State's Evidence: A Beverly Mendoza Legal Thriller (39 page)

Manuel again spoke to his attorney, who
mostly listened and nodded or shook her head.

“A .25 caliber pistol,” he said evenly.

“Where did you get it?”

He hunched a shoulder. “Can’t remember.”

“Well try to remember,” Beverly pressed. “It
might help us to believe your story.”

Natalie intervened. “Ms. Mendoza, we’re not
here to get my client to divulge information on an illegal weapon
that might get someone else in trouble. He wants only to confess to
crimes he
himself
committed—”

Beverly sneered. They had clearly come well
prepared for this interrogation and knew where the line had to be
drawn.

“Fine,” she told the attorney curtly. “Maybe
your client can tell us where this gun is right now.”

Natalie whispered to him. A moment later
Manuel turned to Beverly. “I threw it in the lake,” he practically
bragged. “I ain’t crazy. No way I’m gonna keep the piece after
shootin’ the judge.”

“Why shoot him, Manuel?” Stone stepped in,
more than a little unmoved by his explanation. “Especially after
stabbing Adrienne Murray to death? And why didn’t you get rid of
the knife, instead of using it to
kill
Penelope Grijalva and
slicing up your girlfriend, Claudia Sosa?”

Again Manuel conferred with his attorney.
Afterwards he eyed the detective and said flatly, “A gun is the
only
way to kill men. Too much flab on their bodies for a
knife to penetrate cleanly.” He sniffed, as if snorting cocaine. “I
always kept my switchblade, man. Knives can’t be traced. Besides,
it was more fun to cut women different ways. I like to see ‘em
bleed and squirm—”

“You bastard!” O’Dell blasted at him. “If it
were up to me, you wouldn’t get off with anything less than a death
sentence. Just like the people you butchered.”

“Fortunately, it ain’t up to you,
De-tec-tive
!” Manuel snapped brazenly.

“But it is up to me!” Beverly glowered at
Gonzalez and his attorney. “If I were you, Manuel, I wouldn’t press
my luck—”

She watched the smirk disappear from his
face. “I’ll try to remember that.”

“How did you get into Judge Crawford’s
house?”

“I picked the lock,” he said without preface.
“It wasn’t hard to do.”

“And what time was that?” Beverly asked.

Manuel rolled his eyes. “Around seven, I
guess. Can’t really say I was spendin’ much time watching the
clock.”

“Did you break into the Crawfords’ house
before or after you killed Adrienne Murray?”

“After,” he said decisively. “Had to get the
main business taken care of first. You know what I’m sayin’?”

“How did you get from point A to point B,
Gonzalez?” Stone asked. “In other words, how did you get from Belle
Park to the judge’s house?”

Manuel put a finger up his nose and dug in.
“I drove,” he responded coolly.

“Drove what?”

“My old lady’s car.”

“How fast were you driving?”

Natalie seemed to take exception to this.
“Exactly what is it you’re getting at, Detective?”

Stone played dumb. “Absolutely nothing,
Counselor,” he uttered. “Just a simple question, requiring a simple
answer.”

Beverly could see that Stone had managed to
strike a note of uncertainty in Gonzalez. Did this mean something?
Or could he actually account for narrowing the distance between the
two locations in a manner consistent with the time line of the
separate crimes?

“No problem,” said Manuel, dismissing his
attorney’s stern gaze. “I was probably doin’ around eighty, man.
Except when some dumb assholes got in my way. You got a problem
with that? You gonna give me a ticket for speedin’ now?” He laughed
at his own poor attempt at humor.

Stone regarded the confessed multiple
murderer carefully. Admittedly he wasn’t quite certain what to make
of Gonzalez’s story. At least he was willing to entertain that
there may have been some elements of truth to it. But how much?

“Assuming you’re being straight with me,
Gonzalez, are you also saying that Chuck Murray knew his wife was
having an affair with Judge Crawford?”

Manuel stared the length of the table at the
detective. Raising a brow, he answered sarcastically, “Course he
knew, man! How do you think I found out the judge was doin’ double
duty in bed?”

“Are you saying that Murray ordered the hit
on Judge Crawford?” Stone wanted to be sure this was the
implication, giving Gonzalez the benefit of the doubt. Not that it
would exonerate him as the hit man.

