by Combs, Sasha
Not caring at that point why Charlie was sweating, she turned around and read him his right’s.
“You have the right to remain silent...” She recited to him just like she’d practiced while looking at herself in the mirror in her bathroom. Even though she knew the Miranda Rights backwards and forwards; Linda’s words were cut short when Charlie said...
“Cut the crap... I know my right’s and I don’t need any reminders. You wanted to talk...so let’s talk. But before I say anything...why don’t you tell me why you were in Liz’s penthouse tonight?”
When Charlie had followed her off the dance floor, his obedience had been due to Linda identifying herself as an officer of the law and to add icing on the cake she told him, she’d been hiding inside of the closet while he and his accomplice had been searching for something inside of Elizabeth Van Wilson’s penthouse. Until that point she had not been convinced that Hayford had heard another set of feet. But when Charlie didn’t deny it...and he complied without question...following her off the dance floor... It wasn’t until then, that Linda knew with certainty Charlie had not acted alone and she was pretty sure his help had come from a high source.
“Charlie, I didn’t bring you here to be questioned by you. There’s a dead woman in the cities morgue....and I just so happen to know that you were inside of her home after the fact.”
“So what...” he said to her and when he said it, Charlie spew spit in her general direction.
Frowning because his saliva nearly hit her, she said...
“I know you and Elizabeth were in a relationship...and I know she placed a call to you just before she left her apartment.”
Charlie’s eyes widened with fear. He had wanted to erase his number from her telephone and he’d thought he’d done that while rummaging through her home.
“So what...Liz and I dated...but I wasn’t the only man involved with her. Elizabeth played the field and she always juggled no less than two men at a time.”
“That must have bothered you.” she said, then she noticed a smug expression on his face.
“What makes you think we were in a committed relationship? Elizabeth didn’t hold exclusive rights to anyone because her dance card was always full. That’s what made us perfect sexual partners. You see...like Elizabeth; I don’t practice monogamy either.”
Charlie had begun slowly pacing and Linda could tell whatever had happened tonight had not been planned. Considering his reactions, Charlie had been trying to clean up his mess...and that had been the reason, he returned to her penthouse. Linda continued.
“We also know that Elizabeth intended to meet you tonight...” Linda had not seen anything in her apartment to conclusively lead her to believe this but after sharing what she’d read from the dead woman’s writings; it had been something Hayford said that made Linda know, Elizabeth had intended to meet with Charlie instead of attending the mayors party.
“I’ve been here all night!” he spouted out angrily. “You can ask anyone...even my dad.”
“We will ask those people...but later...not right now.” She had said...and Linda was amazed at how calm she appeared on the outside, while on the inside she was as terrified as a mouse. Control...she kept repeating to herself...stay calm and in control.
Looking at Charlie, Linda said ...
“Did you know that Elizabeth kept a detailed diary...notating her every move. Almost as if she needed the outlet to cleanse herself of guilt.”
Charlie’s pacing came to an abrupt halt. He slowly turned to look at Linda. He didn’t know about the diary and he could only imagine what Liz had written in it. When he’d started dating her, against the advise of all of his friends; he knew the life she led wasn’t very forgiving. He didn’t have the deep pockets like Liz and he knew all the rumors that detailed the dirt from her nightly escapes. Even though these things were public record because nearly every newspaper, magazine or tabloid had printed it; Charlie didn’t care and like every other man who had dated her, he went along for the ride. During the short period Elizabeth had toyed with his emotions; Charlie had found himself falling in love with Liz. Unlike most of the men she had dated, he had allowed reason to escape him while allowing his sensibilities and his guard to plummet to the ground. Not only had he told her that he loved her; Charlie had emptied his savings to buy her the largest engagement ring that he could afford. Elizabeth had openly belittled the two carat diamond by telling him publicly that his ring wasn’t good enough for her. She’d thrown the ring in a fountain, while she and her friends laughed with amusement as Charlie dove in to recover the engagement ring. The late night antics had ended when a night patrolman had been called to the scene due to their excessive laughter attracting a growing crowd of curious people...not to mention how silly Charlie looked while he flipped over coins and objects in the dark attempting to find his ring. When his father had found out what he had foolishly done; all hell had broken loose and he was certain that had been the reason Liz had broken things off with him. But when she called him tonight...Charlie had convinced himself that Liz had changed her mind and regardless of what his father had told him about her; Charlie knew he was willing to overlook Elizabeth’s shortcomings.
Charlie’s eyes were clouding up with tears...making it difficult to ascertain the color. Balling now he said...
“I loved her...I loved her. I just wanted her to love me.”
There were a set of wing back leather chairs near where he’d stopped pacing. Sitting in one of them, Charlie’s body collapsed under the weight of his guilt. Linda knew in cases like this, there was a short window of time in which a detective could use the criminals guilt to get them to confess to their crime. She moved quickly to where he was sitting...taking the chair right next to him.
In a calm voice she said...
“Liz did love you. She wrote that in her diary.”
