Hollywood Homicide: A Hollywood Alphabet Series Thriller

by M. Z. Kelly

  Ted just nodded, didn’t respond.

  “Don’t tell me you’re back to Zazen?”

  He shrugged and pulled out of the parking lot. “When all else fails, there’s not much else that’s left.”

  I turned away and took several deep breaths, trying to calm myself. It might not have been Zazen, but it was the best I could do under the circumstances.

  As we drove, I took a few minutes to process what Landon had said about Lauren Hayden’s relationship to Scarlett. Some things began to align for me. I was almost certain now that the unfinished letter Scarlett had been writing was to Lauren. She was her secret lover. Then a cascade of other things began to fall into place. I was about to tell Ted what I’d realized when my phone chirped. It was Selfie.

  “I just got some scuttlebutt.” Our crime analyst kept her voice low. “Deep Throat and The Doughboy got here right after you left. I got to sit in on their briefing with Conrad. They said they met with Donny Kessler. He told them he denied knowing Lauren Hayden because he didn’t want to raise any suspicions. He said that Scarlett knew he and Hayden were hooking up. He said she didn’t care because she’d had moved on with someone else.”

  “Did he say who that was?”

  “He claimed he didn’t know, but Belmont and Hardy weren’t convinced.”

  I was about to end the call when Selfie added, “Better watch your backs. Conrad just told Belmont and Hardy to meet you at Hayden’s house. He wants them to take over the lead on the case again.”

  I ended the call, told Ted what she’d said, then added, “Hit the gas, I want to beat them there.”

  As we drove, I thought about what Donny Kessler had said to Belmont and Hardy. If Kessler was hooking up with Lauren Hayden, he must have known that his former girlfriend and his new lover were also involved. Maybe it was all part of their manipulation of Scarlett. Whatever the case, I was determined to get to the truth.

  We made it to Lauren Hayden’s house in just over ten minutes. I got Bernie out of the backseat as Ted told me, “The front door’s wide open. I’ve got a bad feeling.”

  We moved up the front steps with our guns drawn and Bernie on alert. We stopped at the door and called out, not getting a response.

  I pushed on the door and it swung open wider at the same time Bernie began whining. A pungent, all too familiar odor immediately hit me. Some cops learned to like the smell. I hated it.

  “There’s been a gunshot,” I said to Ted.

  He nodded. “I’ll go in, if you’ll cover me.”

  We didn’t get any farther than the living room before we stopped, seeing the dead body.

  Ted went over, checked for a pulse, and then stated what I’d already realized. “Zig Steinberg. It looks like he took a couple of rounds to the chest.”

  No sooner had he said the words than we heard someone sobbing. It was coming from down the hallway. I motioned for Ted to take the lead since I had Bernie.

  We stopped outside the master bedroom. The door was closed and Ted called out, “Police. You need to come out, now.”

  There was more crying from the bedroom. A woman’s hoarse voice said, “It wasn’t supposed to happen like this.”

  I wrapped my hand tighter around Bernie’s leash, reached over, and pulled the door open. I saw that Lauren Hayden was sitting in a chair, holding a gun.

  I stayed low, partially using the door frame for cover as I said, “Lauren, it’s Detective Sexton. You need to put the gun down and come out so we can talk.”

  The sobs returned, this time louder as her gaze came over to me. “I shot him.”

  There was more crying, her emotions on overload. I sensed her desperation and wanted some answers. I began by telling her what I’d already pieced together.

  “You were jealous of Scarlet’s role in Steinberg’s film. You found out that he and Richard Hawkins sexually assaulted her and used that to blackmail him.”

  I gave her a minute to cry herself out and then repeated what I’d said. She brushed her tears and told me, “It was the perfect setup. I can’t believe what happened.”

  “You killed Scarlett and had Joaquin Rush frame Steinberg, telling him evidence had been left at the crime scene that he’d committed the murder. Steinberg was told that the only way he could save himself was by setting up Pearce Landon for the killing.”

