“Just thought I would let you know, we’ll probably be back again.” I turn to walk back out the door. I could hear some not so choice words coming out of her mouth. I think, if her mother could hear her now, her mouth would be washed out with soap. I get into the front seat with a smile on my face.
We get Mr. Brenner back to our offices and into the interrogation room. Sharon almost throws him into the chair, forcing him to take the seat. She is not happy with his trying to hit her, as she takes exception with that.
“Didn’t anyone ever teach any of you how to treat a lady?” she asks as she pushes down on his shoulders.
He looks back up at her. “If I see one, I’ll be sure to treat her with respect.”
This makes Sharon wants to finish what she had started in the guest house.
We re-ask him some of the same questions that we asked in the past.
“Where were you on the night when Gracie Tan was killed?”
“Where were you on the night when Barbara Akin was killed?”
“Where were you on the night when Patricia Wright was killed?”
“Where were you on the night when Michelle Borne was killed?”
“Where were you on the night when Sandra Lee was killed?”
All answered with silence. All without any emotion. All without a movement even in his eyes.
“Where were you when John Jacobs was killed?”
He still says nothing, but he blinks. I feel I hit a nerve.
“We know you were the one who disposed of him.” With this I get a glancing look up from him. Now I know I struck a note.
His eyes glance down, giving me more reason to believe I am on the right track.
“Was it Mark’s idea to kill him?” Again I get a movement from him on the chair.
“What did you do, go into the pool house and shoot him while he was in the shower?” I look straight into his eyes, but I see a sense of relief, telling me he didn’t kill John.
“And that is why Mark had the pool house demolished and removed so we couldn’t find any blood evidence.” I lean over the table. “I know you did it, and if the gun you pulled on Sharon is the one that killed John, we will know it.”
“Good luck,” he says, as he looks up at me with confidence that isn’t going to happen.
I think I will push my luck, and try to force a reaction from him. “I know it was you, John, or the both of you that dropped off the girls' bodies after they were killed.”
He squirms once more in his seat. I hit a hot button. Hoping to get something out of him, I was going to press him some more, as the door opens up.
“Okay, this is the end of this interview. I’m his appointed attorney,” One of the most elite local high scale attorneys, Jonathan Peters, walks in. “Unless you have enough to charge him, we are out of here.” He helps David to his feet. “Take these off of him, and those bruises had better have been warranted. Otherwise, your department is in for a costly lawsuit.”
“Don’t leave town like the rest of your friends,” I point out as they walk out the door.
“I know he is very involved with this. They are all part of these murders, every one of them. Mark, Stephen, John, and David, and I still haven’t figured out who the mastermind is behind all this.” I say after we walk into our office.
Chapter 53
“Here, look at these,” Santane says as she shows Mark the precious stones her sister had found on the beach. “And look at all these,” she adds, as she opens up a small chest of gold and silver coins.
“Wow, do you know how much this is worth and the history behind it?” He picks up about a dozen coins and lets them run through his fingers.
“Sure, I know what they are worth, even which ships they were from,” she said, looking up at him. ”There’s a lot of history in this area. You’ll see if you stick around here for a while.”
“Why? I’m not planning on going anywhere anytime soon.”
“But you might not feel up to it in a few days,” she says, looking over to him.
“What is it you know that I don’t know?” he says with a questioning gaze.
“Mr. Tan must not have told you. He will; he will soon.”
Mark escorts her up the stairs to his bedroom, and they continue from where he feels they had left off the morning before.
As the four of them meet for dinner, Santane glances to Mark to prod him to ask what she could not tell him. The meal is again fit for a king; Jacinta did another outstanding job. Prime rib and rack of lamb are the two main courses, along with a large fresh salad, fresh fruits, and sweet potatoes, all from the local markets.
“Fred seems like there is a mystery about how I am going to feel in the next few days. Anything I should know about?” Mark raises the question.
“Let’s set out on the lanai, and I will tell you what I have in store for you.” Fred rises from the dining room table and takes the drink Jacinta brings to him.
They take their seats and gaze over the canopy where the moonlit night shimmers off the top of the trees. Sounds of some of the wild animals in the area can be heard, even as close as just below them.
“Mark, the police have your photos, and if you ever enter the States or even for that matter a foreign country with extradition, you will be arrested and sent back. So I have a team of plastic surgeons flying in to remake your face.”
“What, you’re doing this without talking to me first?” is the loud response.
“Have you got a better idea?”
A few minutes goes by before an answer comes back.
“But I like this face,” Mark says in a serious tone. “No, I don’t know of a better solution, but it sounds so painful.”
“You’ll get over it. Besides, then you will have the freedom to go anywhere in the world and not have to look over your shoulder.”
“Still wish there was as easier way, but I’m sure you’re right. You’ve been right on everything.”
“Yes, I have, but someone hasn’t always listened, has one?”
Mark just looks up at him and shakes his head, and asks, “How soon will they be here?”
“In two days, so you'd better get your diving in, as you won’t be going into the ocean anytime soon afterward.”
