The Mamacita Murders (21 page)

“Except the print that was found on the vase, which doesn’t belong to him, isn’t that right Investigator Mack?” asks Tanner rhetorically.

“Like you said, ‘having traces of medical personnel or officers on key pieces of evidence can happen.’ The print can belong to Gaby, Laura, a paramedic, or a tech. It could belong to me for all I know,” says Dylan snaps back sarcastically.

Silence fills the room.

“Who picked this guy up after he ran from here?” asks Tanner.

“You mean ran from here and tried to kidnap our victim’s mother? Which by the way, according to Ed Vanderbilt, may result in liability to our office,” says Stevie, intentionally reminding everyone how I dropped the ball.

“That’s interesting you ask. That officer was found dead on Friday,” I say.

“Any connection to this case?” asks Tanner.

“It depends who you ask,” I begin. “I didn’t write this in the memo, since I figured it wouldn’t be a good thing to circulate. But it seems like a good time to talk about that right now. The officer that died was Officer Cruz from the Leafwood Police Department. It looks like he committed suicide after he realized his business card was found at the crime scene in Laura’s pocket,” I say.

“When were you going to tell us about Officer Cruz being connected?” asks Tanner, looking at Dylan.

Dylan stays quiet.

“Has the Special Homicide Team ruled Officer Cruz out as a potential suspect in Laura’s assault?” asks Tanner.

“I have,” says Dylan.

“Shouldn’t he be one of our prime suspects?” Tanner asks.

Dylan stays quiet.

“How did we, or should I say how did
you
, rule it a suicide?” asks Tanner.

“There was a suicide note written in a diary he had in his night stand. He torched his own house garage and was found inside it lying in his parked car. He had a bullet wound to his chest, inflicted by his own gun,” I say.

“What did the suicide note say?” Tanner asks.

Dylan takes out Cruz’ diary from his briefcase, opens it and hands it to me. I begin reading it aloud.

I stop. A wave of air drops from my throat to my stomach. I notice the purple writing. The capital R’s.

I sit paralyzed.

I think about the note in my door, the rattling engine sound, and the drive-by shooting. Chills run down my arms.

“Gaby? Is something wrong?” asks Tanner.

I force myself to read on.

I’m soRRy.

“Why would an officer kill himself over something he didn’t do?” asks Tanner.

“He probably knew he was going to be exposed for sleeping with a prostitute. He knew his card was found in the motel room and that he may be looked at as a suspect. An investigation alone would be career suicide. That doesn’t mean he tried to kill her. No doubt, he probably slept with her. He’d get canned for that alone and it would expose the police department,” says Dylan.

“Is there any other evidence pointing to Officer Cruz as a suspect in Laura’s assault?” Tanner asks, looking at me, as if he distrusts anything Dylan says.

I hesitate. “Yes, there’s one more thing,” I say reluctantly, letting out a deep sigh.

“I received a threat note at my door the night of the drive-by shooting. It was written the same way as this suicide note. The ink is even the same,” I say, still holding the diary and now trembling.

“The note mentioned a flamingo face and only the suspect would know a flamingo vase was used to assault Laura. Whoever delivered the note was in a car with a ticking noise and that’s the same noise we heard during the drive-by. It’s the same noise the housekeeper described at the motel,” I say, thinking out loud and feeling relieved to get everything off my chest.

“Are you kidding me? What’s Cruz’s connection to Clown?” asks Tanner.

“That hasn’t been determined yet,” Dylan says.

“I don’t know how you feel about what I’m going to ask you to do, Dylan,” Tanner says sternly. “And I’m not in the business of running parallel investigations in the same case, but I’ve done it before and I’ll do it again if I need to. I am not ruling Cruz out as a prime suspect in this case.

“I agree with you that there is a significant case on Clown and all the evidence points to him. I believe you had probable cause to arrest him and I understand why you submitted this case to my office for filing on Clown.

“However, we need to look into Cruz. There are some unanswered questions as to the DNA profiles that I want resolved by the preliminary hearing. I want to make sure that Bess’s DNA is on the belt and I’m curious to see if it’s Cruz’s DNA on her vaginal slides and under her nails.

“I want Clown’s fingerprints rolled at 1:30 in court and a comparison done confirming that’s not his print on the vase. I’d expect you to personally roll his prints, Dylan, with Gaby there.

“I will file the case, but you have ten days until the preliminary hearing to get these questions answered. If we don’t have this DNA work back by then, we’re not going forward on the case because I don’t personally think you’ve ruled out Cruz as a prime suspect. Do you understand?” asks Tanner.

“If you really want Cruz’s DNA and I only have ten days, I guess my department will be sending me to the Walled City,” says Dylan.

“Why the Walled City?” asks Tanner.

“That’s where his body was sent yesterday. His family wanted him buried there. That’s where most of his family is,” says Dylan.

“Was an autopsy done?” Tanner asks.

“No, the family didn’t want one. And the department didn’t think it was necessary. Blood wasn’t even drawn. His body’s on its way to the Walled City right now. The Leafwood PD helped arrange that. This is the first time I’m hearing about Cruz’ connection to the threat note and the drive-by. I just don’t know if my agency is going to send me for this kind of case. It’s only an attempted murder,” says Dylan.

“Today it is, but it sounds like it will be a homicide tomorrow, when Laura dies. Let me know if your department is not going to send you. If they don’t, I’m not filing charges on Clown and you’ll have to re-arrest him after you investigate it further and we figure out who this DNA belongs to,” says Tanner.

“You can’t release him. He’s a runner. He’ll be gone and you’ll never find him,” says Dylan.

