Who Killed Jenny Schecter? Ch. 20

Even now, Shane had no good idea of what had possessed her. All she knew for certain was that on the evening of Bette and Tina's going-away party, she had climbed the pull-down stairs in Jenny's closet, found the missing/stolen movie negatives, and found the missing/stolen letter from Molly. In that moment whatever the thing with Jenny had been, it was fucking over, fucking deader than those people whose ship had run into that iceberg.

And a little while later Alice had come into Bette and Tina's media room on unsteady legs, and said, "Jenny!" and they had all run out to see what had happened and their lives had changed forever.

***

Sargent Marybeth Duffy told Shane she could go home about four the next afternoon after the murder and nearly 18 hours on intermittent interrogation and catnaps. "If you have any plans to leave LA County, cancel them. Don't leave town. You can go to work, but don't go anywhere without checking in with me. We'll be in touch. I'm sure there will be a lot of follow-up questions."

"Okay," Shane said, left the homicide bureau, and drove home to an empty, haunted house guarded by a pimple-faced deputy sheriff cadet. Police cars and lab tech vehicles were still parked up and down the street. Shane had to show ID and was asked if it was possible if she could spend the night somewhere else? Shane said okay and went to her room to pack an overnight bag, making sure to include her marijuana stash and the oxy before the cops found it. There was crime scene tape blocking the door to Jenny's bedroom, and she could see the light was on in the closet and the pull-down stairs were down. Someone was in the attic doing something forensic, but Shane didn't care. Marybeth Duffy had Molly's original note, but had made a photocopy of it in case Shane wanted to read it again (and again and again). There was nothing Shane could do about Jenny's stash and her sex toys. Jenny was dead, and it didn't matter.

I can't sleep here tonight, and maybe never again, Shane thought. She drove to Alice's house and sat down to smoke a badly needed joint. She smoked two more and fell asleep on the couch wondering when Alice would be released.

She was awakened the next morning by her cell phone ringing.

"Shane? You awake? It's Tina. We're all meeting at The Planet. Get there as soon as you can." Before Shane could reply Tina hung up. She looked around the apartment and saw that Alice still hadn't come home.

Shane staggered into The Planet half an hour later, unshowered and barely dressed in sweat pants and an old T-shirt. She ordered her coffee at the counter and took it to the Friends table Kit always reserved for them. Bette, Tina and Helena were already there, also looking tired and haggard. "Hey," she whispered as she sat down.

"Hey, you, too," Helena said.

"Kit's in the back, she'll come out when we're ready to talk," Tina said. "Max texted he's on the way."

Shane grunted. "How's Angelica? What time did you get home?"

"She's fine," Tina said. "They let us leave about three o'clock. We had to get permission to enter our own house and pack a bag. We weren't allowed to stay because the lab techs and crime scene people were still crawling all over. We spent the night in a hotel."

"I wasn't allowed to stay, either," Shane said. "I spent the night at Alice's. Anybody know where she is? She still hasn't come home."

"Shane, we've got some bad news. Alice was arrested. Tasha called and told us. She says she was told Alice confessed. Tasha says she's unlikely to get bail."

Shane felt like she'd been run over by yet another train. "No fucking way," was all she could say.

"Tasha said Duffy told her Alice has asked for and hired a lawyer Joyce Wischnia recommended, and there's DA's and people like that in and out. Tasha will be here soon."

"No fucking way," Shane repeated.

Kit came out of the kitchen and sat down. She had a cup of hot tea with the teabag steeping in it. "You okay, Shane?" she asked.

"I don't even know how to answer that, Kit. I'm, like ... I don't know. Gob-smacked. It's like some bad dream, some bad acid trip."

"It's like we're all living inside the same nightmare," Tina said. "I'm so conflicted about Jenny. A few hours ago I hated her guts, I wanted to wring her spoiled, sneaky, conniving neck for stealing my movie negatives. An hour later after I wanted her dead we're pulling her body out of our pool."

"I was pissed at her," Helena said. "I wanted to kill her myself. And then ... God help me, when I saw her in the pool and Bette and Shane jumped in, the first thought that crossed my mind was, 'Good, I hope the bitch is dead.' And then we saw she was, and I felt ... I don't know. Guilt, and joy and satisfaction, and horror, all at the same time. I felt like ... it's weird. I felt like I was the one who killed her only because I wanted her to be dead. And then I felt ashamed. I felt like shit."

