Gone ,but not forgotten

by Philip Margolin

  Darius smiled. "You're doing just fine, Tannenbaum."

  "No further questions."

  Barrow hoisted himself out of the witness box and walked quickly to the back of the courtroom as Page called his next witness.

  "Dr. Susan Gregg," Page said. An attractive woman in her early forties with salt-and-pepper hair, wearing a conservative gray suit, took the witness stand.

  "Will counsel stipulate to Dr. Gregg's qualifications for purposes of this hearing?" Page asked Betsy.

  "We assume Dr. Gregg is well known to the court," Betsy said, "so, for purposes of this hearing only, we stipulate that Dr. Gregg is the state medical examiner and qualified to give opinions on cause of death."

  "Thank you," Page said to Betsy. "Dr. Gregg, were you called to a construction site owned by Darius Construction, earlier this week, to examine the remains of four individuals who were found buried there?"

  "I was."

  "And you conducted the autopsies of all four victims?"

  "Yes."

  "What is an autopsy, Dr. Gregg?"

  "It's an examination of a body after death to determine, among other things, cause of death."

  "Will you explain what your autopsy involved?"

  "Certainly. I examined the bodies carefully for serious injuries, natural diseases and other natural causes of death."

  "Did any of the victims die a natural death?"

  "No."

  "What injuries did you observe?"

  "All four individuals had numerous burns and cutting injuries on various parts of their bodies. Three of the male's fingers had been severed.

  There was evidence of sharp cuts on the women's breasts. The nipples on the women had been mutilated, as had the genitalia of the man and the women. Do you want me to go into detail?"

  "That won't be necessary for this hearing. How did the three women die?"

  "Their abdomens had been deeply cut, resulting in serious injuries to their bowel and abdominal viscera."

  "When a person is disemboweled, do they die quickly?"

  "No. A person can stay — alive for some time in this condition."

  "Can you give the court a rough estimate?"

  Gregg shrugged. "It's hard to say. Two to four hours.

  Eventually they die from shock and loss of blood."

  "And that was the cause of death of these women?"

  "Yes."

  "And the male?"

  "He suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the back of his head."

  "Did you order laboratory tests?"

  "Yes. I had the blood tested for alcohol. The results were negative for all of the victims. I ordered a urine screen for drugs of abuse. This involves testing the urine for the presence of five drugs; cocaine, morphine, marijuana, amphetamine and PCP. Our results were all negative."

  Page studied his notes and conferred with Highsmith before turning the witness over to Betsy. She reread a portion of the autopsy report and frowned.

  "Dr. Gregg, I'm confused by some remarks you made on page four of your report. Were the women raped?"

  "That's hard to say. I found bruises and tears around the genitalia and rectum. Tearing that would indicate invasion by a foreign object."

  "Did you test for semen?"

  "I did not find any traces of seminal fluid."

  "So you can't say conclusively that the women were raped?"

  "I can only say there was penetration and violent injury. There was no evidence of male ejaculation."

  "Did you draw a conclusion concerning whether the women were murdered at the construction site?"

  "I believe they were killed elsewhere."

  "Why?"

  "There would have been a large amount of blood at the murder scene because of their massive cutting injuries. There were also organs removed from two of the women."

  "Would the rain obscure traces of their blood?"

  "No. They were buried. The rain would have washed away the blood on the surface, but we should have found larger quantities the bodies in the graves."

  "So you believe the women were killed someplace else and transported to the site?"

  Yes.

  "If they were transported in the trunk of a BMW, could you erase all traces of blood from the trunk?"

  "Objection," Page said. "Dr. Gregg is not qualified to answer that question. She is a medical doctor, not a forensic chemist."

  "I'll let her answer, if she can," the judge ruled.

  "I'm — afraid that's outside my area of expertise," the doctor answered.

  "The male was not disemboweled?"

  "No."

  "Nothing further."

  Alan Page stood. He looked a little unsure of himself.

  "Your Honor, I'm going to call myself Mr. Highsmith will examine." as a witness.

