Soap Opera Ch. 01

"Part of it is experience." I said. "We do this early stuff in every case we have. Not much gets by my guys, especially with Captain Perlman overseeing things. My Detectives are really good; they'll start processing everything. And me, I just sit here and supervise."

"So method, and nose to the grindstone." said Thomas. "Disappointing. I guess I was hoping for a Sherlock-Holmes-like display of brilliantly solving the case." I could tell he was joking from the look on his face.

"We have to have data first." I said. "And that's what we're processing now. But most cases are solved by getting the evidence, examining it, finding something that identifies the perp, then putting it together and making the arrest. Sherlock Holmes... is a character in works of fiction. We're a lot more boring around here..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Cindy escorted producer Kevin Park into the Dining Tent to speak with me. I had him sit down while Thomas Cromwell went to a restroom. He was not allowed into the trailer park area nor his own trailer, but other facilities were available.

"First," said Kevin, "I spoke to the dining facility people, and they're going to make some extra dinner. So please have your Officers go through the line and have some dinner, on us."

"That's kind of you. Thank you." I said, then asked Cindy to radio Teresa to put out the invitation to all our Officers. I then said to Cindy "That'll be a great time to execute the warrants and go through all the papers in the office areas, and through everything in the trailers and sleeping areas. And bring Cal and Dru Romano from Police HQ over, so they can eat, too." Cindy nodded.

"Second," said Ken Park, "as you know, we don't shoot that far ahead, and we need to try to stay on some kind of schedule. Can we film some of our scenes tonight and tomorrow? I'm sure we can work around your investigation on that."

"The show must go on, eh?" I muttered, mostly to myself. Then I said "Sure, but do realize everyone here is on lockdown. And to that end, I need to address everyone. Maybe at dinner?"

"I'll arrange it." said Kevin.

"While I have you here," I said, "let me ask you a few more questions. You're married to Carolyn Chastain?"

"Yes, I am." said Kevin.

"Do you know if she's expecting?" I asked.

"Pardon?" asked Kevin.

"Is your wife pregnant, Mr. Park?" I asked, peering at him.

"Yes. She is." said Kevin. "And before you ask, I'm not the father."

"Do you know who is the father?" I asked.

"It could be one of several men." said Kevin. "Look, my wife and I have an open marriage, and we agreed to that before we got married."

"How do you feel about her being pregnant, though?" I asked.

"I was disappointed that she became pregnant without discussing it with me." said Kevin. "I didn't know she'd come off the pill. But it is what it is, and we'll raise our child with as much love as any couple would raise their child."

I nodded. "Could Ken Moore have fathered the baby?" I asked.

"Err... maybe." said Kevin. "To be honest, I don't know the names of every man Carolyn has been with. Some of her... encounters... are, how shall I say it... spontaneous. Sometimes after a love scene on set, she gets... relief... from a fellow cast member or even a crew member, if I'm not there."

"All right, then." I said. "Thanks for your time. Oh... the TCPD was setting up a tent near the River. Is it in your way?"

"Oh... no, no it's not." said Kevin. "In fact, I'm the one the suggested they put it there. Again, enjoy dinner on us. I know you guys have a tough job with this."

I thanked him, and as he left I looked over at Cindy, who was sitting next to me. "So, what did you think of that?"

"I know some people that have open marriages." said Cindy. "I'm not sure they'd talk that same way about their relationships."

"Yes, I'm one of those that have an open marriage." I said. "One reason that ours works is because Laura and I set the ground rules before we got married. We keep no secrets, outside of our professional jobs, of course. We keep no secrets after encounters; we tell each other about them and who with. And having an open relationship doesn't mean a license to be a Slut or a Satyr; we're both discreet and choosy."

"By way of contrast," I said, "Carolyn Chastain appears to be acting like a slut. She didn't tell her husband she was getting off the pill? She apparently just picks up people for sexual relief, nary a thought about it. And he was trying to pretend he was okay with it all... but he was not."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Everyone went through the line for dinner. My Officers went in groups as others maintained security. Most of the cast went through early, and while I had the max number in the tent, I went to the roped off area and used a microphone that had been set up for me.

"Everyone!" I said, getting their attention. "My name is Commander Troy with the TCPD, and I'm in charge of the investigation. My condolences to you on the loss of your director. I appreciate the cooperation we have received today in our attempts to find whoever did this."