"That's how I felt," Bette said. "'Good, the bitch is dead.' But I'm in the water and I grabbed hold of her, and I'm, like, 'Come on, Jenny, stop the drama queen shit, wake up.' Shane and I have her and we get her to the side of the pool and hand her up to Tina and Helena and Max, and somehow I know she's dead. And ... it's like ... I remember, why don't I feel bad about this? The fucking bitch is dead, good.' Helena started CPR, but we knew immediately it was just too late. And now I feel horrible about how I felt. But ... I can't lie. For a little while, I was glad she was dead."

"I knew she was dead," Shane whispered. "I don't know how I knew, but the minute I saw her down there, I knew. And Bette was right in front of me, and we ran down the steps and we both jumped in. But I knew. Don't ask me how."

"I ran down the steps to the landing," Kit said. "Alice and Max were standing there, looking down. And Max suddenly ran down the lower stairs and helped Helena and Tina pull her body out of the water. Alice was standing next to me, like, in shock. I remember looking at her, and she was trembling. She had her hands in front of her mouth, you know? And I ran back up the stairs into the house and got my cell phone and called 9-1-1." She pulled her teabag out of the tea, pressed it into a spoon to drain a few drops of hot tea into her cup, and put the teabag on Bette's coffee saucer. "Don't ask me how, I knew she was dead, too."

They looked up as Max came into The Planet and sat down at the table. "Fucking cops," she said. Nobody said anything, so she continued. "They question me for hours and hours. They let me take a piss, and there's this detective, Sean, the one in the T-shirt, he's watching me and I go into the stall and take my pants down to sit down and I know he's standing here, and I come out and he's got his arms folded and he's just looking at me like I'm ... I don't know. Some kind of insect. And we go back in the interrogation room, and they make me go all through it again. Why did I hate Jenny. Why was I at the party. Who were Jenny's friends. Who were her lovers. Was I her lover. Who was she fucking. Was she fucking Niki. Was she fucking Shane. When's the last time I fucked her. When's the first time I fucked her. Why were we in a mental hospital in Illinois. What was the name of the place. Who were the doctors who treated us. Why did Jenny try to commit suicide. I said she didn't, she just cut herself. I had to explain what a cutter is. Why did I try to commit suicide. None of your fucking business, I said, it was seven years ago and has nothing to do with anything. Then they wanted to know about Carmen. How long were Carmen and Jenny fucking. Did I fuck Carmen, too. How long ago were they fucking. Where is Carmen now. What about Jenny's husband. Did any of us fuck Jenny's husband. Where is he now. Who is this guy Tom. Is he my boyfriend. Was he the father of my baby. Why did Tom hate Jenny. Did Jenny hate Tom. Was Jenny responsible for Tom leaving. Did Tom kill Jenny. Where was Tom. Why wasn't he at the party. Did I kill Jenny. Maybe it was just an accident, I just pushed her and she fell off the deck. Did Shane kill Jenny. Did Shane and Jenny have a fight about something. What about Tina. What was the movie about. Then they go out into the hallway and talk to somebody and they come back in and ask me why Niki was there. I said I had no fucking idea Niki was there, she wasn't invited to the party, and anyway, I barely even knew her, except I knew she was this actress in Jenny's movie. Then they asked me again if she and Jenny fucked, and I said yes, for a couple of weeks, but then it stopped. Did I ever fuck Niki. Did Shane fuck Niki. Then they wanted to know about Shane and Jenny, and was I pissed that Jenny was sleeping with Shane and was that why I pushed her off the deck."

Max stopped. She had run out of steam. It was probably the longest speech she had made in her entire life.

"Fuckers. Finally, the butch one, Marybeth, she comes in and says you can go home now, but don't leave LA without telling us. And I say that's it? I'm free to go? What happened? And she says, 'We have a suspect under arrest. I can't tell you anything more right now. We'll be in touch.'" She looked around the table. "Was it Niki? Did they arrest Niki? Did she kill Jenny?"

No one said anything.

"Guys, come on," Max said.

"They arrested Alice," Tina said.

Max stared at her. "Alice?"

Tina nodded.

"No fucking way," Max said.

"Amen," Kit

"Alice did it?"

"That's what they say," Tina said. "Tasha's coming. We think she'll have more information."

"It's bullshit," Shane whispered. "It's bullshit." She folded her arms on the table in front of her and put her head down, face hidden. She may have been crying. Tina reached out a hand and rubbed Shane's shoulder blade.

A waitress stopped by the table. "Anybody need anything?" she asked quietly. Kit looked around the table. Bette and Helena nodded no. "We're good, thanks, Josie," Kit said quietly.

