Pearls of Asia: A Love Story (34 page)

“I’m sorry, Reyna. I’m really, really sorry,” consoled Mac, shaking his head. “Fathers can be pretty awful sometimes. Someday I’ll tell you about mine.”

Mac docked The Sub at the busy corner of Fifth and Harrison, across the street from an all-night donut shop frequented by both cops and crack dealers. Diamond lived in a first floor apartment, and the bars on the windows reminded passersby that this dicey neighborhood wasn’t filled with soccer moms and minivans. Mac knocked on the door several times, and then pounded on it with his fist. He stepped toward a window and wiped away the grime between the window bars so he could peer into the dim interior of the apartment. What he saw told him right away that Diamond wasn’t going to let them in.

“I think that’s blood.”

Mac kicked in the door and sprinted into the bedroom. There, lying on top of a neatly made bed, looking as though she was sleeping peacefully, was Diamond. Her arms were stretched out, and each wrist had a river of blood streaming from it. On the bedside table was a bloody Balisong switchblade, exactly like the one found in Sheyla’s purse.

“Oh my God, no!” screamed Reyna. “Please Lord, I can’t believe she did this to herself!”

Mac pressed his fingers against her neck but couldn’t find a pulse. Her body was stone cold. “It’s too late. She’s gone.”

Next to the switchblade was a note, written in an elegant script. “Goodbye you bitches and whores,” it read. “My body is tired and worn out, but my beauty still remains. I know only pain and sickness lie ahead for me. Always remember Diamond, because no one shined brighter than me.”

Mac snapped open his phone and called 911. The operator put him through to police headquarters. He hoped they hadn’t received the memo that said he had been suspended. “Dispatch. This is Inspector Mac Fleet. We have an 11-44 dead body. No ambulance needed.”

“10-4, Inspector Fleet. We’re on it.”

Mac hung up and then moved on to console Reyna. Once she stopped crying, Mac asked her what the note meant.

“I guess the rumors I heard about her were true. Diamond and another girl, Anna, drove down to Mexico a few days ago to get their hips pumped with silicone. After they got back to San Francisco, Anna started complaining that she was having difficulty breathing and had to go to the emergency room. She died late yesterday afternoon, and the rumor around the trans community was that she had been pumped with industrial-grade silicone some Mexican ‘doctor’ purchased from a furniture manufacturer. Diamond got pumped with the same stuff, and maybe she thought she was next. She was already sick, although she didn’t tell anyone but me. Several years ago Diamond’s best friend died from an overdose of hormones that destroyed her liver. She was abusing hormones with her as well, but it just took longer to affect her. Diamond needed a new liver, but because she didn’t have health insurance her name was on the bottom of the donor list. Despite the risks, she still kept taking hormones. Stupid girl. That’s how much it meant for her to be ‘flawless.’”

The police and medical examiner arrived on the scene, and Mac and Reyna told them what they found. Two hours later the body was removed on a gurney and the police cleared out, taking the note and knife with them. It was time for Mac and Reyna to make their second stop of the day.

Reyna gave Mac directions to Ashley’s hotel room in the seedy Tenderloin. While Mac drove through the empty streets, Reyna stared out the window. “You know,” she said after riding along in silence. “They say suicide is the ultimate form of self-absorption, and nobody spent more time thinking about herself than Diamond. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised.”

MAC PULLED UP IN
front of the ragged Roosevelt Hotel. A small crowd of sleazy panhandlers worthy of a “
Grapes of Wrath”
audition huddled out front. Mac couldn’t tell if they lived on the street or in the hotel, which was notorious for its filth and squalor.

Reyna led Mac up the creaky stairwells. They were soon standing in front of room 408, and Reyna knocked on the door while Mac hid a couple doors down the dark hallway. Ashley came to the door.

“Reyna! What a surprise,” she said, sounding pleased to see someone she recognized who wasn’t armed or stoned. “What are you doing here?”

“Strictly business, girl. I’ve been asked by the Mayor’s office to get some signatures for an initiative supporting transgender rights in the workplace, so I’m asking everyone I know for help. I realize you’re new in town, and I thought you’d want to do all you can to help. Do you mind signing my petition?”

“I’d be happy to. I love the fact you’re so involved, Reyna. I don’t know where the trans community would be without someone like you to lead them. You’re the best.”

Ashley signed the petition. After handing it back, Reyna shouted in a voice loud enough to alert the media, “Ashley, I didn’t know you were left-handed.”

Mac bolted down the hallway and slammed opened the door with his shoulder, knocking Ashley’s amazingly proportioned body to the ground. From a far corner of the room, a tiny dog ran out from underneath the bed, barking furiously and jumping up and down at Mac’s feet. The yappy little creature was small enough to fit in his coat pocket. Mac picked up the dog and, sure enough, there was a tiny diamond stud in her right ear. It was Misha, Michelle Osher’s missing Teacup Yorkie.

