Who Killed Jenny Schecter? Ch. 18

Chapter 18 Continental Divide

"Auntie Carmie! Auntie Shay-Shay!"

"Look, it's a ballet angel! Hi, Tiny Dancer," Carmen said.

"Mwah! Mwah! Mwah!" Shane said, making big kissing sounds with her hand over her mouth and waving them toward Carmen's laptop on the LASD conference room table. They were Skyping Tina and Bette in New York, per earlier arrangement, and when the view first came up on the screen Angelica was in the foreground, sitting on Tina's lap as Bette hovered behind Tina's shoulder. In the conference room, Shane did the same thing, hovering right behind Carmen's shoulder. Lauren stood off to the side and out of the picture, watching and grinning. Carmie and Shay-Shay were in for some serious ribbing. Wait until Marybeth heard those nicknames.

'We just ate dinner," Angelica said.

"Did you?" Carmen asked. "Was it good? What did you have? Did you save some for me?"

Angelica's round, brown face fell. "No, sorry, Auntie Carmen, we ate it all. It was bay scallops we got at the fish market. Momma T broiled them. I put the seasoning on."

"Did you? I bet it was delicious," Carmen said. "How's school and ballet?"

"School's okay," Angelica said. "In ballet we started practicing The Nutcracker. We're going to do it for Christmas."

"The Nutracker! That's my very, very favoritest ballet," Carmen said.

"Will you come see me in it?" Angelica asked.

"You know, sweetie, I just may have to jump on an airplane and fly to New York and come visit you guys, especially if you're dancing. Are you the Sugar Plum Fairy?"

"No, I'm not old enough. One of the older girls in the upper class is doing it. In the first act I'm a mouse, and in the second act I'm one of the angels."

"Angelica an angel. Why am I not surprised? It's type-casting." Carmen said.

"Auntie Shay-Shay, will you come see me, too?"

Carmen moved aside to let Shane sit in front of the laptop. "I don't know, babe, I'll have to check my schedule, and that's a couple months away. But I'd sure like to."

"Please try," Angelica said.

"Okay, I will, Shane grinned.

"Come on, Miss Diva, time for you to start getting ready for bed, and Momma Bette and I have to talk to Carmen and Shane," Tina said. "Bette, come sit down, I'll be right back."

"Bye-eeee," Angelica yelled at the laptop as Tina rose with her and took her hand to walk to her bedroom.

"Hey, guys," Bette said, sitting down at the laptop.

"Hi, Bette. Boy, Angelica is getting so big," Shane said. "I bet she's a handful."

"Oh, she's great," Bette said. "Some days she's only eight years old, but a lot of days she's thirty-four. Tina and I joke at dinner time that we're a single-parent household, and it's not either of us." Everyone laughed.

Tina returned to the dining room and sat down next to Bette. "She's reading a book, so she's good for a while," Tina said. "Okay, tell us what's up. We've already heard lots of rumors and talked to Kit. We know Max is dead."

Shane and Carmen had pulled two more chairs in front of Carmen's laptop, and Lauren now sat between them. "Guys, let me introduce Detective Lauren Hancock, of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department," Carmen said. "Lauren, read 'em their rights while they frisk each other."

Lauren laughed and waved. "I've heard a lot about you two and your ballet star," she said.

"We have a big question, though," Bette said. "When are you going to get your own TV series?"

"I can pitch it to my people," Tina said. "Dynamic ex-LA detective teams with smoking DJ and her quirky, hippie sidekick transplant surgeon like that gal on Three Rivers, and they form their own private eye firm out of their chic home on a canal in Venice."

"We brainstormed the title," Bette said. "What do you think of 'Dick, Dyke, Doc'?"

"I'm sorry, you're breaking up," Carmen said. "It sounded like you said, 'Go fuck yourselves.'"

"Sounded like 'New York, New York, Come Kiss My Ass," Shane said.

Lauren folded her arms and said, "Whenever you guys are ready." But she was laughing.

"We're sorry," Tina said. "We just haven't seen Shane and Carmen in so long, we have a lot to get out of our systems."

"Lauren's right," Bette said. "We shouldn't be laughing, we have to talk about two murders."

"Yes, you're right," Tina said. "I'm sorry, guys. What can you tell us? What do you want to know?"

Even though Kit had already given them the headlines, it still took almost an hour to bring Bette and Tina up to speed about Max and Bakersfield, and Niki taking the negatives, not Jenny.

"I'm gob-smacked," Tina said.

"Jesus," Bette murmured. "You really think Max sold the baby?"

"We don't have any idea, it's just a theory. We haven't even begun to look into it yet," Lauren said.

