Chapter 5
Bungalow three, Chateau Marmont, Los Angeles
When I get back to the Chateau with all my bags – I might have gone a little bit mad with the shopping – Antoinette is sitting on the sofa in the living area, engrossed in something on her iPad. She looks up and smiles when she sees me and my purchases.
‘Ooh, show me everything,’ she says and I pull various dresses out while she oohs and ahhs at them. ‘Looks like you’ve had a good afternoon?’
‘Yes,’ I say, ‘there’s nothing like a bit of retail therapy. Look, I got you something.’ I hand the carefully wrapped package to her and watch as she pulls the scarf out.
‘Kitty,’ she whispers. ‘It’s gorgeous. Thank you so much.’
I can feel myself beaming.
‘You’re welcome,’ I say. ‘What have you been up to?’
‘Just bed rotting,’ she says. ‘And then sofa rotting. But I did set up a new Reddit account to find some leads on Aidan. There are a tonne of subs about LA and stuff.’
I’m impressed that she hasn’t just been rotting and has been doing something proactive to find our target. Who knows, with both of us here maybe it won’t take long to find Aidan Ward at all. Maybe I could be back in London in a week or so, winning Charlie back.
‘Oh that’s great,’ I say. ‘Did you find anything useful?’
‘Not about Aidan,’ she says and disappointment lurches in my gut. ‘But I found something else you might be interested in.’
‘What?’ I ask, sitting next to her, my curiosity piqued.
‘This.’ She slides her iPad over to me. ‘There’s a serial killer. Right here in Hollywood.’
‘Well … yeah,’ I say.
‘Not you. A different one. And he’s targeting PrivatePool creators.’
‘What’s PrivatePool?’ I ask, squinting at the screen.
‘It’s like OnlyFans,’ Antoinette says, ‘but it’s Hollywood specific. Women over here basically realised they can make much more money creating adult content than waitressing or whatever.’
‘That sounds horrible,’ I say.
‘Why?’ Antoinette asks. ‘I think it’s great that they’re taking control of their sexuality. And making money from it.’
I stare at her. ‘Are you joking? OnlyFans is like dragging feminism backwards by its hair.’
‘Kitty! Selling underwear pics to sleazy men is a lot more feminist than serving them their food and getting groped for minimum wage and tips.’
‘It’s not!’ I say. ‘It’s really not. It’s encouraging women to monetise their oppression.’
‘But isn’t it empowering to have the choice?’
‘No! Not when that so-called empowerment is linked to how much money you can make from sexualising yourself! And it’s still patriarchy. It’s for the male gaze and all these sites are owned by men, marketed to men.’
Antoinette is shaking her head. ‘That’s where PrivatePool is different,’ she says. ‘It was set up by women in LA who were sick of male-dominated business models. I’ve been doing my research.’
‘It’s still catering to the male gaze,’ I grumble but Antoinette waves me off.
‘Anyway,’ she says, ‘it’s pissed off one man so much that he’s going around killing women creating content on the site.’ She looks at me, her face flushed with anger. Or is it excitement? ‘This is perfect for us!’
‘Is it?’
‘Yes!’ she says. ‘We should find him. And kill him!’
I think for a moment. Someone out there killing women simply for the choices they make about their own lives is exactly the sort of man I wouldn’t hesitate in tracking down and disposing of in London.
But it feels a bit different out here. I don’t have access to my family’s abattoirs, for one thing.
And I learned in France that getting rid of bodies without those isn’t the easiest thing in the world.
I haven’t even worked out what I’m going to do with Aidan Ward’s body once I’ve found and killed him.
I also really want to get back to London as quickly as possible so getting involved in a hunt for a serial killer feels … messy.
‘I don’t know,’ I say. ‘I think the police might be better dealing with this one.’ Even though I don’t have any more faith in the US justice system than I do the British one. Any systems designed by men are essentially designed for men, after all.
But Antoinette is shaking her head again. ‘That’s the thing though,’ she says. ‘The police aren’t even acknowledging that there’s a killer!’
‘What do you mean?’
‘They’re not admitting that there’s a serial killer,’ she says as she takes the iPad from me and scrolls. ‘It’s Redditors that have connected all the dots.’
True-crimers.
She’s talking about true-crimers.
Well, that sorts that dilemma out for me.
I’m not about to start a wild goose chase looking for a serial killer that exists only in the minds of some chronically online mouth-breathers who should probably just get jobs or something.
‘Redditors. Right,’ I say.
‘No, no! It’s not like that,’ Antoinette says and shoves the iPad back under my nose. ‘Look, there have been at least four women found dead in the area in the last eighteen months. No one has been charged with their murders.’
I know this is by no means a shocking statistic and doesn’t even begin to point to a serial killer. Almost three women are killed by an intimate partner every single day in America.
‘Why do they even think it’s a serial killer and not run-of-the-mill male violence?’
‘This is where it gets really interesting,’ Antoinette says. ‘Every single one of the dead women had PrivatePool accounts. The police haven’t said anything about this anywhere but everyone in this sub has been investigating.’
‘Let me see,’ I say, taking the iPad from her so I can take a closer look at the open Reddit page.
Potential Serial Killer in West Hollywood?
