by catt dahman
Vivian blinked; could this girl really be this foolish? Gritting her teeth she leaned forwards and said, “Really? Is that the view of what rapists is? Let me tell you, taking a drunk girl and using her sexually when she can't fight back is rape. But we've passed that issue now. We have established that part and we've established that you girls each killed your own boyfriends.”
She took a breath. “Which one of you killed Jennie? I don’t think she would have invited Terri or Mindy in, too suspicious. She was scared of you both, especially you, Mindy. Jacki , Sue, and Jean don’t wear lipstick, so that leaves only you, Lisa Marie. Jennie would be prone to talk to you since she and Sandy knew that you knew about the cheating. She thought maybe you had re-thought the idea...I think you told her you had.”
Lisa Marie only stared blankly.
“So you and she drank vodka; you killed her and made it look like a suicide, only you did a terrible job at staging that crime scene, by the way. I know human nature, and I fully believe that Jennie told you the same thing Sandy told you: it was rape and not consensual. You killed her…and brutally, as a matter of fact because you still blamed her.” Vivian stopped.
She looked at Lisa Marie and continued, “But knowing that, why didn’t you tell Terri, at least, so that Steve could be arrested instead of letting her kill him? Wouldn’t that have been true justice?”
“If we did it, then she had to,” Lisa Marie said, hate causing her almost to froth at the mouth, “It was all in. She couldn’t get out of it.”
“Shut up,” snarled Mindy.
Vivian shook her head, “That’s really sick.”
Fin stood again and said, “One thing that had me perplexed was how all of this came about. I know you’re smart girls, but not this smart. It seemed to me that someone else had to orchestrate this. The information came out of nowhere. There was one more person who was furious with the boys for cheating, for the entire episode, and for the STD, and she was the one who told you girls what to do and how to do it and kept everything in line. She wanted Jennie and Sandy also removed. She wanted everyone involved to go away so the secrets would die.”
Vivian spoke softly, “And I think there was more on her list. I think that each one of you girls was going to be killed as well. Because for a secret to die, everyone who knows it must be shut up for good. You’re lucky you didn’t end up dead.”
The girls looked at one another. Lisa Marie cocked up an eyebrow.
“When I met you in the gym, something struck me. But let me explain. I spoke to Michael’s mother, and she said the strangest thing. She raved about you, Mindy, and how wonderful you were, and her only complaint was that Michael got home so late on weekends after his dates. I asked what time his curfew was the night in the gym and was told it was midnight. Why then, did he not come home until two in the morning?”
Mindy looked confused.
“Right. I was just as flummoxed as you are. How strange was that? And on weekdays, sometimes, he got in late as well, claiming to have been with you or not saying much about where he was. Yet, Mindy, you couldn’t date on weeknights. You and your mother made that clear. Sandy made it clear when she told about the party and how you had to be home earlier than the rest. You never break curfew. Ever.”
“No, I don't. It's a rule,” Mindy said.
Vivian went on, “That led me to wonder where he was after his dates with you, Mindy. In my mind, he had to be seeing another girl, afterward. Who could that be? I puzzled over that until the good doctor refused to answer when I suggested that a particular person had gonorrhea. If I had been wrong, he would have said so. But this time, he refused to answer, telling me I was right.”
“What do you mean?” Mindy asked.
“That the girl Michael was sneaking off to be with had the same STD.”
“There was another one?” Mindy demanded. “Another girl?” She glared at each of her co-defenders.
“Yes, there was. In the gym, Mrs. Jacobs, you said that Michael was perfect and he was ‘our star’. At the time, you unconsciously reached up and fondled a necklace you wore, one that you’re presently wearing with a gold star.”
“And?” she asked as she ignored the family attorney.
“I found it odd. I saw a connection. You called him a star, and you had a necklace. Mindy doesn’t. You had gonorrhea….”
“What?” Mindy asked, jumping to her feet.
“I…this is crazy, Mindy….”
“All the star crap in the house: star figures and paintings. Star this and star that. That was about my boyfriend?”
“I said….”
“You said a lot. Were you sleeping with Michael?” Mindy searched her mother’s eyes and wailed, “Mother!”
Mr. Jacobs was pale with fury. He walked to the other side of the room, away from his wife. “You said it was a simple infection. But gonorrhea?”
“When the girls met that day to supposedly shop, Jean and Terri were there as well as ‘another girl and her mother’. We knew that was a load of malarkey because you didn’t just hang out. It was a meeting of the guilty, but how could you meet when a mother was there? The mother at that table that day was Mrs. Jacobs, and it was a meeting of the guilty. She was going over the plans again, ” added Fin as he looked over the group.
“We have nothing to say. If you aren’t going to charge….”