They sat in silence until Tasha arrived. She was dressed in baggy camo pants and a sleeveless olive drab fatigues T-shirt, leftovers from her Army career, such as it was. Her hair was pulled back in a bun. "It's not good," was the first thing she said.

Shane lifted her head up. "There's no fucking way," she said.

Tasha looked at her. "I know."

"Tell us," Bette said quietly.

Tasha shrugged. "Yesterday afternoon Alice confessed. Voluntarily. No coercion, no police bullshit. They didn't beat it out of her, none of that TV crap. She was Mirandized and advised of rights, all that stuff. And she apparently said, sure, fine, okay. Then she talked for a bit, said she did it, and could she now call a lawyer? She called Joyce, Bette and Tina's lawyer, and apparently Joyce got somebody else. Last night about nine o'clock they let me talk to her for about two minutes, with the lawyer and Marybeth and Sean, Marybeth's partner, all in the room. The lawyer's name is Drinkwater, I have his card."

"What did Alice say?" Tina asked.

"Well, it's even worse than you might think," Tasha said, "but not in the way you think."

"I don't follow," Tina said.

"Tell us what she said, Tasha," Bette said quietly.

"I walk into the room and Alice says, 'Hey, hi, Tasha,' like we're in a bar at happy hour. She's all cheery and friendly. I say, 'How are you, Alice?' and she says, 'I'm fine, I'm fine. How are you?' and I say, 'Alice, what's going on?' And she's still all happy and cheery and friendly, and it's like she doesn't know or care one bit her lawyer's there, and two homicide detectives, and she's being taped and recorded and she knows it and doesn't give a flying fuck. I mean, it's like she's high, or manic. And she says, 'I killed Jenny last night. I pushed her off the deck at Bette and Tina's house, and she fell on her head and died and I rolled her into the pool.' And I said something like, you know, 'Why? What happened?' And she says, 'Well, you know what a sneaky bitch she was. She stole my screenplay treatment. She got half a million dollars for it, and she stole it from me. The bitch had it coming.' And see, she's still happy and smiling, and talking in a normal tone of voice and all, I know at that point she's just totally out of her mind, or something. And I just get this vibe, I know she's sitting there lying her ass off and telling this crazy story. And I look at Sergeant Duffy and Sean, and they are, you know, stone-faced, I can't read them and they don't say anything, and I look at her lawyer, and he looks at me and shrugs. I mean, that's what he does. It's like he's saying, 'What can I do? I don't believe her any more than you do or the detectives do.' I know sure as shit he's told her to shut up and not say anything, but she's ignoring him. And we're all standing there, and Alice says, 'I'm being arraigned tomorrow, but I don't want any of the gang to come. Please, tell them not to be there, okay? I'll be fine. Tell them I love them all, and thanks for being my friends, and I'll see them in ten to twenty.' That's like her joke, right? Ten to twenty. And I say, 'Alice, don't do this,' and she just smiles at me. 'Tash,' she says 'it'll all work out. Trust me. I did it. Jenny had it coming. Tell Shane she can have my apartment, and please take care of my car. And I say, 'Alice, you cray cray, girl,' and she laughs. 'Tash,' she says, 'I know you'll make a great cop. Have a great career, and keep your head down and be safe.' And this tear rolls..."

Tasha stopped. She took a moment. "This tear rolls down her cheek, but she's still smiling, see, and I can't talk, I'm all choked up. I nod, and Marybeth opens the door for me, and they let me give Alice a hug, and then I'm down the hallway and out of the building and sitting in my car and I'm crying like a baby. And I don't fucking cry. I don't fucking cry."

Kit got up, walked behind the counter and returned a minute later with a cappuccino that she sat down in front of Tasha.

"Thanks, Kit,"

"On the house, darlin'" Kit said.

"I've got more information, if you want it," Tasha said.

"Okay," Bette said.

"Arraignment's today, one o'clock, but she doesn't us there. The lawyer, Drinkwater, he'll be getting in touch with all of us in the next couple of days. Marybeth thinks Jenny's autopsy will be Tuesday. Since they have a suspect in custody and a confession, there's no rush on it, they aren't in a hurry for forensics like they would be if they were out looking for the killer and needed leads. They'll want to talk to you all again, and you'll have to sign statements. They're getting a warrant for Alice's apartment, they'll probably search it sometime today."

"I slept there last night," Shane said.

"You leave anything there you don't want them to find?"

"I smoked a couple joints, but I flushed the butts this morning and washed out the ashtray."

"Does Alice have a stash?"

"Probably. Will that matter?"

"I doubt it."

"What are they looking for?"

"Anything having to do with Jenny. E-mails, anything else on her laptop. Anything that looks like a motive for murder."