  "Objection, Your Honor. It's unethical for an attorney to testify as a witness in a case he's trying."

  "That might be true in a trial before a jury, Your Honor," Page replied,

  "but the court is not going to have any trouble deciding my credibility as a witness, if that comes into question, simply because I'm also arguing the State's position."

  Norwood looked troubled. "This is unusual. Why do you have to testify?"

  "what's he up to?" Darius whispered in Betsy's ear Betsy shook her head.

  She was studying Page. He looked ill at ease and grim. Something was troubling the district attorney.

  "Your Honor, I'm in possession of evidence you must hear if you are going to make a reasoned decision on the issue of bail. Unless I testify, you'll be without the most important evidence we have that Martin Darius is the man who killed Laura Farrar, Wendy Reiser and Victoria Miller."

  "I'm confused, Mr. Page," Norwood said testily.

  "How can you have this evidence? Were you an eyewitness?" Norwood shook his head. "I don't get it."

  Page cleared his throat. "Your Honor, there is a witness. Her name is Nancy Gordon." Darius took a deep breath and leaned forward intently.

  "Ten years ago, an identical series of murders occurred in Hunter's Point, New York. The day before we found the bodies, Detective Gordon told me about those murders and why she believed Martin Darius committed them."

  "Then call Detective Gordon," Norwood said.

  "I can't. She's missing and she may be dead. She checked into a motel room after leaving me. I called her several times starting around eight, eight-thirty, the next morning. I think something happened to her shortly after she checked in. It looks like she was unpacking when something interrupted her. All of her possessions were in the room, but she hasn't come back for them. I have a team of detectives looking for her, but we've had no luck so far."

  "Your Honor," Betsy said, "if Mr. Page is going to testify about this woman's statements to prove my client murdered some women ten years ago, it will be pure hearsay. I know the court is giving Mr. Page leeway, but Mr. Darius has state and federal constitutional rights to confront the witnesses against him."

  Norwood nodded. "That's true, Mrs. Tannenbaum.

  I'll tell you, Mr. Page, this bothers me. Isn't there another witness from Hunter's Point you can call who can testify about these other crimes?"

  "Not on such short notice. I know the names of the other detectives who worked on the case, but they don't work for the Hunter's Point police anymore and I haven't traced them."

  Norwood leaned back and almost disappeared from view. Betsy was dying to know what the missing detective had told Page, but she had to keep the testimony out if it was the ammunition Page needed to keep Martin Darius in jail.

  "It's eleven-fifteen, folks,"- Norwood said. "We'll adjourn until one-thirty. I'll hear legal argument then."

  Norwood stood up and walked out of the courtroom.

  Harvey Cobb rapped the gavel and everyone stood.

  "Now I know why Page thinks I killed those women," Darius whispered to Betsy. "When can we talk?"

  "I'll come up to the jail right now."

  Betsy turned to o
ne of the guards. "Can you put Mr. Darius in the interview room? I want to talk to him."

  "Sure, Mrs. Tannenbaum. We're gonna wait for the court to clear before taking him up. You can ride with us in the jail elevator if you want."

  "Thanks, I will."

  The guard handcuffed Darius. Betsy glanced toward the back of the courtroom. Lisa Darius was standing near the door, talking to Nora Sloane. Lisa glanced toward Betsy. Betsy smiled. Lisa did not smile back, but she did nod toward her. Betsy raised a hand to let Lisa know she would be right with her. Lisa said something to Sloane.

  Sloane smiled and patted Lisa's shoulder, then left the courtroom.

  "I'm going to talk to Lisa for a moment," Betsy told Darius. Lisa was waiting just inside the door, looking nervously through the glass at the waiting reporters.

  "That woman said she's working with you on an article for Pacific West,"

  Lisa said.

  "That's right. She's going to tag — along while I try Martin's case to see how I work."

  "she said she'd like to talk to me. What should I do?"

  "Nora seems responsible, but you make up your own mind. How are you holding up?"

