Chapter 40
Chapter
Moe Reed said, “I know her but she doesn’t look like that anymore.”
He was the last to arrive in the big interview room, which this morning meant three minutes early.
Milo, Alicia, Sean Binchy, Hector Villalobos, and I went silent. We’d been drinking coffee, pretending to unwind. The young D’s sharing the surprise that a woman might be a prime suspect.
Milo said, “Really.”
Reed said, “No doubt. I’ve seen her in the gym.”
He stepped up to the board. Several photos of Tiana Alberts, formerly Tiana Crown, née Rhonda Cronin were posted on the right side.
The left was reserved for pictures of Sophie Barlow, Martha Matthias, and Lynne Gutierrez.
Below those, the blurry image of the SUV in the alley and a clearer shot Milo had taken of Tiana’s Highlander in her carport space.
At the bottom, some crudely built birdhouses.
“Which gym, Moses?”
“Fort Hard Knox, used to be near the 10 freeway, sometimes I’d stop off if I was going home that way.
Never spent any time with her but did help her out once when she was bench-pressing more than she could handle and had trouble getting the bar back up.
Her bench wasn’t impressive but her deadlift sure was.
I saw her do nearly three hundred. Bunch of guys stood around, watching. She’s the one, huh? Crazy.”
“She’s a strong possible, kid. Pun intended. Sit down and tell us what else you know about her.”
Reed took the empty seat next to me.
“Saw her maybe three, four times, always at Knox. A year or so ago. The place closed down soon after. Where does she live?”
Milo said, “South Holt, not far from the freeway. How different does she look?”
Reed said, “When I saw her she was obviously ’roided up. Big, ropy muscles, zits on her shoulders, and her face looked harder with bigger bones.”
Alicia said, “Dare I say masculinized?”
Reed said, “You’re allowed.”
Laughter. Low and tense.
I said, “Did you ever see any ’roid rage?”
“I didn’t, Doc. She was intense but most bodybuilders are.”
“Focused.”
“Very much so.”
Milo said, “Obsessive?”
Moe smiled. “Guess you’d have to be when you’re actually lifting but some of us keep our mellow going.”
I said, “She didn’t?”
“Never saw her blow up, Doc, but she did give off a stay-away vibe. Like the time I helped her. She got off the bench, mumbled thanks, and hurried away. Not hostile but clearly not pleased.”
I said, “Embarrassed about needing help.”
“That’s how I took it. A lot of people are like that in the serious gyms. Come in thinking they’re going to impress, overextend themselves and get into trouble. So yeah, she was probably embarrassed. And come to think of it, that was the last time I saw her there.”
Alicia said, “Did she hold on to her looks at all?”
“She wasn’t grotesque,” said Reed. “Nothing like some people I’ve seen. I guess in clothes and with the right makeup, she’d still look good. But not like those shots on the board.”
Sean said, “Losing her money and her looks. That could make you mad.”
Alicia said, “So you kill three people? Saw the arms off one?”
Everyone looked at me.
I said, “Life circumstances getting worse and steroids could be a volatile mix. Especially for someone with long-festering resentment and anger control problems. Which we know Tiana had at nineteen when she suddenly attacked another beauty contestant.”
Multiple note-taking.
“Walt Karski recalled that Tiana had a meeting with Martha and left looking unhappy. Mike Heck confirms that, though he describes Tiana as being angry. We may never know what transpired but here are some guesses. This was a woman who’d gone from conspicuous wealth and the chance to star in a reality show to being a pariah shut off completely from funds.
What if she’d asked Martha for some sort of flexibility and Martha refused. ”
Milo said, “Martha had no control over the money.”
“Tiana may not have been rational. If she was panicking, begged Martha for help, and was turned down that would’ve compounded the rejection. Especially if Martha was harsh.”
I turned to Milo. “From what you knew of Martha would that be likely?”
He scratched the side of his nose. “Never saw her get nasty but she did tend to be business-like. And Heck describes her as unemotional and tough. So maybe.”
I said, “Another possibility is that Martha called Tiana in for the meeting in order to accuse her of participating in the scam in the hope of getting a confession.”
Sean said, “She could’ve participated.”
Milo said, “No one was indicted except Alberts and he never served a day of time. The whole thing was a shitshow.”
I said, “If something hostile did occur between Tiana and Martha, Tiana may have stewed on it for years only to be triggered by meeting Lynne Gutierrez at Safe Place and learning she was Martha’s daughter.
To someone with serious psychiatric issues—like paranoia—that could’ve seemed like an omen.
And we know steroids can foster paranoia. ”
Moe said, “If she combined it with meth, even worse.”
“Any evidence of that?”
“No, but people do try to energize.”
Alicia said, “She’s there to volunteer and ends up bashing Lynne to death.”
I said, “Not as Lynne, as Martha’s daughter. She may have begun volunteering as a way to feel better about herself. She claimed to be helping sick kids but we haven’t been able to verify that, so she could be trying to bolster herself. Then she’s faced with a remembrance of things past and blows.”
Milo said, “When Lynne walked to Martha’s, it woulda been easy enough to follow her and learn where Martha lived.”
“Or,” said Moe, “she pretended to be a buddy and walked with her. Or gave her a lift.”
“Evil,” said Alicia. “If any of it’s true.”
Hector Villalobos said, “Going to do my darndest to get more footage, maybe we can finally get tags on the Highlander and confirm it as hers.”
“Thanks,” said Milo. “Great work finding the dumpster footage.”
“Sacrificed my eyesight but if it turns out to be major, it’s worthwhile.”
I said, “I asked Robin what someone would use to make those birdhouses. She said it’s pretty crude work that would likely entail hand tools including smaller saws. Jigs and the like.”
More note-taking.
Alicia said, “Wow.”
Sean said, “How does Sophie Barlow fit in with all this?”
Milo said, “Her murder doesn’t rely on a years-of-rage scenario.
Mike Heck dumped Tiana unceremoniously and took up with Sophie, so if Tiana’s as volatile as she sounds, there’s big-time insult added to injury.
And in terms of the DNA staging, Tiana knew where Heck lived so no problem going through his trash and finding his cigarettes. ”
I said, “Something else to consider: A woman ringing Sophie’s doorbell might have seemed less threatening than a man.”
Moe said, “Excuse me, looking for apartment six, or my car broke down, can I use your phone.”
“Or your bathroom,” said Alicia. “A woman might be sympathetic to that.”
I said, “Even if Sophie was careful and only cracked the door, Tiana could’ve taken her with a surprise blitz. Hand around the neck, propelling her inward and holding on until she’s choked Sophie out. Then she staged the scene.”
Another silence. Moe said, “So what’s next?”
Milo said, “Find the Highlander and tear it apart. If Tiana used it to move Lynne’s body, there’s a high probability of transfer evidence. I talked to Nguyen and he said the right judge might go for it but we’d do better with more.”
“Big surprise,” said Moe.
Milo said, “We know where she keeps the car so let’s watch her for a few and see what turns up.”
He smiled. “Time to talk scheduling. The romantic side of ace detection.”