“How about my investments and stocks? What am I going to live on?” Mark asks with wonder.
“I had all that sold the other day, and as for your homes, I had them sold to a dummy corporation I own. They will be transferred back to you in a year or two.”
“And my personal positions at my home?”
“God almighty, I’m saving your sorry ass, and you’re worried about a few pictures and some cars.”
“Not the cars, those were my grandfather's, but the items in the walk-in safe. What I have in there is worth millions.”
“That has all been boxed up and will be sent for storage until you decide where you want them delivered.”
“Is there anything you haven’t thought of?” Mark asks in astonishment.
“I hope I have taken care of everything, even with your blunders. But with some of what you blew, I wasn’t able to change or hide, so all we can hope for is they fall by the wayside and are not noticed.”
Mark thanks, Fred and asks to be excused. He heads upstairs as Mr. Tan stays out on the lanai. As Mark turns back, he notices Jacinta slips through the sliding doors and pulls up a seat next to Fred. As he enters his bedroom, his new bed and scuba diving partner is awaiting him. The sheets are pulled back only to reveal, by the light of the moon, Santane has nothing on, and the shadows make her even more appealing as if that thought is possible.
Chapter 54
“Paul, thanks for checking into what I asked. We haven’t seen one, but now we know where to look.”
I look over to Sharon. “Tomorrow we are going back over to Mark’s to look to see what he has in his safe and see if anything in there will help us.”
“What are we going to use for probable cause?” she asks.
; “Don’t need to, as the last warrant stated, 'premises,' so we will just stretch the warrant a bit. Besides, aren’t you a little bit interested in what we might find?”
“Sure, but if we do, it might not be admissible,” Sharon mentions in a questioning tone.
“Let me worry about that. We need answers on who else is behind this. I know Mark is sharp, but this is even bigger than he is. You don’t just murder five or six women for the hell of it. We need to find out what the reason behind all these are—and who, if anyone, else is also behind this.” I head towards the door “Take me home and pick me up a little earlier tomorrow.”
The next morning, just as expected, Sharon is there waiting for me, along with Phil Billion.
“Let’s go and surprise Martha,” I say with sarcasm.
As we arrive the gates are just finishing opening, so we stop to see who might be coming out. No vehicle exits, so we might have just missed them. Before the gates can start to close, Sharon races our car through the gates and makes it up to the front steps. We get out and ring the door bell.
Martha answers and says, before she has the door all the way open, “What did you guys forget?” She is thinking it was the people who just left, and looks shocked to see the both of us standing in front of her. “Who the hell let you in?”
“The gates were open, so we just drove in. Hope you don’t mind?” I say, in a bit of a snide remark.
“Would it matter? I suppose you want to come in and look around again. And before you ask, no, he is not here.”
“You mean David Brenner? No, we are not looking for him, at least not today.” We walk into the house and head straight for the master bedroom.
“What on earth could you want in there again?” she asks.
Phil is wheeling two small tanks on a two-wheel dolly into the house.
“What does he think he is going to do?” she says, as she notices what it is and for. “You'd better not get the floors dirty.”
As we approach the landing, I mention it is to open up the safe unless she knows the combination. We walk into the master bedroom's walk-in closet and find a hidden partition already open, with the safe behind it partly open as well. I mention to Sharon that with this being open, it falls legally into the realm of the warrant, so whatever we find will be admissible. As I pull the heavy steel doors open, we get a chance to look inside.
“It’s empty,” Sharon mentions as she is the first one in.
I look inside and notice the drawers and locked boxes are all open, and if there had been any painting or artifacts in the side room within the safe, it is entirely empty now.
Sharon checks all the draws to see if anything is left behind. “Cleaned out, nothing here.”
Martha came up behind us. I notice a smirk on her face. I think, I’m getting not to like nor trust that lady.
“I see we are a little late,” I say, as she walks into the room and takes a seat on the end of the bed.
“Seems so. What was it you were going to look for?” she asks, again with that smirk on her face.
“Doesn’t matter now, now does it?” is my response.
I probably shouldn’t have said that as all it did was make her feel better, and the way I was getting to know and understand her I didn’t want to make her any happier than necessary.
Chapter 55
This time, Santane is still lying next to him when he awakes. Mark gets up without disturbing her, as she rolls over and hugs a pillow. He puts on his robe and, after brushing his teeth and combing his hair, goes downstairs and notices Fred and Jacinta are already at the dining room table enjoying their breakfast.
“What time do you get up?” He glances at his watch.
“When we wake up. Why, what time do you get up?” comes the reply from Jacinta, chuckling under her breath.
“Okay, but I know you went to bed after I did, and, by looking at what you have already eaten for breakfast, must have gotten up awhile ago.”
“Why? Are you writing a book?” she says, again with a joking tone.
Mark slides in on a chair and looks to see what the breakfast spread has to offer. “Jacinta, if you weren’t already with Fred, I would love to have someone with your cooking talents work for me.”
