CHAPTER THIRTEEN
“Do you think that maybe Lauren was having an affair?”
Jessie was surprised by the question. Her partner had asked it after an hour of them sitting in the Central Station bullpen, poring over the same files they’d already reviewed yesterday, hoping to uncover something they’d missed the first time around.
“What makes you say that?” she asked.
“I’m just wondering if she got lonely at some point, with her life partner being gone so much of the time,” Karen mused. “Maybe it led to a moment of weakness. And maybe the person she was weak with didn’t let it go. Maybe they thought ‘if I can’t have her, no one can.’”
Jessie shrugged. “I suppose it’s worth looking into. It’s not like anything else is panning out. But I’m a little dubious. From all we know, it seemed like Lauren was over the moon for Jason. Maybe it was a front, but I’d be surprised.”
“You care if I pursue it anyway?” Karen asked. “It’s not like we’ve got anything else that seems hugely promising.”
“Go for it,” Jessie said. “In the meantime, I want to look into their marriage a little more deeply. I know that Molly told us she never saw anyone get jealous around the couple. But like she said, she wasn’t around them that much. Maybe there’s something in the data that we overlooked.”
“Like what?”
“We’ve concentrated on Lauren’s calls, texts, and emails, looking for anything threatening. But not so much Jason’s communications. Maybe they’ll reveal something.”
“You should definitely look into it,” Karen said. “Anything’s worth pursuing at this point.”
*
Jessie did pursue it. And with Jamil’s help, she hit paydirt.
“They weren’t actually married,” she shouted excitedly as she returned to the bullpen from the research department, where she’d been for the last forty-five minutes.
“What?” Karen said, looking up incredulously.
“Jamil was having trouble locating their marriage license in county records,” Jessie explained, walking over.
“Resolving that wasn’t a top priority with all the other avenues to explore.
But while I was digging into Jason Mannix’s communications, looking for something that might suggest a stalker or even infidelity on his part—I didn’t find anything by the way—Jamil discovered why there’s no marriage license. They never got one.”
“Could they have gotten married in some other jurisdiction and had a paperwork snafu?” Karen wondered.
“Jamil checked that too,” Jessie said. “They got married in a small ceremony at The Maxwell House in Pasadena. We reviewed old pictures from Lauren’s Instagram. That’s L.A. County. So it should be in the system, but it’s not.”
Karen didn’t look convinced. “I still feel like it could just be some bureaucratic screwup, but assuming it’s not, what are you suggesting?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Jessie admitted. “But it’s the kind of thing that we should get Mannix back here to explain.”
“Well, I’m happy to go out to The Peninsula to get him,” Karen said. “I wouldn’t mind taking in that Palos Verdes view. Besides my theory about Lauren cheating hasn’t turned up a thing. I can’t find a single communication or financial transaction that casts suspicion on her.”
“Can we send someone else to get Mannix?” Jessie asked, not mentioning again that she never had much faith in that theory.
“I’d love your help drilling down on this some more.
After all, if Mannix wasn’t honest about his marriage, what else has he been hiding?
I was hoping to look into his San Diego trip some more, as well as checking back in with Molly Mitchell. ”
Karen reluctantly relented. “I suppose we could send Devery down there to pick him up. Maybe being escorted all the way here in the back of a squad car will throw Mr. Magnetic off enough that when we question him again, he’ll be more rattled and reveal something.”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Jessie said.
“And I know Devery will love being part of the case, even if it’s just glorified chauffeuring.
We just have to remind him not to get chatty with Mannix.
He’s got to adopt a severe demeanor without suggesting that the man is under threat of imminent arrest. We don’t want him lawyering up. ”
“I’m not sure that Harper Devery is capable of looking severe,” Karen said.
“Then he’ll have to fake it.”
They got permission from the desk sergeant to send Devery on Mannix collection duty, and after giving the young officer strict instructions not to be friendly, sent him on his way.
Once he left, they agreed that while Karen dived more deeply into the tick-tock of Mannix’s time in San Diego, Jessie would reach out to Molly again.
She was about to call when she remembered something.