Fin held a hand up to the attorney and said, “We are about to charge all six girls and Mrs. Jacobs with conspiracy and murder in the first degree. The girls will be tried as adults. Maybe you can advise them that murder one carries the death penalty.”
Voices erupted as people argued and accused one another.
That’s all, Sheriff; if you and your deputies will read them their rights and arrest them? Thank you.”
“Sheriff....” Deputy Cannon ran into the room, his face red and worried, “We have multiple calls....Connie Evers and her little boy were just found dead...spilled sodas beside them. Sandy Slider is in route to the hospital and it looks like antifreeze poisoning.....
Vivian 's eyes went big and she leaned into Lisa Marie's face, “What have you done?”
Lisa Marie smirked sweetly, “I've been right here, Agent McLendon, Ma'am.”
“Third call out to Judith....”
Lou Yow went to his feet, face as white as paint, his hands shaking, and he reached for his daughter. “Lisa Marie? LiMA? Did you hurt her?”
“Why would I hurt her? Huh? Why? Oh, Daddy you're so funny.”
Cannon shook his head, “She was another DOA. I'm sorry.”
“Lisa Marie? Do you realize? Do you understand?”
Lisa Marie cocked her head, “Oh Daddy, I'm just a little girl three time traumatized. It must have all made my mind messed up, right? I'm just a very sick girl.” Her smiles was angelic. Her mother grabbed a trashcan and vomited. Lou Yow slid to his knees and Deputy Cannon had to run him to the hospital since the ambulances were busy and the man was clutching his chest.
Lisa Marie sat, in the midst of the turmoil and hummed tunelessly.
Chapter Fourteen: In Conclusion
Vivian left the room and leaned her back against the wall shaking. She held her hand up, “Let me be weak for a second. I feel sick. What in the hell is wrong with this place?”
“This happens all over, Viv. We just had the misfortune of having to witness it. Murder, jealousy, insanity, abuse, rape, anger....it's a small slice of what we'd see anywhere. It's a perfect cross section.”
“But she a sociopath. Seventeen and a sociopath.”
Virgil stroked her hair, “Didn't we see the same at the Fordham Clinic? There's more people on earth and more crime. Innocence is gone....these kids were too insulated. They were too...left in a can to rot. It isn't all kids, but these...were up on a pedestal, gave into alcohol and drugs, and events spiraled.”
“Terrible secrets.”
Marcus came out side the room with Fin, “Brilliant, Fin and Viv,” said Marcus as he smiled. He was shaken as wel
l.
“You did the work. We only organized it. You knew they did it.”
Nick nodded and replied, “Yeah, but we didn’t know about Mrs. Jacobs.”
Vivian nodded. “That fell into place at the last second. Deputy Watts cracked this one for me.”
Virgil hugged his wife, “I married a genius.”
“Did you know?”
Virgil smiled smugly. “Maybe. Yeah. Most of it, but you had to work the case and train. You and Fin put the pieces together.”
“The ones that Marcus and Nick gave us,” Fin said, “that was a group effort all the way. I feel no satisfaction, though.”
“What now?” Nick asked.
“I think the prosecution and defense teams will have a long drawn out time putting this together for trial, and I expect a few of those girls will turn evidence against Mrs. Jacobs and the others. They’ll cat-scratch one another all the way,” Virgil said. “There may not be much left of them to send to prison when they’re done.”
“And Sandy?”
“We can hope she pulls through. At least she's still alive.
“Sure seems a waste because of some party and the alcohol served there.”
“Nick, true, but then why weren’t Steve’s parents there to supervise? Why did the kids do those things and not confide in an adult, especially when people started dying? Why did they resort to murder for cheating? Mrs. Jacobs was furious that Michael cheated on her with those girls,” Marcus said.
Virgil added, “And Lisa Marie killed Jennie, Judith, a child, Connie, and Tommy. She was really into the entire killing-thing. She.....”
“Got a taste for it,” Virgil said. “Nothing we can do once they do.”
“Look at the lies and jealousy. I can’t believe Jennie suffered so much abuse only to have her mother kill her father….” Vivian paused, “Will Lisa Marie get off on an insanity plea?”
“I may depend on what tales the rest tell about her. It's possible, Viv. Or maybe she'll go to a place like the Fordham clinic.”
“It's harder, being on this side of those who are criminally insane...if they are.” Vivian sighed.
“It's bad, “Marcus agreed.
“It’s like the entire town had a sub layer full of bad secrets that festered and finally boiled up. I never dreamed when we saw them that there could be so many terrible secrets hidden.”
“Viv, think about it. Those are the ones we know of. Imagine those we don’t know,” said Marcus as he threw some paper away.
“Secrets can never stay buried,” Virgil said.
Vivian caught his eye and said, “We keep seeing that over and over.”
Virgil shrugged “Some secrets are worth killing for.”
Fort Worth 2014
