the cord wrapped over the top of his head and the microphone was stuffed in his other ear with the clip attached to his earlobe. It was no wonder the man had sounded muffled when he called. Lou took a moment to arrange the device properly while her partner just watched with total irritation.

  “There was no diagram or instructions! The little picture on the side of the phone shows a regular headphone set up. So how was I supposed to know!” He jammed the car into drive once Lou had finished. “What happened to you’re hand?” He asked, noticing the bandage.

  Lou had already thought of a brilliant explanation for her wound. “Ah someone freaking put a knife blade up in the dishwasher and I stuck my hand in, not looking.”

  “Ouch! I’ve done that before. My hand smelled like liverwurst for a week.”

  Lou looked at him with her eyebrow raised. “Liverwurst?”

  “Yeah. Might have been psychosomatic but I think it’s because Vera doesn’t rinse the dishes very well before she stuffs them in the washer. That’s a pet peeve of mine, ya know.”

  Lou could only shake her head. These were the moments she would miss when Vinny took his desk. The odd little quirky conversations they had throughout the day that made her laugh. But Vinny was going to be a father and his family needed to come first. It was also better since she had to keep secrets. This way she wouldn’t feel so guilty about it.

  They arrived at Spank Me Productions just before nine and if it were not for the name and the numerous framed posters for the various productions hanging on the walls, it could have been any administrative office anywhere. Decorated in cool grays and blues with shiny chrome accents, it was a nicely polished facility, on the surface. They had been asked to wait in the main lobby until someone could escort them back. It seemed the person they needed to speak with about Katarina Purrs was very hands on with the production end of things and was currently on set in the back of the facility. After several minutes of waiting, an amazonian woman who reminded Lou a lot of the weather anchor she detested came to lead them back. When they finally arrived on set, if you could call it that, they were greeted by a woman of about five feet ten inches in height who was dressed in a very sharp gray tweed pantsuit. Her gold hair was pulled back tightly into a knot and her keen eyes peered through thick black framed glasses. She introduced herself as Tawny Peters and apologized for having to meet them on set but that the death of Purrs had made a mess of scheduling.

  “She had one last shoot on her contract and we were supposed to start today.” Peters explained. “Since she screwed us out of that too, we had to shuffle things to minimize losses. Once we book talent, we book production staff and they get paid whether or not we shoot.”

  “What do you mean by screwing you out of that, too? There were difficulties with Purrs?” Vinny inquired of the woman, trying desperately not to gawk at the scene behind her that appeared to be a bastardization of a children’s story.

  “Difficulties is an understatement! That woman was a hag!” Peters composed herself by pulling off her glasses and pinching the bridge of her nose before she continued. “Her heyday as an adult film star died with legwarmers but thanks to a not so indiscreet indiscretion on the part of our CEO, she had an iron clad contract for 250 leading roles. “Taming the Cougar” was her last one and was supposed to start shooting today. Now we need to recast it in a hurry before we lose serious cash. I know that sounds cold to you but the woman was a skank of the highest proportion, and in my business, that is saying a lot!”

  Lou refrained from laughing at the woman’s statement as well as at the woman that suddenly appeared behind her dressed as an x-rated version of a red-headed rag doll. “Can you think of anyone who’d want to harm Purrs or would be willing to take her out to land her role?”

  “Oh God who wouldn’t want to?” Peters snickered then took a sip from her bottle of water. “But for that roll? Hell no. It was written specifically for her, to accommodate the multitude of sins that her pill popping, coke-snorting, martini swilling to the extreme of excess had wrought on her body. I mean you saw her, right? Someone got a telephoto of her body posted online last night and I am telling you she looked better dead!”

  Vinny winced. “That’s a little harsh, don’t you think?”

  Several production assistants that were eavesdropping all said “No” at the same time.

  “See!” Peters exclaimed as she flapped her arms. “Anyone, and I mean anyone in this business is going to tell you that woman was a hag and a misery to deal with. She slept with anyone and anything that got her high, drunk, a buck or something shiny to drape on her over-siliconed carcass. I know you are going to ask me for names but there simply is not enough ink and paper in the universe.”