  "This is terrible. The reporters won't leave me alone.

  When I moved to Daddy's house I had to sneak out of the estate through the woods so they wouldn't know where I was going."

  "I'm sorry, Lisa. This isn't going to get any easier for YOU."

  Lisa hesitated, then she asked, will the judge let Mar-tin out on bail?"

  "There's a good chance he'll have to. The State's evidence has been pretty weak, so far."

  Lisa looked worried.

  "Is something troubling you?"

  "No," Lisa answered too quickly.

  "if you know anything about this case, please tell me. I don't want any surprises."

  "It's the reporters, they've really gotten to me," Lisa said, but Betsy knew she was lying.

  "We're ready," the guard told Betsy.

  "I've got to talk to Martin. He wants you to visit him."

  Lisa nodded, but her thoughts seemed far away.

  "Who is Nancy Gordon?" Betsy asked Darius. They were sitting next to each other in the narrow confines of the courthouse jail visiting room.

  "One of the detectives on the task force. I met her the night Sandy and Melody died. She interviewed me at the house. Gordon was engaged to another cop, but he was killed a few weeks before the wedding. She was still grieving when I joined the task force and she tried to help me deal with my grief.

  "Nancy and I were thrown together on several occasions. I didn't realize it, but she took my friendliness as something else and, well…"

  Darius looked into Betsy's eyes. Their knees were almost touching. His head bent toward her. "I was vulnerable. We both were. You can't understand what it feels like to lose someone you love like that, until it happens to you.

  "I became convinced Waters was the rose killer and I did a stupid thing.

  Without telling anyone, I started following him. I even staked out his house, hoping I'd catch him in the act." Darius smiled sheepishly. "I made a mess of things and — almost blew the investigation. I was so obvious, a neighbor called the police to complain about this strange man who was camped outside their house. The police came. I felt like an idiot. Nancy bailed me out. We met at a restaurant near the police station and she let me have it.

  "By the time we'd finished eating, it was late. I offered to drive her home because her car was in for repairs. We'd both had a few beers. I don't even remember who started it. The bottom line is, we ended up in bed."

  Darius looked down at his hands, as if he was ashamed. Then he shook his bead.

  "It was a stupid thing to do. I should have known she would take it too seriously. I mean, it was good for us to have someone to spend the night with. We were both so lonely. But she thought I loved her, and I didn't.

  It was too soon — after Sandy. When I didn't want to continue the relationship, she grew bitter. Fortunately Waters was caught soon after that and my involvement with the task force ended, so there was no reason for us to see each other. Only, Nancy couldn't let go. She called me at home and at the office. She wanted to meet and talk about us. I told her there was no 'us," but it was hard for her to accept."

  "Did she accept it?"

  Darius nodded. "She stopped calling, but I knew she was bitter. What I can't understand is how she could possibly think I killed Sandy and Melody."

  "If the judge lets Page testify," Betsy said, "we'll soon find out."

  Chapter Twelve

  "Let me tell you how I see it, Mrs. Tannenbaum," judge Norwood said. "I know what the Constitution says about confronting the witnesses and I'm not saying you don't have a point, but this is a bail hearing and the issues are different at trial. What Mr. Page is trying to do is convince me he's got so much evidence a guilty verdict at the trial is almost a sure thing. He thinks some of this trial evidence is going to come from this missing detective or from someone else in New York. I'm going to let him tell me what the evidence is, but I'm also going to take into account that he doesn't have his witness and may not be able to produce her, or these other detectives, at trial. So, I'll decide what weight to give to this testimony,]) I'm going to let it in. If you don't like my ruling, I don't blame you. I might be wrong. That's why we have appeals courts. But, right now, Mr. Page can testify."

  Betsy had already made her objections for the record, so she said nothing more when Alan Page was sworn in.

  "Mr. Page," Randy Highsmith asked, the evening before the bodies of Victoria Miller, Wendy Reiser, Laura Farrar and an unknown male were unearthed at a construction site owned by the defendant, did a woman visit you at your residence?"