"As part of it all," I continued, "we are locking down this site for the night. No one will be allowed to leave the area. If you do, you need to make sure that I, and that means me personally, knows about it and approves it. I certainly don't want to have to make any arrests, and I regret the inconvenience to you, but I need your cooperation to stay on site. Thank you."

As Cal and Dru finished their dinner, I went over to them, Cindy in tow. I said to them "After dinner, I'll have an Officer take you home. You need to stay at home. Lock your doors, set the alarm if you have one. Call me on speed-dial if you have any problems at all at home. I don't expect trouble, but be aware of things."

"Also," I said, "I'll have someone pick you up and bring you back to Headquarters tomorrow. Fortunately my partner here owns the gym Cal works at, and we've called the School and told them that you're helping us with our investigation, Dru, so they know you won't be in tomorrow. I'm going to need your help tomorrow, so I appreciate your cooperation..."

Part 7 - Puzzle Pieces

After dinner, the Detectives, the Captains, the Commanders, and the Chief assembled in the TCPD tent we'd set up. There were two tables inside, lights, a whiteboard, a television set to view interview tapes, a water cooler, and some snacks on a small table next to the cooler. This was one of the 'command post' tents we used as a mobile HQ when searching for missing children, or when we needed such a mobile post for field operations.

"O-kayyyyy," said the Chief, sitting down at the far end of the table, the side nearest the River. "What do we have, so far?"

"Sir," said Tanya, "I've asked the Detectives to give their individual reports of their interviews. Martha the M.E. just texted that the autopsy is done, and she'll be here in minutes to tell us what she's found. Captain Croyle's Officers and our CSIs have searched through everyone's belongings and the office areas, as well."

"Commander Troy," said the Chief, "go ahead and run this show. I'm just here to listen to the firsthand reports."

"Yes, Chief." I said. I was sitting to the Chief's left, Cindy opposite me and to the Chief's right. Tanya was parked next to me, and Teresa on Cindy's right side. "Okay, whaddya you Detectives have for us?"

"Sir," said Joanne, "no one saw anything, except the intern Kayla, who found the body. The dress she was wearing when others showed up at the scene matches descriptions of what she was wearing when she went to the trailer, and there was no blood on her clothes or her shoes... she didn't approach the body, she just screamed when she saw it and ran to the door."

"Sir," said Teddy Parker, "one thing that struck me: I asked everyone I talked to about Ken Moore's friendships and romantic life. He didn't seem to hang out with anyone among the cast or crew, but several people said they thought he might have had Carolyn Chastain in his trailer at times. Some of the office women also said they thought his 'interviews' with aspiring actresses were 'casting couch' session, i.e. he demanded sex in exchange for parts on the show."

"First time that's ever happened in Hollywood." I said acerbically, to murmurs of agreement.

"Sir," said Tanya, "all the Detectives asked about Moore's friendships, and if I understood you all right, the stories are the same as Parker's?" Everyone murmured in agreement.

"But no names came out as potential suspects." I said.

"Sir," said Joanne Warner, "most of the guests were contest winners from out of Town. But there were a few people here with All-Access passes. One of them was Todd Burke, and we understand that one of the cast revealed himself to be Todd's brother. There was also Drusilla and Cal Romano, and I've had trouble tracing their whereabouts during the time we think Mr. Moore was killed."

"Commander Ross and I interviewed Cal and Dru Romano." I replied. "I'm working with them as possible material witnesses, and Commander Ross and I will handle any issues with them going forward."

"But sir, it's our case, and we need to know--" Joanne started. Eyes were wide with shock as I cut her off.

"No ma'am, it's my case." I said with some authority in my voice. "And I am handling the Romanos. If there is anything you need to know regarding their situation, I will tell you-- oh, hello Martha. You're just in time."

Indeed, Martha may have saved a promising young Detective's career by entering the tent at that moment. "I have the autopsy results, sir." she said. "I waited for some of the early toxicology reports. We got to Ron Moore's body so quickly that I was able to run some enzymatic tests that I usually don't get to run. They tell me that he died within fifteen minutes of being found."

"Great!" I said. "That helps us a lot. Anything else of particular interest?"