  The sobbing went away, now replaced with anger as she spat, “Steinberg’s fingerprints were left at the scene but I didn’t kill Scarlett. It was Donny.”

  I looked at Ted. He shook his head, a message that he didn’t see any opportunity to get to Hayden and defuse the situation.

  “Scarlett was falling in love with you,” I said, turning back to her and keeping a tight rein on Bernie. “At the same time you were hooking up with her boyfriend.”

  Hayden laughed. I’d seen the reaction before in other suspects, the fine line between sorrow and laughter being blurred when defenses had broken down. “Scarlett was a complete idiot. She was easy to manipulate.”

  What she’d said confirmed what I’d realized earlier; that Scarlett must have been writing the letter to her when Kessler came to her cottage. He then raped and murdered Scarlett, leaving the scene untouched so that Landon could be framed for the murder.

  “Tell me how you used Donny,” I said. “What was his role in everything?”

  There was more laughter. “He was a convenient pawn. His uncle was a drug dealer who’d used Joaquin Rush to take care of one of his enemies years ago. Donny contacted Rush, thinking if things went as we planned, Steinberg would let him work on some scripts. He was almost as big an idiot as Scarlett.”

  I was beginning to get a feeling for the real Lauren Hayden and, despite being attractive on the surface, she was about as ugly as you can get on the inside.

  It was just speculation on my part, but I gave voice to what I’d suspected earlier. “You blackmailed Steinberg because you wanted him to give you Scarlett’s role in Final Wish, didn’t you?”

  “I deserved the part,” Hayden spat. “The only reason Scarlett got it was she slept with Zig.”

  “I’d call what happened to Scarlett rape.”

  “Call it whatever you want, she didn’t deserve the role.”

  “Tell me something. Was it pillow talk? Is that when you realized Steinberg, Hawkins, and their buddies had raped Scarlett and Madison Landon?”

  There was laughter before she said, “Scarlett was starting to remember some details that I realized could work to my advantage. When she told me that her father was a fixer, all the pieces began falling into place.”

  I then began piecing together Joaquin Rush’s role in everything. “You used a portion of the sex tape to have Rush set up Steinberg. You had him plant the evidence at Scarlett’s murder, implicating him. Steinberg was told the only way he could save himself was to hire Madison Landon’s father to clean the murder scene. He realized that he had no choice but to accept the hand he’d been dealt.”

  “Zig went along with everything until he showed up today. He was tired of being used.” Hayden’s shoulders slumped. “He said he was going to the police.”

  “He left you with no choice but to kill him.”

  Her eyes lost focus and she exhaled. “It was supposed to be the perfect setup.”

  “Made more perfect because you knew that Landon would agree to Steinberg’s demands, otherwise the sex tapes of Scarlett and his daughter would be released. Landon was in the perfect place to go down for the crime when Donny called the police, informing them of the homicide.”

  Hollow laughter followed. “If it had gone as we planned, Landon would be in jail right now or dead and no one would be the wiser.”

  “But it didn’t go the way you thought it would. When Landon was released for insufficient evidence and Richard Hawkins threatened to expose everything. It forced your hand. You used Rush to kill Hawkins and set up Landon for a second murder.”

  “But Landon wouldn’t go away. It left me with no choice but to have Rush try
and kill him.” She chuckled. “I told Landon he must have nine lives.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  The mirth was still in her voice as she said, “He was here, right after I shot Zig. He knows everything. He said he’s going to kill Donny.”

  “I don’t understand, why Donny?”

  “When Rush couldn’t get the job done, I sent him to kill Landon. When he wasn’t home, Donny went into a rage and killed Landon’s sister and her aide.”

  SEVENTY TWO

  Lauren Hayden completely broke down again, her laughter replaced by tears. As her body was racked by sobs I saw her hand, the one that held the gun, slump down to her side. I calculated the time it would take for Bernie to cover the distance and took the opening.

  I snapped off my big dog’s leash and gave him the attack command, “FASS.”