  "Yes."

  "Who was this woman?"

  "Nancy Gordon, a detective with the Hunter's Point Police Department in New York."

  "At the time of Detective Gordon's visit were the details surrounding the disappearances of the three Portland women widely known?"

  "To the contrary, Mr. Highsmith. The police and the district attorney's office weren't certain of the status of the missing women, so we were treating them as missing persons cases. No one in the press knew of the links between the cases and the husbands were cooperating with us by not divulging details of the disappearances."

  "What were the links you spoke of?"

  "The black roses and the notes that said "Gone, But Not Forgotten."

  "What did Detective Gordon say that led you to believe she had information that could be useful in solving the mystery surrounding these disappearances?"

  "she knew about the notes and the roses."

  "Where did she say she had acquired this knowledge?"

  "Ten years ago in Hunter's Point, when an almost identical series of disappearances occurred."

  "What was her connection with the Hunter's Point case?"

  "She was a member of a task force assigned to that case.

  "How did Detective Gordon learn about our disappearances and the similarities between the cases?"

  "She told me she received an anonymous note that led her to believe that the person who was responsible for the Hunter's Point murders was living in Portland."

  "Who was this person?"

  "she knew him as Peter Lake."

  "Did she give some background information on Peter Lake?"

  "She did. He was a successful lawyer in Hunter's Point. He was married to Sandra Lake and they had a six-year-old daughter, Melody. The wife and child were murdered and a "Gone, But Not Forgotten' note and black rose were found on the floor near the mother's body.

  Lake had a lot of political clout and the mayor of Hunter's Point ordered the police chief to put him on the task force. Lake soon became the primary suspect, though he was not aware of that fact."

  "Have the prints of Peter Lake been compared to the fingerprints of Martin Darius?"

  "Yes."

  "With what results?"

  "Martin Darius and P
eter Lake are the same person."

  Highsmith handed the clerk two fingerprint cards and a report from a fingerprint expert and introduced them into evidence.

  "Mr. Page, did Detective Gordon tell you why she believed the defendant murdered the Hunter's Point women?"

  "She did."

  "Tell the court what she told you."

  "Peter Lake had a connection to each of the women who disappeared in Hunter's Point. Gloria Escalante sat on one of Lake's juries. Samantha Reardon belonged to the same country club as the Lakes. Anne Hazelton's husband was an attorney and the Lakes and Hazeltons had been to some of the same Bar Association functions. Patricia Cross and Sandra Lake, Peter's wife, were both in the junior League.

  "Detective Gordon met Lake the evening Sandra and Melody Lake were murdered. This was the first time a body was discovered. In all the other cases, when the women disappeared, the note and rose were found on the woman's pillow in her bedroom. None of these notes had fingerprints on them. The note found at Lake's house had Sandra Lake's prints on it.

  The detectives believed that Sandra Lake discovered the note and was killed by her husband so she would not connect him to the disappearances when the notes were made public. they also believed Melody saw her mother killed and was murdered because she was a witness."

  "Was there a problem with the time that Peter Lake reported the murders to the police?"

  "Yes. Peter Lake told the police that he discovered the bodies right after he entered the house, that he sat down on the steps for a while, in shock, then called 911.

  The 911 call came in at eight-fifteen, but a neighbors who lived near the Lakes, saw Peter Lake arrive home shortly after seven-twenty. The task force members believed it took Lake fifty-five minutes to report the murders because the victims were alive when Lake got home."

  "Was there anything else that implicated Lake?"

  "A man named Henry Waters worked for a florist.

  His truck was seen near the Escalante house on the day she disappeared.

  Waters had a sex offender record as a Peeping Tom. The body of Patricia Cross was found in the basement of Waters's house. She was disemboweled, just like the three Portland women.

  "Waters was never really a suspect, but Lake didn't know that. Waters was borderline retarded and had no history of violence. There wasn't any connection between him and any other victim. Without telling anyone, Lake staked out Waters's house and followed him for days before the body of Patricia Cross was discovered."