“What, just cooking skills, is that all you want from the cook?” with a soft sexy whisper.
“Boy, you’re in a good mood today. What’s this all about?”
“We're going on vacation,” she says with a smile.
“Who, you and Fred?”
“No, my sister and I.”
“You mean to tell me you’re not on vacation while you’re here?”
“No, this is all work.”
“I'm work?”
“Well, it has been fun, but we need to get away for awhile.” She takes a bite of the bacon that is on her plate.
“Santane didn’t mention anything about leaving?” he says, a bit confused.
“She doesn’t know yet. I just got permission from Mr. Tan this morning.” She placed her hand on his knee and patted it.
“Where are you going, and when?”
“Right after your surgery, we're flying to Monaco.”
“What do you want to go there for?
“Gambling, partying, and Fred has a villa there,” she replies.
“Sounds like fun. Too bad I can’t join you.”
Fred looks up from reading the paper and says, “In due time. You can go there after the swelling goes down.”
Santane finally joins them, leans over, and slides her hands around Mark's neck, then down into his robe, and lightly rubs his chest. “Hi, sis; that looks good,” she says, as she looks at what has been made for breakfast. “Crepes, my favorite.” She swoops into a chair next to Mark and takes several thin-rolled pancakes in hot orange butter sauce, sprinkles a little cognac on it, and sets it ablaze. “I just love the smell of these.”
Chapter 56
Once back at the office, I say, “Paul, what did you get off of the thumb drive?”
“Well, first of all, it wasn’t Mark’s,” he answers.
“Whose was it then?”
“It’s the maid's.” is his reply.
“Damn it.”
“No, wait, it gets better, she has a lot of letters copied on them. She also has some banking information with amounts in savings and hidden accounts.”
“Hidden accounts, why would a maid have hidden accounts?” I ask as I am surprised by this information.
“This is going to get good, so please take a seat.” Paul has a big smile on his face, and he whirls around almost in a dancing way, just dying to tell us what he has found.
I first go over and get a cup of coffee. Sharon walks over, gets hers and a glazed doughnut. We both take a seat in front of the monitors.
“Okay, look at this.” He puts up different graphs on the screen. “In these banks, she has in each a hundred thousand dollars. As you see, there are listed seventeen banks in the area.”
“That’s 1.7 million dollars.” How does a maid have that kind of money?” I ask in astonishment.
Hold on, it gets better.” Paul puts up more information. “She has a couple of hidden accounts, which I now have the information on, of around $40 million and hold on there; there is still more. She also has three homes around the world. One in Paris, one in New York City, and one in Brazil.”
“Those homes alone are worth millions just by themselves,” Sharon says.
“More like around $23 million, give or take,” Paul smirks, as he had already checked out the real estate values.
“How in the hell does a maid have all of this. Okay, Paul, who is she?” I ask.
“That’s the good part,” as he throws up her photo up on the screen next to Marks picture. “See any resemblance?”
Sharon is the first to point it out. “She’s his mother, right?”
“Right.”
“Okay, what about these letters? Who are they to?”
“I’m coming to that, and you
won’t believe that either.” Paul moves the changing device in his hand, and a new photo pops up.
“Mr. Tan is his father!” I say, surprised. “But are or were Martha and Mr. Tan ever married?”
“Not that I can find. It seems they had a relationship and Mark was the product of, well...you know their relationship.”
“No shit, Sherlock, you think so?” is my snide remark. “Damn it, why didn’t we see this before?”
“Who pays attention to a maid?” Sharon comes to the defense of all of us. “And you only met Mr. Tan just once, and his demeanor and attitude were what your focus was on.”
“And Gracie didn’t have at the time any relationship with Mark … but still, later we should have figured it out,” I mention in disgust.
Meanwhile, back at Mark's home, Martha is frantically looking for her thumb drive. She searches everywhere, in each room she had been in and most importantly in the computer room. She gets on her hands and knees, goes over every inch behind and underneath the desk. She doesn’t find it. She hopes somehow it got placed into Mark's package she had downloaded for both of them. She remembers grabbing all of the thumb drives she had downloaded and remembers putting hers towards the back of the desk, as she had downloaded hers first. Did she include hers with his? She can’t remember. She wants to call and ask for sure but is afraid the phones might be bugged. She thinks, what if that damn detective had found it? If he has it, then she'd better get out of the country. It would just be a matter of time until he puts two and two together and figures out what has gone down. Even if she calls, it will take Mark too long to check the several drives she downloaded for him. She goes to her room to pack and calls for a cab for the airport.
Back at our office, Sharon asks, “What does this do for us?”“Okay, she is Mark’s mother and an ex-lover of Mr. Tan’s. She has lots of money. But what can we pick her up on?”
“How about obstruction of justice, removal of possible evidence? She had to have been the one who scrubbed the disks. She is also the one who had the walk-in safe cleared out.” I look at the two of them.
The Hollywood Serial Killers: A Mike Kane Mystery Series Page 13