Manuel grinned wickedly. “Yeah, he ordered
it. The white amigo told me that once I’d gotten rid of his wife
and the judge, I’d be debt free. So I did it—” His tone was
unapologetic, almost euphoric.

Stone could almost believe him, knowing what
he did about Chuck Murray and his obsessive, maniacal jealousy
involving his wife. But the fact remained that Murray was no longer
able to defend himself against the charge. Stone also still had
trouble buying that Adrienne would have gotten involved with
Sheldon Crawford. But then, stranger things had happened, he was
willing to concede.

Beverly sighed.
Manuel Gonzalez really is
a coldhearted bastard.
Regardless of whether or not he was
telling the truth regarding Judge Crawford, Adrienne Murray, and
Chuck Murray. Since all three were now dead and unable to verify or
refute his tale, it was still pure conjecture at this point.

Even so, Beverly knew his allegations were
beginning to build up steam in the room, for better or worse.

She glanced at her notes containing details
of the killing of Judge Sheldon and sexual assault on Maxine.
Meeting the eyes of Gonzalez, Beverly asked directly, “Why don’t
you tell us what you did to Maxine Crawford?”

Manuel licked his lips lasciviously. “You
want
all
the gory details?”

Beverly sneered. She could have said to keep
it short and sanitized. But she knew that only the killer would
know the explicit account of what really happened.

“I want to know
everything
that
happened between you and Maxine Crawford,” she told him bluntly.
Would he be able to respond adequately to details that were not as
generalized as those regarding Judge Crawford’s death?

Manuel chuckled sinfully. “Is this how you
get your kicks,
Beverly
?”

O’Dell nearly lifted from his chair in
indignation. Glaring at Natalie, he roared, “Counselor, I suggest
you ask your client to show more respect to Ms. Mendoza. Or I
will—”

“Do what?” Natalie challenged him, knitting
her thin, arched brows together. “Beat him up before
all
these witnesses, Detective? Maybe that’s how you get
your
kicks!”

O’Dell sank back down, aware that he was
almost helpless in this situation.

Beverly appreciated his coming to her aid,
but she told him firmly, “I can take care of myself, Joe.”

“Yeah,” he muttered. “I’m sure you can.”

Her gaze shot to Gonzalez. “Either you tell
me what I want to know, or this interview is over—”

Natalie, sensing the urgency of the moment,
began to scold her client in his ear, though loud enough so
everyone could hear. He seemed to get the picture.

“All right,” he told Beverly, “I’ll tell you
what I did to his wife—”

And, gloatingly, he described in explicit
detail the rape, sodomy, oral copulation, and degradation of Maxine
Crawford.

Beverly winced at the chilling account, which
she believed sounded like it was coming from the person who
sexually assaulted Maxine. But lingering doubts still remained.

Not to mention Rafael Santiago’s threats
against Judge Crawford and his wife.

“Were there any distinguishing marks on Mrs.
Crawford?” Beverly asked the suspect, her own face flushed.

Manuel conferred with his attorney, as if
anticipating this question and shaping the perfect answer. Showing
his teeth, he responded, “Yeah, I remember she had a birthmark
right below her belly button. And guess what? She even had a
strawberry tattoo on the right cheek of her ass. Not as pretty as
mine, but it left an impression. You know what I mean?”

Beverly did not even dignify that with an
answer, though she jotted down the details. Maxine Crawford would
be able to verify them easily enough.

“I suppose you wiped the place clean?”
Beverly suggested in an attempt to trip him up. “We were only able
to get a partial fingerprint from the bed.” She glanced at O’Dell
who she knew understood exactly what she was doing.

Natalie spoke quietly in her client’s ear and
he returned the favor. When this was done, Manuel looked at
Beverly, and said confidently, “That partial wasn’t mine, baby. I
wore gloves while I took care of business. I wasn’t really lookin’
to send the cops on a beeline right to my front door.” He paused.
“Not that night anyway—”

Beverly leaned forward, her eyes narrowed at
the suspect, thoughtful. “I’m curious, since you seem to enjoy
strangling and slashing helpless women, Manuel, why didn’t you do
the same to Maxine Crawford?”

Natalie tried to defend her client. “The
point is he
didn’t
kill her,” she stressed. “
Why
is
not really the issue here.”

