Victor took a long time to speak and when he finally did his tone was suspicious.
“Who have you been talking to?” He asked. Which was a clear as a confirmation as Jeremy could have hoped for.
“I'm trying to help you here Victor. But I need you to cut the shit and be honest with me.”
“I tried to tear your throat out last week and now you want to what? Save me? What is this?”
Jeremy leaned back in his chair and wiped the sweat from his face.
“I'm going to be honest with you Victor. I couldn't give a shit what happens to you. There's only one person in this world that does at this point. And that's you. So you better play this card because I'm telling you, brother, it's the last one you got.”
He sat there thinking for what seemed like a long time and Jeremy almost broke the silence more than once but resisted the urge. Uncomfortable silence between two people was a vacuum that created incredible pressure to fill and he was going to let Victor be the one to do that.
“It doesn't matter. I'm going to die in here either way.”
It sounded like a wall but he knew it was progress.
“Okay, well let me paint the picture here. You're a mentally unstable man with violent criminal tendencies. And the important part is this condition was well documented before the murders. If you were blackmailed into the killings, and we can show this black mailer had knowledge of your mental condition and exploited it to his advantage- Prove that's why he targeted you in the first place - And I can almost guarantee you that's what happened. I promise you, your death sentence will be reduced to-”
“To life.” He said flatly and crossed his arms.
“I'm not going to lie to you Victor. There's is only one way you're leaving this place. But if you want to live awhile longer, this is your chance.”
“You don't understand what you're asking me.”
“I understand better than you think. He has someone. Someone he's still hanging over your head. Someone who is important to you. Maybe the most important person to you. I know it's difficult to admit Victor, but you've been in jail for over two years. Do you really believe he has kept this person alive after all this time?”
The muscles in Victor's cinder block jaw tightened around the bottom half of his face like an angry snake. He glared across the table at Jeremy in such a way that made him very, very thankful for the restraints. It was clear he was looking for something to say that wouldn't give himself away, the stupid gorilla not realizing that Jeremy was now fully convinced that he was on the right track.
“Don't you at least want revenge? Help me. We will catch this fucking guy and he'll be thrown in here. With you.” Jeremy lowered his voice and leaned in as if offering a secret. “He will come to Pelican bay. Once he's here, I can arrange a meeting between the two of you.”
Victor's scowled, a burst of blood lust showing around the sudden dilation of pupils indicated he would like that very much, and Jeremy smiled darkly at him. A shared disdain, enemy of my enemy feeling growing between them but then Matherport's face slowly began to invert on itself. His cheeks rounded up underneath his eyes and he threw back his head and began to laugh.
“He got you didn't he! He has someone of yours!”
Jeremy's stomach and heart and mind flash froze, hardening inside of him.
“How else would you know?” Matherport continued. “You didn't come here to help me. You came here to help yourself.”
“Victor...” was all he could say because he had been thrown for such a loop.
“Let me ask you something now Jeremy. Have you done it yet?”
Jeremy couldn't think straight, the walls were suddenly too close, the room too hot. He had to just stick to his line.
“Victor, this is your chance to do some good. To make amends.”
“Oh if you haven't yet, you will,” Matherport said ignoring him. “He can be very convincing.”
And then Matherport began to laugh again. His massive frame lifting and dropping, lifting and dropping.
“Guard!” He yelled. “Guard, we're done here!”
“Listen to me Victor.” Jeremy said leaning in close over the table and aligning his line of sight with his like snake charmer. “I'm going to kill him. If you help me, we can catch him. And when we do, I am going to kill him. Myself.”
“We're done here. Fuck off Jeremy. Don't come back.”
“Don't do this Victor. You know I'm right. It's what we both want.”
“Guard!” Matherport screamed. “Guard!”
A corrections officer approached slowly from around the corner and opened the door.
“Victor? Victor! Give me a name! Just give me a fucking name!”
But Victor just continued to laugh, even as the corrections officer unhooked him and lead him out of the room and down the hall Jeremy could still hear him laughing.
He exited the coolness of the air conditioned facility, into the mid-afternoon heat burning down on him from every direction and dialled Costa's number.
“Hey.”
“Hey. Listen. This is very time sensitive. I need you to call and have all the contents of Matherport's cell seized.
“Matherport? How is he back in play?”
“I'll explain after. But this has to be done. Right now.”
“I'll call you back,” Costa said and hung up the phone.
The interior of Jeremy's car was danger hot, he scrambled to get the keys into the ignition so he could roll down the windows. The engine purred to life and he smoothly peeled out of the parking lot and onto the service road which lead to the freeway. He drove in silence. He needed to think. This was, without out a doubt the best chance they had of finding Mister so far. If they could figure out who he had used to blackmail Victor it may lead them to Mister. It suddenly occurred to him that the premise of his book was bullshit. Matherport was no copy-cat at all. He was in the exact same boat as Jeremy found himself in now. He had to agree with Victor, that that was pretty fucking funny. In a sick Cosmic practical joke, God is an asshole kind of way.
Jeremy was already half way home when Costa called back.
“Answer phone,” Jeremy instructed the hands free.
