"She's in the kitchen right now."
"Seemed odd that she wasn't here before." Sharon looks around to make sure she wasn't standing behind her.
"She told me she went to a movie that night with a friend who picked her up. Sharon, finish taking these pictures of these next four shelves. I want to look at the desk over there." I hand her the camera, and she proceeds to finish up the volumes of books. I go and sit at the desk. It was quite ornate, hand-carved and very much an antique. I look through the drawers and pull out everything and place all of the items on top of the desk. I pull out the drawers and look at the bottom of all, just hoping something would show up. As I start placing the bottom right drawer back into the slot, I have some trouble—something is blocking it. I bend down and shine my penlight and see a manila envelope is the culprit. I pull the package out of its hiding place. I place the envelope onto the right side of the desk as I place all of the items back into there proper drawers.
I open the envelope and lay the contents out on the desktop. I call Sharon over to see what I just found.
Sharon asks, "Why is she hiding something in her own home? Why didn’t she just keep it in her own safe?"
"Good questions. I'm not sure. Maybe she thought this hiding spot is safer than her own safe!" is my response. "Let's see what we have here … there are several pictures, a diary, and a key." I separate the images and spread those on the desktop.
"Who's that?" Sharon points to a gentleman next to Gracie, standing by her near the outside pool.
"We will have Paul run a facial recognition on all of these photographs, as well as those I took that are on the walls throughout the home." I get up from the back of the desk. "Let's head over to Barbara Akin’s; we can come back here tomorrow and look through the garage and the guest quarters in the back, as well as the pool house. We’ll come back in the morning. For right now, let's drop all these pictures for Paul to work on." As we leave, I call out to Martha and tell her we will be back again.
Chapter 16
After leaving Gracie's place, we quickly drop off the memory card along with the manila envelope for Paul to work on, we then drive back to Barbara Akin’s home in Hollywood itself. We are greeted at the front door by Molly. Barbara's home was a simple ranch-style home, but it needed a lot of maintenance. Outside, the roof needs new shingles; the driveway is cracked being uplifted by tree trunks. Some trees should have been cut back years ago, as several limbs keep brushing onto the roof, rolling back some shingles and leaving parts of the roof almost bare. The grass needs cutting and the hedges trimmed. Although a tan brick home, the trim is in desperate need of painting. I feel sure the neighbors are not very happy with this eyesore in their upscale neighborhood. Inside the kitchen is in disarray, needing new appliances; one of the cupboards hinges has come loose and needs tightening before it falls off entirely. All of the rooms need new flooring, as she still has shag carpeting on several of the floors, including her master bedroom, which probably came with the house when it was built.
Her body was found outside her church, the Blessed Sacrament on West Sunset Boulevard and North Cherokee Avenue. She lay leaning against the tall gray columns in front and several steps above street level with decorative ornamental ironwork. She was placed with her arms folded and head down in a sitting position. She had been dropped off and not found dead for most of the day, as the pedestrians walked by thinking she was sleeping. Barbara is the oldest actress so far. Having been nominated twice before for an Oscar, she actually won one for her last and final film. Even if she hadn't been killed, it would have been her last. She had been diagnosed with an inoperable breast cancer. It’s everyone's belief she won the Oscar as a sympathy award for all her years in the movie industry. She was a spinster, never married, and it’s believed she and her live-in maid were lovers, as they were seen everywhere together. No one ever saw them hold hands or show much affection out in public, or at least no one had proof of it. Her will did leave everything to her maid, as all expected.
Sharon and I follow up with some more questioning. We could have called and get the same information, but I want to see if, in the several weeks since Barbara was killed, if Molly had done any improvements to the place. The answer was no—same dirty, cold, dingy, dump of a house. We leave, after finding out what we wanted to know and get back in the car and head off.
Chapter 17
I think back to the crime scene of Michael Borne. Looking through my notes, I remember what the Sarge had said on who showed up first on the crime scene and wondered how Channel 16 arrived before Channel 22 when 22 broke the news first.
"I know who to call to find out," I say in a whisper to myself.
"Did you say something, sir?" Susan asks as if she was to have heard what was said.
"No, that's all right. I just remembered, I have to make a call.”
I reach for my cell and dialed. "Hello, Candace. It's Mike," I say as if she didn’t already know. "I wanted to ask you, how did your father's station, Channel 22, be able to report the news first on Michael Borne, even before they arrived at the scene?"
"Well Mike, if you must know, someone called the station and reported it to us."
"And you forgot to tell me this for what reason?"
"You know I'm not obligated to tell you everything I know or find out. You do remember the First Amendment rights, don't you?" she says as a matter of point.
"Don't you know, I could get you on obstruction of justice?"
"You wouldn't do that to me, would you? Besides, we think it was just a passerby."
"Do they still have the tape from the caller?"
"I believe so; I'll meet you at the station, so you won't need a search warrant to get a copy," Candace says in a helpful tone.
"Be there in twenty minutes."
"Okay."