“Hey, did Mannix’s buddy—the one he stayed with while he was down there—ever call us back? He’s the man’s alibi for the night of the murder, after all.”
“No,” Karen said, clearly irked. “The name Mannix gave me was Hank Cronin and I’ve left three messages with him.
They keep going to voicemail. If I haven’t heard back from him after I go over the other details of Mannix’s time down there, I may have the SDPD pay him a visit, possibly even take him down to the local station. ”
“I think that’s a great idea,” Jessie said as she called Molly Mitchell back. “Looks like there will be multiple police escorts for folks today.”
“Hello?” Molly said, picking up after only one ring.
“Hi, Molly, it’s Jessie Hunt. Sorry to bother you again so soon, but I have a weird question to ask you.”
“Okay.”
“Are you certain that Lauren’s marriage to Jason was legitimate?”
There was a long pause on the line.
“I’m not even sure I understand the question,” Molly finally said. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“We can’t find any record of a marriage license,” Jessie told her. “And that’s not the sort of thing that typically falls through the cracks.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Molly protested. “I was a witness when they signed the certificate just before the ceremony. I saw the thing.”
“Do you recall who got the application? Who brought it out for those signatures.”
“I mean, yeah. Jason did,” Molly said, doubt starting to creep into her voice.
“He had the document in a manila envelope. Everyone signed it, including the officiant, and then he put it back in the envelope. I remember him making a big deal out of saying he was going to drop it off in person at the county recorder’s office, rather than mail it, just to be safe. ”
“Who was the officiant, Molly?”
“It was a buddy of Jason’s. I think his name was Kirk.”
“Was he a pastor or a minister or something?”
“No, he was just a friend of Jason’s. He got an online certification so that he could legally perform the wedding.
I remember sitting at the same table as him after the reception.
He said Jason told him it would be more meaningful for a close friend to do the ceremony than some random minister they didn’t know very well. ”
“So this was the first time Kirk had performed a wedding?”
“Definitely,” Molly said.
“So, it’s possible he might not know what to look for in a fraudulent marriage certificate?”
“I guess not. I know that I wouldn’t.”
Jessie’s attention was diverted by Karen, who was waving wildly at her.
“Thanks very much, Molly,” she said, wrapping up. “We’ll be in touch if we have any more questions.”
She had barely hung up when Karen filled her in on what had her so excited.
“So, I checked with Jason Mannix’s firm and they continue to insist that he attended every scheduled meeting while he was down there and that they have a record of him checking in and out of the hotel at times that fit what he told us.”
“But…?” Jessie said, knowing that one was coming.
“But I asked Beth to review the GPS location data for Mannix’s phone and car,” she said. “Because he volunteered it willingly, it didn’t seem like such a priority to check it right away. After all, who would give permission for us to review it if there was something sketchy to uncover?”
“Mannix?” Jessie guessed.
“Mannix,” Karen confirmed. “And according to that data, he spent the night at a home in La Jolla, a good half hour north of his downtown hotel.”
“From your excitement level, I’m guessing it wasn’t his buddy’s place?” Jessie surmised.
“Not unless his buddy’s name is Sarah Winters,” Karen said with a smirk. “I got her cell phone number and was about to call her.”
“Put it on speaker,” Jessie said, now as eager as her partner.
Karen was already dialing. The call rang twice before a male voice answered.
“Hello,” the man said distrustfully.
“Yes, hello,” Karen said. “I’m trying to reach Sarah Winters.”
There was an unexpectedly long silence before the man responded.
“Who may I say is calling?” he asked formally.
Karen looked irked at the question, although it wasn’t unreasonable. She glanced over at Jessie, who shrugged. There wasn’t really any reason not to be honest.
“This is Detective Karen Bray with the Los Angeles Police Department,” she said. “It’s very important that I speak with Ms. Winters.”
There was another silence, this time shorter.
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” the man said in a tone that made Jessie’s spine shiver.
“Why not?” Karen asked.
“This is Detective Van Castiglione with the SDPD,” the man said. “I’m sorry to be so blunt with you, detective. But Sarah Winters was murdered last night.”