“Okay so it's done,” Costa's voice came through the speakers in stereo.
“Did it get done it time? Was he already in his cell?”
“No, they're holding him elsewhere until his belongings are searched and tagged. I thought I was going to have to pull a heavy on the Warden but he came around.”
“Good. We're going to need that back at the office, specifically any mail he has received.”
“Alright I'll have it sent immediately. What's going on here? Why are we looking at Matherport?”
“I've come to believe that Matherport wasn't a copy-cat. He was working under the current Mister's instructions.”
“Jesus Christ. So you think they were working together?” Costa asked in a hushed toned.
“Not exactly,” Jeremy began, trying to figure out how to unpack this all for him. “I believe he was being blackmailed. One of Mister’s victims was someone close to Matherport.”
“Did he confirm that?”
“He all but said it.
“He must have known Matherport was unstable enough to go through with it. Had prior knowledge of his mental issues.”
“Yeah that's what I'm thinking too. Which means he knew him somehow. Or least was watching him very closely.”
“Okay, okay. Get down here and let's work this through. I'll call in the team.”
Jeremy tromboned his watch and said, “I'll be there in thirty.”
“Bring coffee would ya? I can't tolerate the shit we have here any longer”
“End call,” Jeremy said disconnecting them.
He wanted to feel elated. At least feel a little relief knowing that maybe they were getting somewhere but knew that soon enough he would receive another video. He knew the next would be worse than the last. And if he didn't comply, they would keep getting
worse until he had no choice.
His mind flashed to Matherport saying, He can be very convincing.
Jeremy exited out of the elevator with a tray of Starbucks and made his way to Costa's office. In his emotional state he had went ahead and told Costa about Mister's method of forcing Matherport's hand without knowing how he would explain how he came to learn of it in the first place. Luckily the drive gave him some time to think and actually it all was starting to make sense.
Green Was in Costa's office with him.
“Coffee,” Jeremy declared and handed them the tray.
“Many thanks.” Green grunted and got to work at tearing open the cream and sugar packs. Jeremy took a seat and tried to let the painful tension in his shoulders dissolve.
“So talk us through this,” Costa said popping the lid off one of the cups.
Jeremy wanted to just sit for a second but he knew he was too tired to really rest. He had to keep his mind active or his exhaustion would get the better of him.
“Come with me,” he said and led them into the debrief room. Mathews and Moramarco arrived just as they got there.
“What do we got?” Mathews asked.
“We're about to find out,” Costa said and they all filed into the room and sat down.
Jeremy entered the password into one of the computers to get it going then began to thumb through the filing Cabinet. He flopped several folders on the table and flipped them open.
“I was thinking about all the discrepancies at the crime scenes. There really shouldn't be any at all. Serial killers tend to work towards perfecting their modus operandi over time. You will see various alterations, specifically in the physical handling of their victims. Sometimes, as you all know, the killer will have to increase his degree of interaction with the victim in order to gain the same sense of satisfaction from the kill that he is accustomed to. A serial rapist-killer may begin to engage in necrophilia for instance. Or as he gets more confident, or insatiable, his cooling down period may shrink.”
Jeremy made two rows with the folders, one above the other.
“But what we have here is something else entirely. These are the folders attributed to Matherport. Though I now believe some of these were not his kills,” he said pointing to the top row. “These are the murders which transpired after his incarceration.”
He looked up at the team to make sure he hadn't lost them.
“Okay. So, the main difference which got me curious was the abductions. We had assumed, I think, that Mister had abducted only when there was a good opportunity to do so. But this is a very, very highly ritualized killer. Not an opportunist.”
Moramarco got up and started going through the files Jeremy had laid out.
“So Mister's crimes involve abduction and Matherport's do not?” Moramarco asked from over his shoulder. “Matherport had knowledge of body sites. What are you saying? They were working together?”
“I think it's much more complicated than that.” Jeremy said taking a seat on the table. “I don't think Matherport was a copy-cat at all. I think he was being blackmailed by the original Mister to commit his murders. Blackmailed at the threat of killing or torturing someone close to Victor Matherport. Someone Mister had taken previously and he took them specifically to force Matherport to do his killing for him.”
“Jesus Christ,” Costa said went to look through the folders as well.
“Wait,” Mathews said waving his hand back and forth. “Murders have taken place since Matherport has been locked up that do not include abductions.”
“I still don't think it's a matter of opportunity,” Jeremy said, “But maybe his intentions very.”
“Or maybe Matherport isn't the only one Mister forced into doing his dirty work.” Costa said gravely.
Jeremy felt his abdomen and chest tense up. This was not the line of thinking he wanted to invoke in them. If they found Charlie -When they found Charlie, it would raise quite a bit of suspicion towards himself and so he ignored Costa's remark and hoped the others didn't run with it either.
“Okay, let’s say this is true. As very unlikely as it is,” Costa said. “Why would Mister instruct Matherport to abduct any of the victims as opposed to just killing them?”
“I don’t know,” Jeremy admitted. “Maybe to throw us off from discovering this. But look at this,” he said and rifled through the files. “The bodies Matherport had knowledge of- the abducted ones I mean. Almost all female. Show no signs of sexual assault.”