Susan drives up only to find Candace with her arms crossed and tapping her toes, standing in front of the station. "What took you so long?" she says as I get out of the Audi.
"I said twenty minutes, and that is what it is," I answer in a matter-of-fact tone as I glance at my watch. "Let's get a listen to the tape. I want to hear who and what was said."
"Follow me." Candace walks through the sliding front door.
"I want the original; you can keep the copy. I'll have Paul do a voice analysis," I say in an angry tone. I’m still upset she didn't tell me about this piece of evidence.
Candace leads us into the recording room, asking the technician to retrieve the copy in question. He does so, and she tells him to make a copy of it. He hands her both sets, and she gives me the original.
"Thanks, but next time, do not keep anything like this again from me." I take the tape and walk out of the station.
Chapter 18
After we get back to the office, I toss the tape to Paul. "Get this analyzed," I say, as I pull up my favorite chair. "Now, what have you got for me on those photos?"
Sharon walks around and leans against the table as Paul sets up the screen with several of the photos I took at the mansion.
"Let's see the ones in the front room first." I glance back to Paul as if still waiting for the show to begin.
"Paul, let's group all the different and single shots onto one screen, and the ones which have multiple photos of the same people and group shots on the other screens." As the photos are placed up onto the first screen, several pictures are moved from one screen to another. Soon all the pictures are showing on the screens.
I get up from the chair, moving closer to the screen with the pictures with multiple faces in them.
"Sharon, do you remember seeing this person in a photo over at Patricia Wright’s? Seems to me, this same photo was there."
Sharon draws closer to the screen. "Yes, and these two also. "She points to a colored picture of a young man standing next to an unknown woman in front of a pool in back of a mansion, and a different picture in black and white of a young man sitting with four other young men, all in suits, sitting on a stuffed sing
le chair. "Look who took the photos."
"John Jacobs. He just keeps popping up all over the place."
"We're going to have to go back over to Patricia's and get copies of those photos. We'll do that after we're through with Tan's. It's late. Let's call it a night." Looking around, "Sharon, just drop me off and I'll see you in the morning. Just pick me up at the regular time."
Chapter 19
"Did you get a visit from Detective Kane?" Mark Jacobson asks over the phone, as he is slipping on his shirt before going down for breakfast.
"Yes, he and some bimbo picked me up at the airport. Boy, was I shocked, I wonder who the hell told them I was coming in," John says, as he takes another swig of coffee.
"I think we all should meet. I'll call the others, and we will meet here at my place at five this afternoon. I'll even have Martha cook something up for the five of us."
After they hang up, Mark makes three more calls. Two say they weren't able to come and one said he would. He heads downstairs and out onto his patio, pulls up his chair and tells Martha to prepare for three for the afternoon.
Chapter 20
The next morning, Sharon swings around the circular drive at my mansion and waits about four minutes before I come out and climb into the back seat. "Let's get this day started."
Sharon drives through the iron gates as they open back up slowly. It takes a short time to get to Mrs. Tan's home, as it is in the same area as Mark's and Ms. Wright’s. As we approach the front steps, she notices it looks like the taped barrier has been tampered with.
"Mike, look,” pointing, “the tape has been pulled away from the door."
As we approach the door, we both draw out our weapons and enter cautiously, with Sharon taking the lead. She moves quickly through the door, pointing up the stairway, as she glances upward to the walkway. I follow, looking towards the front room. Sharon takes to the stairs as silently as she can, taking two steps at a time. At the top, she glances to her left, then swings her body and police revolver to the right, checking out if anyone is down the hallway. She proceeds with caution, carefully easing herself down the corridor, stopping to listen at every door to hear if there is any movement inside. After reaching the end of the hall she proceeds back, opening each bedroom door, going through making sure no one is there. Meanwhile, I am checking out the lower level from the front room to the kitchen, to the study, to the media room, and finally the library. I find nothing.
After searching the lower level, I proceed quietly to the second story. At the top of the stairway I look right, finding Sharon coming out the last bedroom door. I motion for both of us to go across the walkway to the other section of the house to the other bedrooms. We each take the remaining bedrooms but find no one.
"Did you find anything disturbed?" I ask.
"No, did you?"
"No, but I wonder what they were looking for."
"I wonder if we got here just in time to break up the party."
I turn around and lead the way back downstairs. "Let's take a little closer look down here. I kind of doubt if we will find anything in the guest rooms."
As Sharon and I take another look through the downstairs, I notice one picture missing that was on the baby grand piano. Sharon notices, when they get to the library, there is a gap where a book is now missing.
"Someone was looking through the desk. I know what they were looking for, but would like to know how they even knew about it." I look closer at the desk, remembering how I had left it, as I usually leave one drawer ajar.
"When we get back to the office, we can determine which book is missing, and hopefully find some relevance with which book it is," I say in a reassuring way.
"The same with the picture, we'll figure out which one it is."
After taking one more walk through, Sharon and I re-tape the front door upon leaving and drive across the street to Patricia’s estate.