The wind knocked out of her, Ashley got back up and reached into her nearby purse and pulled out the Balisong switchblade Reyna had given her on her first night at
Pearls of Asia
. Ashley tried to lunge at him, but not before Reyna tackled her and forced her to the ground, knocking the knife away. Mac picked up the Balisong and put it in his pocket. While Mac made another phone call, Reyna made herself useful and sat on top of Ashley like an office paperweight, waiting for help to arrive.

“Dispatch. This is Inspector Fleet calling again. Yes, second time today, I know. Listen, I need you to send a car over for an arrest.”

HOURS LATER, THE REINSTATED
Inspector Mac Fleet was at his desk spinning his Rubik’s Cube. After Jim Grisham arrived at the precinct, Ashley was paraded in front of a mirrored window along with four prostitutes the vice squad had arrested the night before. Grisham took less than two seconds to identify Ashley as the “tall blonde” who had come to his party.

“What a shame,” lamented Grisham. “She could have been a model with a body like that. Maybe if she had taken that guy up on his offer to fly her over to Dubai, she wouldn’t be in this mess. Tough break.”

Ashley was led into the interrogation room, where she began shaking and crying hysterically. The thought of spending the rest of her life behind bars terrified her. Left alone in the room, she screamed and pleaded to see Paul Osher, saying that he would make things right. Thirty minutes later, her sobs had settled to shudders.

“Let’s get her statement,” Mac said to Mayes, peering into the interrogation room through the one-way mirror. Then he remembered how Sheyla had once described Ashley. “Care to join me in the shark tank?”

Ashley spent the next hour telling the detectives her story. She had befriended Nadia over the Internet while she was still living in Los Angeles. Nadia told Ashley she knew a man who would love to meet a special girl like her, and she arranged for Paul Osher to meet her during one of his jaunts to L.A. He courted her by buying her groceries and sending her flowers, and she immediately became infatuated with him. Over time, Ashley believed Osher’s false declarations of his undying love and promises to leave his wife. Growing impatient, she decided the best course of action was to move to San Francisco to be closer to him. Two weeks ago, Ashley surprised Nadia by showing up unannounced at her home, and Nadia got her the audition at
Pearls of Asia
. She was hired right away, and on her first night at work Reyna welcomed Ashley by giving her a Balisong switchblade.

Perhaps because she was now physically closer to him than he ever wanted her to be, Paul Osher ignored her text messages and stopped returning her calls. This only made Ashley more intent on getting her way. She believed she was the one for Paul Osher, and she resolved to do whatever it took to have him all to herself.

On the night of the murder, Nadia had asked Ashley to come with her to Jim Grisham’s party. Nadia had been hired to escort one of her customers, and he asked Nadia if she could bring along a date for one of his friends.

“The guy who wanted to take me to Dubai told me Michelle Osher lived upstairs, so after I blew him off I went upstairs and knocked on her door. Michelle Osher herself answered the door, so I pretended to be a fan of hers and asked if she could give me an autograph. She said she would and invited me in. I couldn’t believe how nice she was to me. We talked for a few minutes, and I kept looking around this beautiful apartment, thinking how wonderful it would be to live there forever, to be Mrs. Paul Osher. She was the only person standing between me and my dream. Paul always said that you had to take risks if you really wanted something, so I knew what I had to do.

“Michelle was looking for a pen, so I followed her into the kitchen. I don’t know what came over me, but I started to get very angry. This person…this woman…this blonde bitch… had everything I wanted. I kept getting madder and madder. So when Michelle had her back turned to me, the instincts from my Army training kicked in. It was like I was in Afghanistan again. I pulled out my switchblade, grabbed her around the shoulders, and slashed her throat like there was no tomorrow. It all happened so quickly. It was over in the blink of an eye. She fell to the floor and blood started gushing out of her neck. I felt so relieved. I had finally done it. Soon, Paul Osher would be mine.

“Then all of a sudden, this cute little dog came running into the kitchen, barking and jumping and sniffing all around my shoes. I had always wanted a dog, especially a Teacup Yorkie, but never in my wildest dreams could I afford one. She was darling, and the earring was precious. So I picked her up, hid her under my jacket, and walked out of the building.”

Mac looked up from his note taking. “So are you telling us you killed Michelle Osher because you fell in love with her husband?”

“Yes. I love Paul Osher, and I know he loves me.”

Mac shook his head and shrugged his shoulders. “Of course he does.”

A quick knock came from the one-way mirror. Mayes left the room and spoke to Captain Longley, who informed him that Paul Osher had arrived and was waiting in the lobby.

“Do us a favor, Captain. Tell Mr. Arrogance he’s going to have to wait for us for a change.”

Mac waited for his partner to rejoin him before continuing the interrogation. “Ashley, when did you learn that Paul Osher was also seeing Sheyla Samonte?”

Ashley’s face turned red. “I only found out when you came to
Pearls of Asia
the other night and told me. I guess I hadn’t been there long enough for the girls to let me in on all their dirty little secrets. I felt betrayed by Paul, but I still loved him. It just meant I had one more job to do.”

“And what was that?” asked Mac.

“Kill Sheyla.”