  It was over in a matter of seconds. The gun dropped to the floor as Bernie flew across the room and clamped down on Lauren Hayden’s arm. She screamed and fought back but it was useless. By the time I got my big dog back under control, Hayden was in handcuffs, and Ted was using a towel to stem the bleeding from the attack.

  An ambulance was on the way when Belmont and Hardy came through the door. I motioned to our crying suspect. “Keep an eye on her.”

  “Where are you going?” Christine Belmont demanded in a voice that sounded like a female Darth Vader.

  I took Bernie by his leash and said, “To arrest a murder suspect that you just walked away from.”

  As Ted drove like a mad man to Donny Kessler’s apartment in West Hollywood, I got a call from Mo. Her husky voice was hushed in that way she has when she’s got a secret.

  “I didn’t want it to go down like this with your lieutenant, but baby sis insisted that she wanted to help you out.”

  I held onto the armrest as we bounced through an intersection. “What are you talking about? Everything was supposed to be confidential.”

  “Natalie got the story out of me. She then talked to your police buddies and went undercover to set up a sting on Conrad.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “The whole thing’s supposed to go down in the next hour. I’m heading over to the Marquee now. Just wanted you to know.”

  I ended the call, telling Mo I’d be in touch with her as soon as I could. Ted must have seen my distress.

  “Problems?”

  I glanced at him. We were doing almost sixty on a surface street, weaving in and out of traffic. “I’ll tell you all about it later.” I then changed the subject. “The way I figure it, Pearce Landon had about a fifteen minute head start on us.”

  “That doesn’t bode well for Donny Kessler.”

  As we turned on the block to Kessler’s apartment, I hit redial on my phone, hoping that Landon hadn’t tossed the burner that he’d used to call me. I was about to give up on the call when I heard his voice.

  “It’s over, Detective. I have the bastard that killed my sister at gunpoint.”

  Ted pulled to the curb in front of Kessler’s apartment building as I said to Landon, “Don’t do this. Lauren Hayden told us everything. Kessler will go down for multiple counts of murder and you should eventually be able to walk away from everything.”

  There was a hesitation before he said, “Except the knowledge that I could have killed the son of a bitch that murdered my sister and didn’t.”

  We moved up to the apartment, Ted taking control of Bernie’s leash as I talked to Landon. “That’s not going to be any consolation when you spend the rest of your life in a prison cell.”

  “I guess we’ll just have to see about that.”

  “What about your daughter? She deserves to have a father…”

  I heard screaming in the background. It was Donny Kessler, begging for his life. There were shuffling sounds and then more screaming, before I heard Landon calling out, “Come back here or you die.”

  I heard a door slamming inside the apartment and more screaming as we stopped at the front door. “What’s going on?” I demanded.

  After another minute I heard Landon come back on the line. “He’s in the bedroom, claims he has a gun.”

  “Let us come in. We can help defuse…” I heard the sound of a single gunshot. “What’s going on?” There was no response. I looked at Ted, at the same time saying into the phone, “You either come out now or we’re coming in.”

  I finally heard Pearce Landon’s voice on the line again, this time more subdued. “It’s over. Kessler just shot himself.” After a hesitation, he said, “I’ve put my gun down and I’m coming out.”

  Bernie was straining on his leash. Ted pulled him with us as we backed away from the door. In a moment it was pushed open and Pearce Landon stepped over the threshold with his hands up. I took control of Bernie again as Ted went over and handcuffed our suspect.

  “Nice to see you again, Kate,” Pearce Landon said.

  I released a breath and put my gun away. “Likewise.”

  ***

  I left Ted at Kessler’s apartment after a couple of marked units arrived at the scene. We’d checked the master bedroom and found Lauren Hayden’s boyfriend dead of a single gunshot wound to the head. Pearce Landon had been booked on the original murder charges the DA had filed, but I knew that he’d probably be released after everything was sorted out.

  Bernie and I arrived at the Marquee Manor Hotel fifteen minutes later. The hotel, once a grand venue for budding Hollywood actors, was now the scene of another kind of action. The rooms were often rented out by the hour, something my lieutenant had apparently taken advantage of.