Linda wasn’t lying...well not quite. She’d only had the opportunity to read excerpts and a few lines. Due to the quick pace of her night, she had tucked the diary inside of her bag and she had not had the chance to read any further than the few pages that had given her an insight into the dead woman’s mind. She’d been to busy hatching her plan with Hayford and trying to steer her focus away from her sexual indiscretion. The lovemaking session between her and Hayford on Elizabeth’s kitchen floor was too recent for her to forget. She still couldn’t believe she’d been so careless...but she also didn’t feel a hint of remorse or regret.
Linda used a technique she had read about in one of her books while she’d been studying law. By lightly placing her hand on top of Charlie’s; this gesture was meant to make him believe that she was sympathetic to his plight.
Her voice was much softer this time when she said...
“When you met Elizabeth tonight...you quarreled with her about her choices. There was a misunderstanding.”
Linda was winging it but she had to make Charlie believe that she knew he had met with Elizabeth that night.
Nodding he said...
“She was supposed to come to the party. That was the only reason I came tonight because I thought it would give me a chance to see Liz. When I got here...I recognized some of her friends and I was stunned not to see her with them because normally they all travel around the city like a clique. Elizabeth is the ringleader, and I didn’t understand why they were at the party without her. But when I talked to one of her friends, it was then that I learned she had not been seen all day.”
Charlie was ringing his hands white and his fingers had begun to tremble.
“That’s when she called you...” Linda filled in this blank because she wanted Charlie to continue his confession.
“Yes...I had been here for not more than a few hours. I felt my phone vibrating and when I pulled it out I could see that it was Liz calling. She wanted to talk to me...but when I told her to come here, she said we needed to talk someplace private. There’s a place in the park that we use to go when Liz wasn’t ready to go home after we’d been ou
t partying. That’s were she wanted to meet me.”
Charlie cleared his throat because he had not been back to the park after Liz had humiliated him by throwing the engagement ring he’d bought for her in one of the parks fountains.
Linda leaned in as he continued to tell his story. She felt a tug at her heart because a young woman’s death had occurred due to lies and Elizabeth’s immature need to manipulate lives as if they were puppets for her own personal amusement.
Charlie spoke as if what had happened was a story he’d just read about in the local paper. His eyes became steel and glassy and she knew whatever happened out on that bridge last night; Charlie still had not been able to process it.
When Charlie left the mansion to find his car; he had been one of the early arriving guest...and that had meant his vehicle had been hemmed in by a host of limousines and private vehicles.
He looked in the distance and he could see that the valets were still busy parking the cars for the arriving guest. As his eyes meticulously scanned over the sea of vehicles he recognized a blue corvette that sat off alone in a corner. This car wasn’t obstructed and it could easily be moved without disturbing the valets. He recognized the car and he knew that its owner was Detective Mike Smith. This knowledge caused an easy smile to creep across his face because he knew that Mike was just the right person to help him get where he needed to go that night.
Not too much time had passed between Charlie going back inside of the mansion, then coming back outdoors after he’d found Detective Mike Smith. Before they left the party, Charlie had persuaded Mike to take him to the park where Elizabeth had been waiting for him. On the ride there, Charlie had been surprised to find out that Mike had information about Elizabeth...information that told him Elizabeth had begun dating another man. The entire ride there, Charlie had been fuming and on more than one occasion, he had told Mike to turn the vehicle around...taking them back to the party at the mayors mansion. He knew Mike had way too much to drink...causing his male bravado to kick in. Mike had told Charlie to give Elizabeth some of her own medicine. Instead of playing her game...Mike had told him to treat her like the slovenly promiscuous woman she was. Charlie admitted having had a few drinks before leaving the party but he also commented that he wasn’t as drunk as Mike was.
Moving forward in his story, Charlie told Linda he did just as Mike had suggested. When he arrived to find Elizabeth wrapped in her goose down coat; from a distance she looked like she was worried but he imagined he’d been wrong because Elizabeth never had a care in the world. Approaching her like a bull, his words sliced at her...due to the pain and embarrassment heaped upon him as one of her victims. Liz had tried to calm him but each time she came near him...Charlie would push her back to maintain some distance.
“What’s wrong with you Charlie...? Is it something that Dane...or one of your other friends has said about me?” Elizabeth had been confused but nothing she said seemed to matter.
“Why does it have to be one of my friends...? I have a brain...I don’t need my friends to tell me about you.”
Charlie remembered how they had batted words back and forth and it wasn’t until that moment that he realized...Elizabeth had never told him why she had called him; asking that he meet her in the park. He had been so pumped up by Mike...so ready to be the one with the stinger...instead of the one being stung. One right after the other, he accused her of things that were true...ways in which she had manipulated him...and he told her about the men that she had dated; while she had promised he would be the only one.
Elizabeth had tried to calm Charlie down but the closer she got to him...it seemed that it was her presence that kept setting him off. Reaching her hands out to him...because she believed if she could touch him...she’d be able to explain away all that she’d done wrong. Like so many horrible things that happen due to missteps and mishaps; on this night, fate would have what it was owed. Without warning, Charlie pushed Elizabeth much harder than he had intended. He’d been backing up away from her...making his way back to the corvette where Mike had been parked and waiting for him. The uneven ground had caused Elizabeth to fall backwards due to his nudge...and the force of that thrust had been the reason her head slap the ground like a mini explosion.