"The knife in his heart was also the one that slit his throat." replied Martha. "The neck wound happened first, and was caused by someone coming up behind him and stabbing him then cutting across his throat from left shoulder to right shoulder. He was bleeding out when the blow to the heart occurred; he'd have died within one minute even without that second wound."

"The other things that I found, that might be of interest," continued Martha, "is that he was showing signs of advanced alcoholism. He was a steady, fairly heavy drinker, and had been for years. His blood alcohol level at the time of his death was 0.02, which is probably residual from drinking during the night, then having coffee and water in the morning."

"Okay, good stuff." I said. "Excellent work as usual, Martha, and thanks for expediting it. Okay, Mr. Walker, welcome to the big leagues. Whaddya got?"

Mark Walker was the Crime Lab/CSI's electronics technician, that had first worked with the TCPD in the 'Case of the Parole Officer'. He'd done well, and with J.R. Barnes and Christina Cho going to new opportunities with the State Crime Lab, Walker found himself in charge of the CSI unit.

"Thank you, sir." Walker said. He was young, black-haired, in good shape, broad-shouldered, but his face seemed a little wider than one would expect it to be. He seemed cheerful, though not quite in the mischievous way Micah Rudistan was.

"We've gone over everything, and we used the dinner hour to go through the office areas." said Walker. "Sonali and Lainie are working up electronic data on everyone for us, as well as going through the company's servers."

"First, I'll talk about the cast's trailers." said Walker. "All of them are temporary, not lived in very long at all, so they're more like hotel rooms than homes. Ken Moore's trailer was very clean; no papers, very few personal effects. No bottles of alcohol anywhere, no beers in the refrigerator. The shower was not used very recently, so the killer did not clean up by using it."

"In conjunction with Martha's autopsy report," said Walker, "we did not find large quantities of alcohol in anyone's trailer. One bottle of gin in Thomas Cromwell's, two-thirds full; one bottle of bourbon in Victor Kuykendall's trailer, almost full. We took samples to see if there was any poison in them, but we found none."

"We've found no clothes with bloodstains, at all." continued Walker. "No clothes were taken out of the compound for laundry service, and we checked all the bags of dirty clothes. Nothing. No bloody clothes at all."

"Hmm, interesting." I said. 'OH!..." After a second, I said "Is the Dining Tent kitchen areas still open?"

"They may be cleaning up." said Tanya.

"Walker!" I ordered. "Get over there now! If a door is unlocked, get in there and keep them from locking up the place!"

Walker got up. "What are we looking for, sir?" he asked.

"I'll call you on your cell phone." I said. "Go! Get moving! Go go go go go!" Walker finally got the message that I really did want him to move quickly, and he ran out.

"Warner, follow him to the Dining Tent kitchens." I said to Joanne. "Hustle! Don't let them close it up on us! Go!" Joanne had a better idea of the 'need for speed', and she ran out quickly.

"What this is about," I said to the stunned faces, "is this chain of reasoning: Moore is a chronic alcoholic, yet his blood alcohol level was residual at the time of his death, meaning he had nothing for hours. I would imagine that others are also heavy drinkers, what with the enormous pressure of creating the hottest daytime television show in the nation. But almost no alcohol at all? Anywhere?"

"So it occurred to me," I continued, "that there are a lot of Press people just crawling all over the place, just looking for a story. Something like 'Director Ken Moore drinks like a fish!' type of stories. So, with that in mind, how would any of you serve the liquor but keep it out of the Press's sight, and your thesis accounting for it being unavailable to everyone overnight?"

For a second everyone was silent, then Tanya spoke up. "Oh! They spike bottles of Coca-Cola or other soft drinks! And I deduce that you think they keep them in the kitchen."

"She's good." I said to everyone. "I'm glad you're my Captain of Detectives." The words were stated lightly, but you have no idea of how I really felt about that deep down.

A moment later, my Police iPhone rang. It was Mark Walker. I put him on speaker. "Sir," he said, "we got here just in time. They're trying to throw us out, but Detective Warner pulled her badge and forced them back. What are we looking for, sir?"

"Whatever you do, don't leave." I said. "Call in a CSI team. You're looking for bottles of soda, bottles of drinkable liquids."

A moment later, Walker said "One refrigerator here is stuffed full of plastic Coke bottles, sir."

"Are they sealed? Or open?" I asked.