"What does it have to do with Jenny's murder?" Tina asked.

"None we can figure out," Carmen said. "Maybe they are unconnected. But no, we don't like that idea much, but otherwise we don't have any link between the two."

"But if the baby isn't part of it, then you do have links?" Bette asked.

"Just the one big, big link," Lauren said. "A group of eight of you that night, and now two of you have been murdered. We don't like that idea, either, but we're stuck with it."

"And then you have Niki," Tina said.

Lauren nodded. "And then we have Niki. She links to one murder, but not the other, so far as we can see."

"And you haven't talked to her yet."

"Not yet. At first, it was because we just didn't get around to her, we talked to you guys first, Kit, Adele and Aaron --"

"Ugh, don't mention that slug's name," Tina murmured.

"-- and we had forensic stuff to review. But now I'm at the point where I think we're wise to wait, talk to everybody else first, because when we get to her, she's going to get grilled like a kahlua pig at a luau. And we have to track down Tom and follow the baby trail, too."

"Have you talked to Alice?"

"No, but she's on the list. We'll get to her."

Bette sighed. "It suddenly got complicated, didn't it?"

"Sure did," Carmen said. "Alice confesses, and we all move on with our lives."

"But with Alice in jail for a crime she didn't commit," Tina said, standing up. "Let me go check on Angelica. You guys can talk to Bette privately, if you need to." She left the room.

"My turn in the barrel," Bette said with a grim smile. "Have you got any other suspects?"

"You," Lauren said. "Tina. Shane. Kit. Alice. Helena. Max, even though he's dead. Tom. Niki. Adele. Aaron. Angelica was there that night, too, but we're pretty sure she didn't do it."

Bette didn't look amused.

"We have one more small but good bombshell to drop."

"What's that?"

"We had some experts look at the cell phone video Jenny made of you and Kelly in your kitchen. They said no way you were going down on her. Your head was 12 to 18 inches away from her. It was all a trick of the camera angle."

Bette sighed and looked down at her hands. She said nothing.

"Bette," Carmen said. "It's good news."

"I know. I guess I do, anyway. But it never mattered, did it? I still had a motive for killing the little psychopath. It didn't matter that I knew I was innocent. Didn't matter then, doesn't matter now. Jenny thought she saw what she wanted to see. She was trying her best to break us up. It clears me of cheating on Tina, but nothing else."

"No."

"So what's the point?"

"We want to tell Tina."

"Oh, good. Let's rip the long, long-healed scab off the ancient wound."

"We wanted to talk to you first," Carmen said softly.

"I know. Thank you for that."

"But Tina has a right to know. We think she should know, beyond all shadow of a doubt. And she should know that we all know, that we believe you, even though we believed you at the time."

"Did you? I could never tell. It wasn't like I had a spotless reputation."

"I don't know anyone who does," Carmen said.

Bette sighed again. "Okay, you can tell her. You want me out of the room, or in?"

"Your call, whatever you're comfortable with."

"You think I'll be comfortable, huh?" She grinned. "Let me go get her." She left to round up Tina.

"She's upset," Shane said. "It still hurts."

"Yes, it does," Lauren said. "But think of it as we're removing an old piece of splinter. We're re-opening a wound, but so it can finally heal completely and cleanly."

They were silent until Bette came back with Tina.

"What happened," Tina asked. "I know something's happened. Bette won't say, but I know she's upset."

"Tina, in a perverse sort of way it's a good thing, not a bad thing. We know it's a sore subject, but here it is. You know that video Jenny shot that supposedly shows Bette ... you know ... with Kelly in the kitchen? We had some forensic experts look at it. Their opinion was unanimous and without a doubt. Bette was not, repeat, not, going down on Kelly. Her face was at least a foot or more away, just like she said. She was bent down, cleaning up broken glass. Bette was telling the truth, and Jenny saw what she wanted to see."

"I know," Tina said. "I know."

"But it doesn't let us off the hook," Bette said quietly. "You or me, and I guess not Kit, either. All three of us. The point is, we were all pissed at Jenny about it. And you had a second reason, the stolen negatives. Never mind that we now know Niki took them. None of this is about what was true, it was about what people believed at the time."

Tina was quiet for a long time. Finally she whispered, "God damn her. God damn her. God damn her." Her eyes were wet. No one had to ask who she meant. "Sometimes I wish she had never moved in next door. Kept her sorry fucking ass in fucking Illinois."

"I know how you feel, Tina," Carmen said quietly. "But then I'd have never met you and Bette, and Angelica. Or Kit. Helena. Alice. I'd have never met Dana or Tasha. Shane and I would have been a one-night stand."