Charlie had said it sounded like a loud thump...and when he heard the sound he immediately ran over to where Elizabeth had been lying. It was then that he saw the large rock that her head had collided with...and then the blood began to ooze as it pooled around the large stone, staining the snow red.
At this point in his story, Charlie had stopped talking. He was crying inconsolability. The way his control slipped away from him, this had caused Linda to kneel forward; coming to her knees. Linda tugged on her tight dress, adjusting the snugness. She had created just enough slack that would allow her to sit conformably on the floor in front of him. Charlie’s large hands were covering his tear stained face...and she now understood why Elizabeth’s nick name for him had been ‘cry baby’.
So far...Charlie had confessed to meeting Elizabeth in the park. He had argued with her over the way she had treated him while they had dated and he’d allowed Mike to instigate a reign of anger before Charlie had a chance to find out Elizabeth’s reason for wanting to meet him in one of her favorite places.
Linda now knew why the medical examiner had found the gaping gash in the back of her head. But he had not explained how she’d gotten into the water...and she knew, Elizabeth didn’t go to the park without carrying a cellular phone or her wallet.
Knowing that she would need more information to seal up this case; Linda lightly placed her hand on top of his head to touch Charlie’s neatly cut brunette hair. He was still sobbing miserably and she was wishing he would get control of himself. Stroking his head...Linda spoke in a low calming voice.
“Did you check to see if Elizabeth was breathing after her fall?”
Charlie’s head popped up so fast...his quick motion had caused Linda’s hand to fall from his head.
“Of course I checked...I checked...and she was...”
Charlie couldn’t bring himself to say the word dead. Linda touched his hand and said...
“How do you know she wasn’t alive? You’re not a doctor Charlie and you could have made a mistake. Its been known to happen and it wouldn’t be the first time that a person has mistakenly believed an unconscious person was dead.”
The next set of questions would be tricky but Linda needed these answers.
“Charlie...I need you to take your time and think about this, because it’s important. Did you check to see if Elizabeth was breathing?”
Charlie’s face was covered by his hands again. His crying had started and what he was saying didn’t make any sense. Linda leaned in closer while straining; attempting to weed out the words from the crying.
“She was dead...he said she was dead...he said she was dead...”
Charlie kept repeating the same thing over and over...until they were interrupted by a familiar voice.
**********
0400
“Be quiet junior...don’t say another word.”
The even tempered voice echoed from across the room near the door and immediately Linda knew exactly who the voice belonged to.
Standing, she slowly turned to see where this seemingly coolheaded person was standing. His tall imposing frame was clad in a tailored Armani Tuxedo and she couldn’t help but notice the freshly cut hairstyle because the sprinkling of gray that was usually much longer on the sides had been trimmed back in a more smooth classy style.
Chief Charles Billings along with Detective Mike Smith stood in front of the closed door that led inside of the library. Both men were acting as if they had complete control of this situation. She was a pretty good card player and an even better strategist. Appearances were important and in this case she needed to be better than Houdini. She had to maintain the illusion that she had a long list of damaging information that would convict Chief Billings son. So far, Linda had Cha
rlie’s confession; but she would need more than a teary eyed story to persuade the commander that she’d caught Elizabeth’s killer. As her heart beat like a spastic drum, Linda began a mental ticking in her head. Charlie’s confession placed him at the crime scene but there had been no physical evidence that would tie him there. Then she thought about the CSI team. Linda had not talked with them yet and she wondered if they had located the rock or the blood stain in the snow. Her brain was moving at a rapid pace. Too fast to make sense of things. Linda was blaming herself for neglecting to contact the other investigators. Yet, as she noted her shortcomings; she reminded herself of all that she’d done right. Charlie admitted his involvement but she still had not found out how he got Elizabeth into the water and she really needed to find out that tidbit of information.
Looking at her boss and the other officer in the room, Linda said...
“Chief...Detective...”
Chief Billings crossed the room...coming to the area in the library where his son and Linda had been all cozied up like she was his sons mother confessor.
“Detective Gable...what are you doing in here with my son?”
Linda’s expression remained flat. In a professional voice she said... “I’m sure you know exactly why I’m here...which is the reason you brought Mike with you.”
Mike sneered at her then made some kind of disgusting grunt.
“We don’t have time for this...” Mike had said. “Come on Charlie...let me take you home.”
Reaching pass her to Charlie; Mike grabbed his arm forcing him to come to a standing position. Charlie had still been whimpering...and his body was limp like a rag doll.
“Pull yourself together son.”
Chief Billings had said. Patting him on his back, he looked to Mike and said... “Get him out of here.”
The two men exchanged a glance that held more information than any dialogue they would ever say in front of her. It was then that things began to click for Linda...and she knew what had happened at the park that night.