U/underdarkskies
Hey, have you guys heard about the serial killer in Hollywood? Four dead women in less than eighteen months and all of them PrivatePool creators. Too much of a coincidence atp. What do you think? Is there a WeHo Ripper?
U/pinklemonade
Haha yeah. Someone is ending those hoes.
U/edemamemama
It’s like when that dude was killing homeless people on Skid Row. Prolly think he’s doing society a favour or something.
U/redpillplease
He is haha.
u/showgirlbarbie
Stop it. One of the girls is my friend’s cousin. Her family are super religious and asked for the PrivatePool stuff to be kept out of the news.
U/redpillplease
Sounds legit /s
u/showgirlbarbie
It’s true! And you’re a douche
I pass the iPad back to Antoinette. ‘Just a bunch of misogynists fantasising about killing women. Disgusting but not unusual.’
Antoinette looks at me, puzzled. ‘Don’t you think it’s something we should investigate?’
I sigh. ‘There isn’t enough time in ten lifetimes to investigate every red-pill limp dick, I’m afraid.’
‘But if there is a killer, a killer specifically targeting women, isn’t that like your MO? Our MO?’
I sigh. ‘Antoinette, our MO is to find Aidan Ward, kill him horribly and then get back to London. That’s it. Even if it is real, and I’m not convinced it is, we need to get back to our lives.’
She frowns. ‘What life do I have to get back to? In case you’d forgotten, most of my family is dead.’
So, full disclosure. Antoinette isn’t being dramatic: her father, brother and sister are all dead.
Because I killed them. James – the man she thought was her bio dad – was actually a pervert with a predilection for girls who weren’t quite legal.
Yes, he was in those files. Hen – her sister and my former BFF – was a stalky psychopath who was threatening to reveal my little hobby, and Ben – her brother – had a secret life as a misogynistic influencer and was trying to out me for killing his dad and sister.
And her mother – Laurelle, who cheated with my dad – is whacked out of her face on prescription drugs and barely notices if Antoinette is there or not.
A pang of guilt stabs me in the gut.
‘Read the reports,’ she says, swiping a couple of times and handing the iPad back to me.
Woman found dead in West Hollywood identified
A woman found dead by the Hollywood sign on Tuesday has been identified.
The Los Angeles Police Department has named the woman, who was discovered by tourists, as 28-year-old model Sofi Garcia.
No cause of death has yet been revealed.
Woman found dead in dumpster in West Hollywood
A woman was found dead in a dumpster behind The Viper Room on Sunday morning, authorities have said.
The remains were found by an identified person, believed to be a worker at the famous venue. Officials have yet to identify the woman but she has been named locally as 25-year-old aspiring actress Alicia Levy.
It’s unclear how the woman died, but the Los Angeles Police Department has asked anyone who might have any information to contact them.
Influencer’s death ‘a tragic accident,’ says LAPD
Police investigating the death of Instagram influencer Ellie Edwards, 24, have called her death a tragic accident but say they are not looking for anyone else in connection to her death.
A spokesperson said, ‘It’s with great sadness that we can confirm the body discovered by members of the public last week was that of popular influencer Ellie Edwards.
Our teams have followed up leads and looked into reports of foul play but Ellie’s death is exactly what is appears to have been, a tragic accident.
We ask politely that people do not engage with online speculation. ’
Ellie’s body was found last week at the Bronson Caves by two social media content creators. It is believed that she was trying to film some footage and slipped, hitting her head, which led to her death.
The influencer community has reacted badly to Ellie’s death, with many calling out the police for not investigating the circumstances surrounding her death enough.
‘There’s no way this was an accident,’ fellow influencer and model Kaitlyn Staines told us. ‘Women are dying and the police are letting it happen.’
I read the reports twice over.
Yeah, there is something that smells both fishy and ratty about it.
‘The bodies were all found at famous Hollywood landmarks?’ I say and Antoinette nods.
‘It’s got pattern serial killer written all over it,’ she says.
I turn back to look at the reports.
At the pictures of the dead women when they were very much alive. Smiling into the camera lens, life sparkling in their eyes. Life that a handful of people in a dark corner of the internet – people I don’t usually take seriously – believe was snuffed out by one person.
Antoinette’s right.
If there’s even the possibility that someone is killing these women, and killing them because they’re taking agency of their own bodies, then I absolutely should be doing something about it. Rage boils inside me and pushes my blood faster around my body.
But then an image of Tor leaps into my mind. Of her face, still alive but completely devoid of sparkle.
I can’t start a wild goose chase for a serial killer that may not even exist. I have to find Aidan Ward and kill him. That’s why I’m here. I made a promise to Tor and I can’t get distracted by another project.
I hand the iPad back to my sister.
I’d almost forgotten.
I’m not doing this alone anymore, am I?
There are two of us.
That’s more than enough to take on both projects.
‘Look,’ I say gently, ‘if you can convince me that there’s actually a killer out there and this isn’t just some Reddit drama over absolutely nothing, then I will think about it.’
Antoinette smiles. ‘You’re the best.’
‘I know that, but thank you. Now let’s get changed and go and get some food. I’m starving.’
I watch as my sister skips out of the living room, placated for now.