"Oh wow, they're open already." said Walker. A second later he said "Sir, these bottles are spiked with alcohol. I can smell bourbon. We'll confiscate the set and test 'em..."

"See, Chief?" I said as I disconnected the call. "I told you it was a good idea to bring Captain Perlman back." Some of the more cheerful Detectives in the room laughed. Especially the aforementioned Captain Perlman.

"Yes, you did tell me that." said the Chief agreeably, not needing to say any more on the feat of observation and deduction that had been made...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Okay," I said, wrapping up the meeting. "From this point on: when we interview someone, mirandize them. Also, I need two things tonight: an interview with Carolyn Chastain, and any copies of any scripts or plot outlines that we can find. Chief, if there's nothing else..."

"No, you can all go. Wrap up what you're doing here, then go home for the night. Commander, I do need a word with you, and with you Commander Ross. Just the three of us."

"I need a word with Detective Warner." said Tanya. "At Headquarters."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Left alone in the tent, the Chief said "Mr. Crowbar, you are entitled to withhold whatever you please from Detective Warner. I trust you to never do anything that would let a perp get away. Having said that, you cannot withhold anything from me. So... what's going on with the Romanos?"

Cindy looked at me nervously, as if wondering what I'd do. But that was easy... I told my boss the truth.

"Chief," I said, "the Romanos came to me. I had Cindy sit in on the conversation. The Romanos were invited here under threat of blackmail. I was hoping to help them, and have them help me, find the blackmailer with a sting operation. Then the murder happened. I've kept the Romanos at Police Headquarters all day, for their protection as well as keeping them in unofficial custody. I'll bring them back tomorrow, and if Moore wasn't the blackmailer, maybe we can smoke the blackmailer out."

The Chief nodded. "O-kay. What are they being blackmailed about?"

"I was afraid he was going to ask that." I said to Cindy, who just shrugged.

"Yes, I'm asking." said the Chief. "Trust me, as I trust you. But I need to know, for G.P. in case you're run over by a dump truck, or if the SBI comes to arrest you for Mullen... same thing as the dump truck, I know..."

"Yes sir." I said, not feeling the attempted humor of his joke. I then lowered my voice to a whisper, and proceeded to tell the Chief the Romano's secret."

"Holy shit." said the Chief. "So you know they're suspects."

"Yes sir." I said. "But I'm trusting my instincts on this one. I know them, and i don't think they're killers. I don't think they knew or know who the blackmailer is, and I don't think they murdered Ken Moore. And I'm keeping Commander Ross in the loop."

"O-kayyyyyy." said the Chief. "Keep me inforrrrmed of that situation, as well. But they are suspects, Mr. Crowbar..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Back at Headquarters, Joanne Warner had been called into Tanya Perlman's office. Joanne quickly found out that it was not a pleasant social call.

"You wanted to see me, ma'am?" asked Joanne, coming into the office.

Tanya looked up at her from behind her desk, her look one of anger. "Detective Warner, you were insubordinate to the Police Commander tonight, and in front of the Police Chief. What in the hell were you thinking?"

Joanne was about to say something, but then realized that this was about to get very, very ugly... for her. "No excuse, ma'am." she said with Army Reserve experience.

"No doubt about that." Tanya said. "But I still need an explanation, so that when I get called before the Commander and the Chief, I can tell them why you should not be fired."

Joanne turned even more pale than she normally was. She decided to lay it on the table. "Ma'am, I was concerned by what I was hearing about the Romanos. They have to be considered suspects, and I did not understand the Commander's actions regarding them. If he's friends with them, he really should recuse himself and let us handle their case and their interviews."

Tanya nodded for a brief second, then snapped her eyes back onto Joanne, who was now standing at rigid attention. "Let me ask you a question, Detective Warner: Have you ever known Commander Troy to mess up and let a perp get away with a crime?"

"No ma'am." said Joanne.

"Have you ever known him to take any action that went against the best interests of the TCPD or the imposition of Justice?" asked Tanya.

"Uhh... no, ma'am." said Joanne, though there had been times she wasn't sure...

"Then I suggest that you trust him... and Commander Ross, also." Tanya said severely. "Whatever his reasons are for handling the Romanos like he's doing, I'm sure they are good reasons. Unless the Commander give you a totally unlawful order, do not ever question his actions nor his judgement again. Do I make myself clear?"