I'm on my cell phone, "Susan, as soon as you can get over to Gracie Tan's place, looks for any fingerprints. Look especially on the grand piano towards the front, and by the bookcase, where you will see a book is missing from the third row on the right-hand side. Also, check the desk, with particular emphasis on the right big lower drawer." I say as I leave this message on her answering machine.
Chapter 21
Coming through the hand crafted stained glass double doors, I walk onto the rust-colored French Pierre du Burgundy limestone floor in the Chateau Dallage pattern. This home was an Italianate-style villa, with clay tile roof, the Italian marble master bath, all imported from Europe. The entryway message, with an extra-large oil painting of Patricia on the wall to the right, says, "This is my house. I'm all important." An extra-wide, custom-designed elliptical wrought iron stairway rises to the second story, all of it handcrafted with French limestone steps. As one looks up, one sees an enormous crystal chandelier, brought in from a French château, hanging down from the second story ceiling. Everything in this home, from its exotic handpicked materials from around the world, to the quality of its artistry; everything said, "Money." The entryway alone with the limestone floors was the size of some average homes throughout America
I proceed to the front room, with the rich marbled floors, as Sharon again takes to the stairs and goes up with her camera to take photos of the pictures throughout the second story. In the family room, I come across a concert grand piano, this room with its extra-large rustic marble slabs. I first look over on the walls, looking at the photos that are on there, trying to place them alongside the ones I took at Gracie's house. I begin taking snapshots of not only the pictures on the walls but also the ones on the piano and the side tables. I proceed down the hall and into the library; which has hard cypress wooden floors. As soon as I walk into the room, I see another enormous painting of Patricia up above the fireplace, along with a 17th-century antique Italian mantel.
All throughout the house there are larger than normal photos of Patricia, both black-and-white and colored. There were several 36 x 48, all black-and-white, all close-ups. In the right-hand corner of the photos is the signature of John Jacobs. But this is no surprise, one for the fact that he is a professional photographer, and two they were dating. I must admit he does have talent.
"I'm through; how about you?" Sharon says after walking into the room.
"Just about. I've seen several photos that are identical to the ones that are over at Gracie's," I say, and ask, “did you find any pictures upstairs.
"I only found several photos of her and John together," Sharon says in response.
"Well, let's get these back to Paul and see if there is a tie in with these two women and any men that put them in connection with one another. Sharon, let's take the original pictures out of the frames, and since we have photos, we can always place them back where they were, not thinking anyone will care."
Upon returning to the office, he tosses the photos on the table. They slide to the edge, and two fall off onto the floor. As I bend down to pick them up, I notice some writing on the back of one of them. I look on the backs of all of the photos we had brought in; several others also had notes written on them.
"Maybe we are looking on the wrong side of the photos," I say as a matter of fact. "Sharon, go back over to Gracie’s home and bring back all of the photos that match these."
"Right now?" she asks as she glances down at her watch.
"Why, have you got something else to do?"
"Well, I am hungry and was planning on eating lunch sometime today," she replies with her eyes almost tearfully looking back at me.
"Sorry, didn’t notice the time, go ahead and go out and eat, then swing by to pick those up," I say in an apologetic manner.
Chapter 22
Soon after eating a quick bite, Sharon heads towards Gracie Tan's mansion. At the gate, she presses in the passcode, enters, drives up around the fountain, and parks in front of the home. She again cuts the tape on the front door and enters. Upon entering, she hears a noise from the back room. She pulls o
ut her revolver, slips off her shoes, and moves quietly over the marble floor. Sharon looks around the corner, looking to see who or what caused the sound. She hears someone moving and rifling through the desk. She swings quickly around the corner; her arms are extended with a weapon in hand. At that moment, the last thing she sees is something coming towards her. She falls like a limp doll onto the floor.
Time slips by, as well as whoever was in Gracie’s mansion. Sharon opens her eyes, raises her head, looking around to see if anyone was right next to her. She struggles to get up; she pulls herself up on a chair that is next to the wall. The chair moves and makes a squeaking sound. She gets anxious about the noise which was just created. Again, looking around in trepidation, she reaches for her revolver, but it's not there. She feels for her cell phone, pulls it out of her pocket, and makes the dreaded call.
"Mike, I'm sorry to say someone broke in here, and I got clobbered. I just woke up. I don't know if they are still here or not," she whispers into her phone, "and I don't have my firearm."
"I'm headed your way. Are you all right?"
"I think so, but do hurry," she says in a hushed voice.
"Paul, call for a police car to meet me out front."
I grab an extra revolver, take my flap jacket, and put it on as I go rushing to the elevator. I think, God, I hope and pray she is all right and safe.
Downstairs, the policeman gets out of the car as if to have me drive.
"No, Sergeant, you're coming with me."
I get on the squawk box and tell all available cars to report to the address of Gracie's mansion.
As we drive up, there are several police cars already on the scene. I get out of the car before it even comes to a complete stop. I rush into the house only to find about four officers around Sharon, as I notice several others coming out of the library and walking down the stairway.
The Hollywood Serial Killers: A Mike Kane Mystery Series Page 5