“I think it is,” Beverly held her ground. “We
all do. I find it hard to believe that, given your client’s track
record, he would leave a female victim alive to be able to identify
him.” She sighed theatrically. “Unless, of course, he wasn’t the
one who sexually assaulted her and shot to death the judge—”

Natalie said something incomprehensible to
Gonzalez, who nodded a couple of times and never appeared to be
rattled.

Regarding Beverly with a disparaging look,
Manuel said cynically, “I do I what I do on impulse. With the
judge, I was payin’ off a debt, okay. No reason to give the white
amigo more than what I owed. I took care of the wife, Adrienne, and
her lover. With Maxine, I just wanted to have some fun with the
bitch. She gave me what I wanted, and then I left her alone. It’s
as simple as that.”

“Is it now?” questioned Beverly.

“Yeah,” he grinned callously. “Guess it just
wasn’t her time to go.” Manuel looked at Beverly with an amused
smile. “Like it wasn’t yours, Ms. Attorney—”

Beverly had a momentary flashback of her
brush with death at his callous hands. She fought the urge to say a
choice word or two to the rapist-killer, realizing she would only
be doing just what he wanted. Obviously he got a vicarious thrill
out of taunting women whether or not he was in police custody.

She almost marveled at Gonzalez seemingly
knowing all the right answers. It was as if he had been
coached.

Or did it come directly from memory, having
truly been there?

Could he possibly have been in consultation
with Santiago? Rehearsing their stories till they knew them word
for word by heart?

“Would you be willing to take a lie detector
test?” Beverly challenged Gonzalez. It wasn’t admissible in a court
of law, but would certainly lend credence to his story if he passed
it. Especially considering that Rafael Santiago had refused to take
one, though insisting on his innocence.

“Why should I?” Manuel retorted uneasily. “I
told you how it went down.”

“Because it would further bolster your
claim,” she replied flatly. “Unless you have been lying about this
whole thing?”

Beverly knew that he had given them enough to
take to court and get a conviction—were it not for the fact that
they already had his twin brother in custody for committing the
same crime. She still needed more to feel certain that Manuel’s
confession was not false or somehow coerced.

And that a guilty man would not be set free
irresponsibly.

Manuel again talked this over with his
lawyer. She, in fact, did most of the talking. At first they seemed
very much at odds over this. Then they appeared to form a joint
front.

Natalie sighed and brushed her nose lightly
with the tip of a finger. “Mr. Gonzalez has nothing to hide, as
volunteering to give a sample of his DNA would attest to. He would
be happy to take the lie detector test, Counselor.”

Beverly met the chilling, calculating eyes of
Manuel Gonzalez. It was as if he was toying with her, reminding her
that she had once been under his power. Either way this turned out,
knowing that he would never be allowed to walk the streets again
gave her some solace. She would feel even better once the bond
between identical twins was broken and one was held fully
accountable for the brutal crimes perpetrated against Sheldon and
Maxine Crawford.

CHAPTER FIFTY

Beverly accompanied Stone Palmer to visit
Isabel Santiago, the woman who was apparently the mother of both
Rafael Santiago and Manuel Gonzalez.

The lady has some explaining to do.
Beverly assumed that Manuel had been given up at some point for
adoption. Or was it Rafael who was adopted? The birth records
hadn’t been very clear either way.

While they waited for the lie detector test
to be administered to Manuel Gonzalez, Beverly hoped to gain some
insight into both he and Santiago from the one person who might be
best able to fill in the blanks on the two violent men.

“Do you think Gonzalez did it?” Beverly asked
the detective.

Stone glanced at her from behind the wheel.
He hated to be wrong on this one with so much at stake, but owed
her an opinion. “Well, there’s no question in my mind that the
man’s a cold blooded killer with at least three victims. As to
whether or not Gonzalez was responsible for Judge Crawford’s death
and attacking his wife, it doesn’t exactly fit. But then again,
Gonzalez is making a strong case for himself. What do you
think?”

“I think that Gonzalez and Santiago are
guilty of trying to manipulate us to serve their own best
interests,” Beverly answered bluntly. “As to which one committed
the crimes against the Crawfords, my gut instincts tell me we’ve
got the right man in Rafael Santiago. But the lie detector test may
make me rethink my position. And maybe whatever Isabel Santiago has
to say...”