“He’s right,” Mathews exhaled through puffed up cheeks and shook his head slowly, a gesture of baffled acceptance. “A killer known for sexually assaulting his targets does not take woman and simply not rape them. It just doesn’t happen.”
“He could have cleaned them,” Moramarco suggested.
“No, listen. I went to see Matherport today. He all but confirmed this.”
“He all but? What does that mean?” Mathews asked. “Did he admit it or not?”
“He said it without saying it. Suffice it to say that after speaking with him I am one hundred percent convinced of this.”
“Well, since learning of Mrs. Stien we have interviewed the families of the known victims and none claim to be being harassed. No contact from Mister at all.”
Moramarco sat back down heavily with a sigh and said:
“If they were willing to go as far as Matherport did to protect whoever Mister has, it's doubtful they would tell us they have been contacted by him.”
“Okay. We're going to work under this assumption. It's not like we got much else to go on.” Costa said bringing a stop to all the speculation. “Priority one is finding out who Mister had on Matherport. We need to look at his family and friends. Interview his parents or anybody who knew him. Hopefully something from his old cell records will give us something. We’ve already seized all his mail as you requested Foster and we should have it here by tonight. I'll need you to try and work some more of your magic on Matherport. Get him singing again.”
“I can try but I don't think Mr. Matherport and I will be continuing our weekly chats.”
“Okay, well do what you can. In the meantime go home and get some rest. We need you sharp and right now you look about as sharp as a plastic spoon.”
“Okay,” Jeremy said painfully straightening up his spine like a stiff piece of warped bamboo. He was doubtful he would be able to sleep but Costa was right. If he didn't get some rest he wouldn't be of any use to anyone. Sleep wasn't a want, it was a necessity.
“Good work Foster,” Costa said as he exited the room.
The whole drive home all Jeremy thought of the bottle of Glenfiddich in the kitchen. Something was troubling him deeply. Something he didn't even want to try and analyze. If Mister was selective in choosing Matherport, if he vetted him somehow first so he knew he could bend him to his will, how did he come to choose him now? Mister was betting he would go through with what he was demanding of him if he absolutely had to, to save his son. How did Mister know he was right?
CHAPTER 4
Being at home was like living in a crime scene. No it was living in a crime scene. He couldn't be there so he went to his office instead. The silence was nice. He sat in it for at time trying to prepare himself for his performance. Eventually he just had to get the thing done and so he fished his cell out of his jacket pocket and dialled Katie.
“Hey,” She answered.
“Put him on.”
“Uh... excuse me?”
“Charlie. Put Charlie on!”
“He's not with you?”
Jeremy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. He was going straight to hell.
“You're telling me he didn't come home?”
“Jeremy what are you talking about? Why would he come home? You're supposed to bring him home.”
“Jesus.”
“I don't understand.”
“I came home from work and he was gone. I assumed he went home on the bus or something.”
“No. He's not here.
How long ago did you notice he was gone?”
“Just now. I came home about thirty minutes ago. No Charlie. No phone call, no note, nothing. Have you spoken to him?”
“I haven't talked to him since you picked him up Friday.” She said with a tinge of panic starting to taint her voice. Straight to hell.
“Okay. Okay, don't panic. I'm sure he's just out with his friends.”
“At nine o'clock Sunday night? He has school tomorrow! Did you try calling his cell?”
“Of course. Straight to voice mail.”
“Oh my God. Jeremy, this isn't like him.”
“Let's not panic. I'm sure he's fine. Maybe he's seeing a girl or -”
“Jeremy he would call. He would. He would call.”
“Okay look. Let's give it a couple hours before we get all worked up. He is a teenage boy after all. God knows there were times I had stayed out way later than I was supposed to at that age.”
“He's not you.” She said, and her tone would normally have hurt him.
“Let's just give it a couple hours okay?”
“Okay. Call me as soon as you hear from him.”
“I will. You do the same please if you talk to him first.”
Jeremy hung up the phone and threw it down on the sofa like it was some disgusting thing. Truth was, he was the disgusting thing. Lying to Katie about this made him feel sub-human. Like pissing on a grave would, or kicking a dog or shaking a baby. It was just something you didn't do unless you were a total piece of shit. Well he did it, and he was.
He needed sleep. He knew though that Katie would be calling him before the night was out in a panic. As she should. She was right, this wasn't like Charlie at all and if he didn't know the awful truth he would panicked too. He would have to file a missing persons report with LAPD in the morning.
Then his phone chimed indicating an email. He picked it back up and read the subject line: Daddy can we keep it? It was Mister, it had to be. He was expecting a phone call but his email address wouldn't be that hard to track down. Instead of opening it on the phone he went to his desk and accessed his email from his office computer. The email consisted of just the subject line and an attached video. This was going to be painful. He was already blocked up with tears and grief but realized that whatever was on it had already happened. Not watching it wasn't going to make it any less real. He closed his heart and reached with his trembling hand for the mouse.
Horror Becomes Me Page 2