  I found Natalie and Mo in the downstairs lobby with a detective I recognized as working for IAD.

  “That dirty lumpfish boss of yours wanted me to do the love tango with Mr. Sniffles,” Natalie said.

  “What?”

  “He wanted baby sis to do the nasty dance with Tiny Tim,” Mo said, interpreting what she’d said. “And the whole thing was caught on tape.”

  I got it. Mr. Sniffles, or Tiny Tim, was apparently my lieutenant’s rather small…never mind.

  The IAD detective, using less colorful language than my friends, confirmed what they’d said. We turned as the lobby elevators opened. Lieutenant Conrad was in handcuffs between two burly cops.

  I tried, I really did, but this time I couldn’t keep my big mouth shut. As Conrad passed by us I said, “Looks like we just closed another case. I’ll be sure the brass lets the press know right away so that Section One can take the credit.”

  “Fuck you,” Conrad spat.

  I smiled and said, “I heard that you didn’t bring enough to the dance to bother with.”

  SEVENTY THREE

  A week later, on Christmas Day, the weather was beautiful and I made plans to go with Lindsay to Griffith Park for a picnic. My sister came by my apartment to pick me up. On our way out the door with Bernie, we stopped and chatted with Natalie and Mo on their courtyard.

  The Barkley Bungalows were now full, but the renovation work on the ancient buildings had just begun. A TV crew for one of those home renovation programs had been filming the restoration work and a small army of contactors had descended on the complex. We took seats as we shared some eggnog with my friends.

  “Rumor has it that Pearce Landon is gonna walk on everything,” Mo said. My deluxe-size friend had on a tight red dress and a red Santa hat. A hefty version of Mrs. Claus came to mind as she went on, “I also heard that you two are best buds now.”

  “Just friends,” I said. “Landon said he might help me out in the future if I need some assistance on a case.” I smiled. “We’ll see.”

  “That bloke is hotter than summer time in the city,” Natalie said. “Maybe you two will become more than just friendly friends.”

  My British pal was wearing what she sometimes referenced as short and skimpy. I wasn’t sure which word was more descriptive of her festive red micro-mini dress.

  “I doubt that’s going to happen,” I said.

 
“What about Buck?” Lindsay asked. My sister, in contrast to Natalie, wore a calf-length cotton dress. She looked relaxed and beautiful.

  I shrugged. “We’ll see. I’m keeping my options open.”

  “I read in the papers that Hayden woman is going down for everything,” Mo said, going back to the Endicott murder. “She was behind all the killings.”

  “The DA should be filing multiple counts of murder and conspiracy for the death of Scarlett Endicott, Pearce Landon’s sister, and her aide.”

  What I didn’t tell her is that we’d found the entire sex tape in Hayden’s apartment, showing Steinberg and Hawkins assaulting Scarlett and Landon’s daughter, Madison, along with two other unknown men. From what we’d pieced together Hayden had gotten the tape from Steinberg’s assistant, Alysha Roberts, who she’d also been involved with at one time. It seemed that Hayden had used all aspects of her sexual prowess to manipulate those around her.

  We’d also looked into the relationship Steinberg and Hawkins had with Harlan Ryland. While the three men were close friends and Ryland had financially backed Steinberg’s movie, we found nothing to indicate that he or his Tauist religion had anything to do with Scarlett’s murder or the setup of Pearce Landon.

  “I heard through the grapevine that Scarlett’s boyfriend, Donny Kessler, was into some bad shit,” Mo added.

  “We found some things in his apartment showing that he was into Satanism, something that was apparent by the way he’d tortured and murdered Scarlett. We think he probably talked Scarlett into taking the role in Steinberg’s film, both because of his interest in the subject and he hoped he could manipulate the director into helping his career. All things considered, thanks to him and Lauren Hayden, it made for a very unhappy ending to a lot of innocent lives.”

  “At least there’s one happy ending,” Mo said.

  I nodded. “The M.E.’s office confirmed that it was Russell Van Drake’s body under the gazebo in Montecito. We closed his case.”

  “That ain’t what I’m talking about. We heard…”