"We'd have never gotten to see your flower box," Tina said, laughing.

"That's right! See, there was a HUGE silver lining to all the crap Jenny put us through. You got to admire my pubes."

"So it wasn't a total loss after all," Tina said, and everyone laughed. They fell into another silence, but more comfortable than the last.

Finally Lauren spoke. "When you're ready, I'd like to talk about that night."

Tina sighed. "Yeah, okay. Go. Fire away."

"Knowing what you know now," Lauren said, "about Niki stealing the negatives, Max, the baby business, Tom, anything and everything, is there anything at all that you can add? Anything new you can think of? Who do you think killed Jenny, and why? Could it have been Max? Somebody else?"

Tina and Bette looked at each other, then at their laptop camera. "We've talked about it dozens of times," Bette said. "Basically we have nothing. Could Max have killed her? Maybe, yes. But neither of us have a shred of evidence to back it up. And it's complicated by the fact that neither of us liked Max very much, and we try not to let that prejudice us against her. Him."

"That's a pretty common sentiment, it seems," Lauren said. "Tina, tell me about Niki. You knew her pretty well. Could she have done it?"

"Gee, that's hard. Is she a bitch? Absolutely. Is she smart? No, but she's sneaky, wily, cunning, mean, selfish, self-centered. But here's where I get stuck. If she killed Jenny, why did she stick around, hiding in the bushes, and doing it so badly she got caught? I mean, if I were in her shoes I'd have beat feet out of there so fast your head would spin. Who commits a murder, then sticks around and watches? That's just plain crazy. Even for a crazy person it's crazy." She turned and looked at Bette. "That sentence doesn't make sense, does it?"

"No," Bette said, "but we know what you mean. That's my stopper, too. If Niki did it, why stay?"

"Okay," Lauren said, "but consider this: If Alice did it, or Shane, or you, or Bette, or Kit, Max or Helena, whichever one of you might have done it, that person killed her and then came back into the media room, sat down, and watched the farewell video."

"Right, exactly," Bette said. "Which is exactly why none of us in that room did it. Not even Alice. Not even Max. Not possible. No."

"All right," Lauren said. "How about this: Could Max or Niki have witnessed the murder by someone else, and hid that fact, for whatever reason? Could Niki have seen Max do it?"

"Sure," Bette said, "but once again, why stick around and watch what happens next?"

"Let's flip it. Could Max have seen Niki kill Jenny, and then said nothing? Could she have thought, well, good, the bitch is dead, good for Niki. Then she comes in and calmly watches the movie."

"But why say nothing?" Carmen asked. "Why doesn't Max come back in saying, 'Well, that bitch Jenny is dead, and good riddance. I just saw Niki push her off the deck and into the pool."

"Shock?" Shane suggested.

"Money," Tina said. "Extortion. Hit up Niki for a big payout in exchange for silence."

"Not withstanding she's a sly, cunning, conniving bitch, can you guys really see Niki pushing Jenny's body into the pool?" Lauren asked.

They all thought.

"Anybody?" Lauren asked.

Shane shook her head no.

"I don't know her, never met her," Carmen said.

"No," Tina said. "I come back to the question, 'Why stick around?' So, no."

"Here's something to think about along those lines," Carmen said, "and we talked about it briefly once before. How did Niki get there that night? Nobody has ever said anything about finding her car. Did she drive and park three blocks away? Or did she come with somebody? Was somebody with her, and did that person run away from the crime scene so fast he or she left Niki behind? Maybe Niki didn't stay, maybe she got abandoned. And now, one step further--"

"Did that person kill Jenny," Bette said, more a statement than a question.

"Right," Carmen said. "And could that unknown driver be Adele?"

There was silence as they thought about it.

"It could be Adele," Tina finally said, "but that doesn't mean Adele was the killer. It only means she ran faster than Niki, hopped in the getaway car, and left Niki there to face the music."

"Boy, that's cold," Carmen said.

"You don't know Adele," Shane said quietly.

"Or Niki," Tina said.

There was more silence while everyone thought.

"Fasten your seat belts," Carmen said. "We're gonna take a ride. Let's suppose Adele and Niki go to Bette and Tina's house, or maybe Shane and Jenny's house, it doesn't matter. They sneak around back and see a party going on. People coming onto the deck, going back inside. Shane going to her house, maybe, and coming out really pissed some time later. Maybe all they see is Shane leading Tina out of Tina and Bette's house, and going into Shane and Jenny's house. Niki knows the negatives are in the attic, because she put them there. Shane and Tina seem pissed, and they go into Tina and Bette's house, and don't come back out. Shane, Tina, is that accurate so far?"