"What about ... you know. Personal stuff."

Tasha had once been Alice's lover. She knew about Alice's toys and where she kept them. She knew all the stuff in Alice's medicine closet and in her bedside table. "Shane," she said, 'it's West Hollywood. The police have searched apartments here before, and believe me, they've found stuff, far, far, far worse and more tantalizing than anything in Alice's apartment. They'll know what's private and has nothing to do with Jenny, and what isn't. They aren't going to take her strap-on, nipple clamps and other toys and bring them to the arraignment."

"They'd need a U-Haul," Bette said, and for the first time all morning there was a little bit of laughter.

"Next item," Tasha said. "Jenny's mother and stepfather have been notified. Marybeth took care of the notification herself, personally, late yesterday. It's way too soon to know anything else, of course. If everything goes normally, Jenny's body will probably be released in about a week, after the coroner's division says it's okay. So we don't know anything at all about funeral arrangements."

"I feel like we should do something," Helena said, "but I'm not sure what. Send flowers to her mother? Get in contact somehow? Call her and give her our condolences? Anybody got any ideas?"

Shane stirred. She knew this question touched on her territory. She and Max were the only two who had met Jenny's family. Well, plus Carmen when Carmen and Shane had escorted Jenny to the mental hospital back in Skokie.

"I'm pretty sure her parents don't want to hear from me," Max said.

"Why not?" Tina asked.

Max grinned. "One time they caught me and Jenny in bed. We had just finished ... you know. We were half-dressed. They threw us both out of the house. That's when we packed up and came out to Los Angeles."

"It took a while," Shane said, "but Jenny and her mom eventually started talking to each other again. Jenny would call on birthdays and holidays and stuff. They started sending each other birthday and Christmas presents again. She talked on the phone with her mom once in a while. Not a lot, and not too long, only a few minutes. She told her about the major events in her life, like when she sold the book and movie stuff, and when she bought the Beemer. But it was also like this family chore, something she felt she had to do more than wanted to do. She never talked to her stepfather at all. Sometimes when she'd hang up she'd say, 'Well, that's off my to-do list for this month.' Like that."

"We need to send flowers," Tina said decisively. "Her daughter was murdered. We were her friends. We have to acknowledge it."

Bette nodded.

"What do we say?" Helena asked. "Do we mention it was Alice who is under arrest? We're sorry one of our best friends murdered your daughter?"

"Helena!" Kit said, frowning.

"See, that's my point," Helena said. "What the hell do we say? And how do we say it politely and respectfully?"

"Anybody know what Jenny's mother knows about us?" Helena asked.

"You mean, does she know we're a coven of dykes who have seduced her daughter into the perverted lifestyle of the Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name? That Jenny's had hot monkey sex with Max, Carmen, Shane and Niki, not to mention some others further afield? And then there's, you know, the sex tape."

"Can't forget the sex tape," Kit murmured. "Lordy, lordy."

"Let's be serious," Tina said. "If she's read her own daughter's book and if she knows her daughter wrote and partially directed the movie version called Lez Girls, then, yeah, I suspect her mom is clued in, even with some denial on top."

"So what do we say?" Helena asked.

Shane stirred, which surprised everyone. "We tell the truth," she said. "We are -- we were -- her friends, we loved her, we'll miss her, we're deeply sorry for her loss."

They all thought about how much of it was true, since two nights ago they all hated Jenny for all the crap she'd given all of them. Would they really miss her? Well ... yes.

"Close enough, works for me," Kit said.

"Me, too," Max said.

"What do we say about Alice, if anything?" Helena asked.

"Nothing. Jenny's mom can talk to Marybeth Duffy anytime she wants, if she wants details," Bette said.

Tina tapped her fingers on the table. "Look, I've got to put this out there. We have to talk about it. Do we really think Alice did it?"

"Fuck, no," Shane said instantly.

"No," Bette said.

"Me, either," Kit said.

"I don't see it, either, no," Helena said.

"No muthafuckin' way," Tasha said.

"Max?" Tina asked.

"Alice? No way."

"Then it's unanimous," Tina said. "If not Alice, who?"

"Look, I'm not doing this," Kit said, standing up. "Far as I'm concerned, none of us did it, including Alice. I got work to do. Tina and Bette are moving to New York in a few days, I'm sure they've got a lot to do. It might be good therapy for the rest of us to help them pack up and whatever else they need. Me, I'm gonna need some quality time for my sweet Angelica before she moves away out of her auntie's clutches. Hearing no nay votes, I hereby declare this meeting adjourned."