“Like I said, I’m not going forward on him until we figure out Cruz’ connection to all this. You have ten days. That’s my final decision,” says Tanner.

“You’ll need to provide us with an attorney who speaks Spanish. We’ll need to work with the police department over there and funeral home to get access to Cruz’s body. I’ve done this before. It’s a lot of work and we need someone who speaks Spanish,” says Dylan.

“I don’t need to do anything. This is something you need to figure out. And I’ll tell you why,” Tanner begins.

“Let’s say Clown goes free and now the public knows that Cruz was inside that room and has something to do with a drive-by and threatening a prosecutor. We have evidence with DNA that we are still trying to figure out who it belongs to. Then it comes out that your department okayed his body to be shipped off to the Walled City with no autopsy and no blood taken. That is not going to look very good. I think that your Lieutenant might have an interest in your department getting to the bottom of Cruz’ involvement and not forcing me to.

“If your agency doesn’t want to give this case priority because it’s not a homicide, tell your boss it will be. I can guarantee we’ll be getting a call from Memorial Hospital within the next couple days when Laura is pronounced dead. And I don’t think your Chief of Police wants any media attention for this, especially in a year she’s running in an opposed election. That’s just my take on things. But you let me know,” says Tanner.

I decide to speak up, hoping to ease the tension.

“I’d like to make a suggestion. I can go. I speak Spanish,” I say. “I’m scheduled to leave to a couple of countries near the Walled City in a week. I want to see this case through. Everybody knows how much I care about Laura. She was the girl I was trying to get into The Mamacita Club. But the office thought it would be a conflict and her mom really didn’t want her joining, anyway.

“I’d be willing to head to the Walled City and help Dylan get the Cruz thing squared away. It’s on the way. The countries are not that far from each other,” I say.

“You’d miss your entire vacation for this?” asks Prosecutor Debra Miller.

“I didn’t quite say that,” I say, backtracking.

“After the Walled City, I’d still like to continue on with my vacation. I’ve been saving up for it for a while. I would actually wind up taking an extra week off if I went early. If the office can pay for me to get from the Walled City to my destination, I’d be fine with that. It shouldn’t be more than a couple hundred dollars,” I say.

“Done,” Prosecutor Debra Miller says.

“Plus, I’ve always wanted to visit the Walled City. My mom traveled there with a family she nannied for when she was young. And she always spoke highly of it,” I say reminiscently.

“Well, there you go,” says Debra Miller.

“Now you have your Spanish-speaking attorney, Dylan. You just need to get yourself there. Assuming your agency approves you to go, let’s get Clown arraigned today on the attempted murder of Laura Paula. Go ahead and file his violent priors as well. I’m not making any offers on this case yet. If we don’t have this investigation squared away and Cruz ruled out by the preliminary hearing, I’m dropping the charges,” says Tanner.

“I’ll call my Lieutenant right now,” says Dylan.

“The other thing, Dylan. I want Gaby involved in all stages of this investigation from this point on. She will be required to report back to me daily on the status. Do you hear me? I don’t want my office to have to run a parallel investigation on this. I want you and the Leafwood Police Department to determine Cruz’ level of involvement. Do you have any questions?” asks Tanner.

“No questions. I heard you loud and clear. I’ll be heading to the Walled City. I hope I’m on a flight tomorrow and hopefully Gaby will be in the passenger seat next to me. I will try my best. I have until the preliminary hearing. I heard everything loud and clear,” says Dylan.

“This meeting is over. Gaby, let Mary know whatever you need for the flight. I personally will handle this case until you return from your vacation. Have a nice trip and keep me updated,” says Tanner.

Five minutes after the staffing concludes, I slam my office door.

“Are you comfortable with me taking a swab from you?” Dylan asks.

“Yeah. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You just seem a little annoyed.”

Dylan takes out a plastic disposable envelope with a long brown stick with a white cotton swab at the end. He removes the plastic lid sealed around the swab and hands it to me. I have no idea what to do. I’ve prosecuted dozens of cases involving DNA and have had experts testify about the buccal swab, but I’ve never done one on myself. I hold it, looking at Dylan.

“Rub it six times in each side of your inner cheek.”

I follow Dylan’s instruction, wondering if this is what it feels like being accused of a crime.

Dylan re-caps the swab and hands me a second one, telling me to do the same thing.

“Are you okay?” asks Dylan.

“Is it just me or was it completely out of line for Stevie Sapp to suggest I did something wrong with the belt? I’m so irritated,” I say.

Dylan stares at me and doesn’t say anything.

“Why are you looking at me like that? Did I do something wrong?” I ask.

Dylan stays quiet.

“What was I supposed to do? Watch her lie there and do nothing? Go look for gloves? Let her circulation keep getting cut off from the belt?” I yell.

Dylan says nothing.

“Tell me, Dylan. What was I supposed to do? Did I do something wrong crawling into bed with her? She was dying. I was trying to help her. Please don’t tell me I did something wrong,” I say dramatically, feeling myself start to tremble.

Dylan starts to say something and stops.

He walks over to me and puts his arms around me as I begin to shake. My eyes start to tear up as I think of my mom and how much I wish I could have saved her.

“Look, you’re emotional. We can talk about this later,” says Dylan.

“No. I want to talk about this now. What was I supposed to do?” I say demandingly.

I pull away from Dylan’s grip and wipe my eyes.

“Assume that’s your DNA on the belt. People are going to be concerned. Detective Ford was concerned when I told him female DNA was on the belt.”

“Why would people be concerned? What are you saying? I loosened the belt,” I assert.

“Stevie and Ford have a legitimate concern. It would be a huge thing for defense to use in their favor.”