  There were chuckles and snorts from numerous people on set over Peters’ last sentence. Lou and Vinny looked at each other in amazement over the resounding disdain apparently everyone in the company felt for Katarina Purrs. The rag doll woman wearing a wig made of red yarn walked over to them to add her two cents.

  “Hey, Tawny is absolutely right about Kat. She was a biatch and a hag. I’m Candy by the way.” The woman said it with a cheesy smile that she probably had meant to be charming. “You’re going to have a long list of suspects if you look inside the industry here. But I do know she had a couple creepy fans that she always would go on and on about. They sent her letters and emails and stuff all the time that she would just go on and on about. Her adoring fans and shit, ya know?” The woman actually snapped her gum. A cliché’ in the flesh. “I hadn’t seen her in a couple weeks but she came in while I was shooting Bambi’s Big Adventure and was all pissy about June at the front desk giving out her new email address to some weirdo fan that was going on about if he couldn’t have her, no one would.” She snorted loudly. “Like that guy’s all stable and has any taste or anything. But I know June was real upset about it. Maybe ask her?”

  Vinny and Lou thanked them all for their cooperation and stopped to check with June about Candy’s story. June was far too mild mannered and sweet to have been tied up with Purr’s death. When asked about the fan, she was clearly rattled. She had felt horrible about falling for such a rouse. A gentleman had called representing himself as a reporter from a reputable entertainment rag who was doing a piece on retro pornography and it’s lost art. Lou and Vinny both thought that June should have known it was a bullshit story right then and there but to June, it had seemed like something Ms. Purrs would have lapped up like warm milk. June agreed to forward Purrs’ contact information to him via email, which she had, and Purrs went through the roof over the whole thing being a fraud. In what appeared to be true Katarina Purrs form, she was less than interested in her information being given out than she was livid there was no real story and that he was just an obsessed fan. June was able to provide Lou and Vinny with the man’s email address and Lou discreetly texted it to Frank to see if he could come up with a name attached to the account faster then their techs at the station could.

  Since they had opted to skip breakfast until after their visit to Spank Me, they headed to their favorite pancake joint on the west side. Halfway through her short-stack, Lou got a text back from Frank with the name Toby Bender. As luck would have it, Mr. Bender just so happened to reside within ten miles o
f the diner.

  “Guy’s name sounds like he should be in porn. How’d you come up with that info before me?” Vinny asked as he tossed the tip on the table.

  “A hacker friend. Techs will come up with it eventually but this gives us a head start.” Lou yanked the check out of Vinny’s hand and raced for the cashier.

  “Hey!” He shouted after her, but he was too late.

  When they pulled onto Bender’s street they saw several LAPD black and white’s as well as the coroner truck.

  “Uh oh.” Vinny said under his breath.

  Lou nodded in agreement as they parked then got out of the car. When they flashed their badges and informed the uniformed officer at the perimeter why they were there, he directed them to apartment 4C, which just so happened to be the apartment of one Mr. Bender. They rounded the corner just as Carpesh was coming out of the apartment, barking orders at the techs and nearly running into Vinny’s chest.

  “What, watch where you...” When Carpesh registered Lou’s presence his demeanor changed instantly. “... Detective Donovan!” He smiled at her brightly. “Er... and Detective DeLuca. What a surprise to see you here. Forgive me, I wasn’t watching where I was going.”

  “No problem, sport.” Vinny hulked his shoulders to appear more intimidating to the rather small Carpesh. “You okay there?”

  “Oh yes, no damage!” Carpesh chuckled nervously.

  “What’s going on here Carpesh?” Lou interrupted Vinny’s alpha-male act.

  “Ah, oh! Toby Clifford Bender, deceased. Isn’t that odd that his first name is actually Toby? Not Tobias? With such a formal middle name?” Carpesh wandered off topic.

  “Yes, that is odd but how is he deceased?” Lou brought the apparently A.D.D. Carpesh back to the question.

 

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