"Yes, we came out, we were both pissed. We went back into my house," Tina said.

"Did either of you say anything? I mean, while you walked from one house to the other, anything loud enough that Niki and Adele or whoever, hiding in the bushes, might have overheard?"

"I don't think so," Tina said. "I was halfway between monumentally pissed and in a state of shock. Shane, did we say anything?"

"If we did I can't remember," Shane said, "but I don't think we did. We just both wanted to fucking wring Jenny's neck. But if we said anything, I don't have any recollection of it."

"Okay," Carmen said. "You both go inside. We'll get back to that in a minute. And then a few minutes later Jenny comes from somewhere, and somebody comes out on the upper deck as Jenny maybe comes up the stairs. That person is pissed. Jenny and this person talk, the person pushes Jenny off the deck, and then walks down the stairs and rolls her into the pool. Then this person goes back into the house, sits down with all the rest of you, and watches the rest of the farewell tape. Meanwhile, Niki and Adele are in the bushes and have seen the whole thing. 'Holy shit!' Adele says, and runs for the car and drives away. 'Oh, shit,' Niki says, 'Fuck you, Adele.' So she stays, because maybe she's in a bit of shock and not smart enough to figure out her next move. And at that moment Alice comes out of the house on the deck, sees Jenny floating in the pool, runs back in and tells you all. You all run out, fish Jenny out of the pool, somebody calls 9-1-1, and so on. Niki is in shock, stays and watches."

"Great," Bette said, "but who came out of the house and pushed Jenny off the deck?"

"Not me!" Tina said.

"Nope," Carmen said, "not you."

"Not me," Shane said.

"Nope, not you, either," Carmen said.

"Who, then?" Lauren asked.

"Max."

"Max? Why Max?"

"Because Max was the next one to be murdered," Carmen said. "This is all just a theory. But suppose Niki and Adele see the murder, as we've speculated. If there has to be some link between Jenny and Max's murders, that can be the only logical one. Otherwise, what could Niki, Adele, and Max all have in common? Jenny's murder is the only possible thing. Now, here's another thing. We've all been supposing that the killer, whoever it was, killed Jenny and was unaware that Niki was hiding in the bushes, watching the houses. Maybe Niki or Adele made a noise, and Max heard it. Or maybe he's just not sure. In any case, a little while later, after the police arrive, Niki is found hiding in the bushes. Max says to himself, 'Aha! She saw me kill Jenny.' But see, nothing happens. Niki never squeals on Max. Max may wonder why, he may even expect to be arrested and charged at any moment. He's resigned, and maybe he just doesn't give a shit. Maybe he has no remorse. Then Alice confesses, the entire investigation goes to hell. Days, then weeks, then months go by, Alice gets sentenced to jail, and still Max is never arrested. Niki never says anything about Max. If Adele was there, too, Max remains unaware of it. Months go by, Alice goes to Humboldt, Max does whatever he does with the birth and disposition of the baby, and moves to Bakersfield. Why Bakersfield? Maybe just because it isn't LA. Max had to leave LA, and it didn't matter where. Niki and her driver, presumably Adele, know Max killed Jenny. So Max is living and working in Bakersfield, and knows there's at least one witness to the murder, a witness who could send him to death row--"

"Not death row," Lauren said, "not for second-degree murder."

"Okay, maybe not," Carmen said, "but I doubt Max knew enough law to know that. And it might not matter, first-degree, second degree, manslaughter, death row, or life, or just 10-to-15 at Humboldt or Sing Sing, or wherever they'd send a half-complete tranny. Max knows there's witnesses who could send him away. Think about a tranny doing time in a jail. Never mind the length of the sentence; just think about a partial tranny in a major prison, even for a week. Think about the trial. Think about all the holding cells and transportation, being in buses and vans with hardened killers, back and forth. To me, solitary confinement on death row would be the first time I'd feel safe enough to go to the bathroom. Jesus." Carmen shuddered. "So what does Max do?"

"It's your story," Lauren said. "Keep going."

"Somehow, for some reason we don't know yet, Max makes contact with Niki. We know Niki has tons of money, and Max has almost none. So Max says to Niki, 'Yes, I killed the bitch, and I know you saw me do it. But so far I've skated. Now, give me a hundred thousand dollars or I'll tell the police I saw you do it. It'll be your word against mine, and your reputation sucks and you can't afford the publicity, whereas I just don't give a fuck. And if you don't give me the money, I just might kill you, too, because you alone know I'm one tough, scary dyke tranny killer, so pay up, a hundred grand, or whatever the dollar amount is, or I tell the cops I saw you roll her into the pool and run into the bushes. Shit, maybe I just kill you for sport.'"