“That’s what we are trying to find out.” I look into his eyes. “You mean to tell me you didn’t know they were dead?”
“No, how in the hell would I know?”
“You were there; you were with them. You must know who killed them.”
“But I don’t know. I was just told they left the next morning.”
“Who told you that?”
“Mr. Tan. I walked down for breakfast the next day and asked where they were. I was told they left for where they wanted to retire.”
“So Mr. Tan told you they had left?”
“Yes, that is what I just said.”
“Didn’t you expect them to say goodbye? Did you expect them to be gone so soon?”
“I don’t know; I just met them on the flight. I thought he was kind of funny.” He points to the pilot. “He told me where he was planning to retire with the money Mr. Tan was giving him to fly the plane and disappear,” he says, as he puts his closed hands on his forehead, still looking at the sickening photos.
“So Mr. Tan had them killed?”
“I didn’t say that. I don’t know. Why would he do such a thing?” he asks, looking up at me, with his elbows still on the table.
“So you didn’t kill those four?”
“No, I didn’t have anything to do with that.” Now he's starting to sweat.
“Were you aware he was going to have the twins killed?”
“How do you know that?”
“Two graves were found dug on the property, and Alex told the officials that talked with him.”
“That son of a bitch. Mr. Tan must have killed the four, and now you’re telling me he was going to kill Santane too?”
“That looked like the plan.” I look into his eyes, “But you did kill Michelle Borne, didn’t you?”
With a surprised glance up, he starts to say something and then pulls back. “I think I’ve said enough already.”
“It’s okay; we already know you did kill her and you played a significant role with all of the murders.”
“How do you know that? Who told you those lies?”
“Let me put it this way—from reliable sources.”
“You must have caught Stephen. Did he talk? That son of a bitch. Did he turn on us? I’ll kill him.”
“Do you have any more you want to tell us, like something we don’t already know?”
“No, no more. I want my lawyer.” He sits back up in his chair.
We get up and head out of the interrogation room.
“Tomorrow, after we get some much-needed rest, we will go pick up Stephen.”
Chapter 65
The next morning, I say, “Sharon we need to take a trip, let’s go. Make the call.”
Sharon makes a call to the airport to see if all is ready. “Good; we will be there in about a half hour.” She glances towards me to confirm the time, and I nod in agreement.
We get to the airport and head for Hawaii. This trip takes a bit longer than the one to Florida.We fly into the Honolulu International Airport and taxi into Hickam Air Force Base. We pull up behind a blue and white 757 that has the United States of America painted on it.
It looks like someone important is here in Hawaii,” I say to Sharon as I am looking out the window.
As we depart the plane, we are greeted by the Honolulu police chief. “Hi, Mike; long time no see.”
“Good seeing you. You’ve been keeping yourself in pretty good shape.” I say, shaking the hand of a longtime family friend. “Who’s here?” I point to the plane.
“Secretary of State. She’s flying in from a week’s visit to Asia.”
“When is my man docking?” I ask.
“They’re about a half hour out, you can see the barge coming in, and the tug boats are bringing it down Honolulu Harbor right now. We need to get over to Sand Island Road, and down to the Matson yard so we can greet your friend.”
“Ha, he’s no friend of mine.”
The three of us head down Nimitz Highway, followed by three other plain police cars. One thing that is different in Hawaii is many of the police use their family cars during regular work hours just by placing lights on top. It takes us only ten minutes to get over to the Matson yard. We find out where the ship is going to be docked and pull up behind some cargo containers, hiding our positions. The tugboats have the ship in place, but the ship hasn’t been tied up. It takes about an hour before we notice he is walking down the plank with another seaman. As soon as he is on the dock, two police cars pull out to either side of him, and he starts to run but runs right into Sharon, which was a big mistake. She lays him out with a stiff hook right on his chin, rolls him over onto his stomach, and places handcuffs on him behind his back. She helps lift him up and reads him his rights, as I and the police chief get over to her.
“If you ever want to move to Hawaii, we would be honored to have you on our force,” he says as he looks at Sharon.
“Thank you, but no thank you. The only way I would move here is if Officer Kane comes here also,” she says with some emotion.
“Mike knows he has an open invitation to come back any time he wants. Maybe if you talk to him about coming back, he just might,” the chief says, trying to encourage her to speak to me.
“Chief, you know I have a great team put together, and it’s all or nothing.”
“Still, it’s open; all you have to do is let me know.”
“What, you want us to miss all those movie stars?” I say in a joking manner.
“What I’ve heard, the only ones you have met lately are dead ones.”
Chapter 66
It seems like all Sharon and I have done is fly for the last few days. Even though we are traveling in comfort, I wouldn’t want to do this every week. We get back to Hickam and take a small detour around the circle. I point out to Sharon the bullet holes that are still in many of the buildings, which were left there when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. We go back through the “Welcome to Hickam Air Force Base” where most of the world’s dignitaries have come through, including many presidents, emperors, dictators, and kings.
We walk out to our plane where Stephen has already been placed. His rights were read to him again by Sharon, just in case that belt she gave him made him forget having them already read to him. His chin is starting to show a bruise.
Our plane taxis off. Even though we are on the Air Force Base, the Air Force uses the same runway as the commercial aircraft at the Honolulu Airport. After we take off,I walk back to where he is seated and say, “Well, you almost made it.” sitting across from him. “I understand you killed your wife, pushing her down the stairs. That wasn’t very sporting of you.”
“Who said I killed my wife?” he snaps back with anger in his eyes.
“Just to let you know, we have Mark in custody.” I'm looking for a reaction.
“That son-of-a-bitch.” He looks up at me. “So he told you. I’ll get even with that prick.”
“So who’s the mastermind behind all of this?” I ask.
“What, you don’t know?”
“We know Mr. Tan and Martha had a large part to do with it. But there is one person who Martha had talked with on many occasions, who evidently gave them a lot of advice on how to keep the scenes free of forensic evidence. Do you know who that is?”
“If I do, what does that get me?” He says, looking for a deal.
“Depends on what you do know and where it leads us. But I am not making any promises.”
“I don’t know, but I might be able to find out. Just let me in with that son-of-a-bitch, and I’ll find out for you,” Stephen says in an angry tone.
“You know I can’t leave you alone with him, as much as I would like to,” I say with a broad grin on my face.
It doesn’t take us as long to get back to California as it did to get to Hawaii, as we caught a tailwind and made up about twenty-five minutes in time. Once landed, we have Stephen taken and locked up over at the Wilcox Avenue Police Department, as our cells are g
etting a bit full.
Although Martha, Mr. Tan, and Mark have all asked for their lawyer, which is the same one, Mr. Jonathan Peters. They were paraded in front of a judge, one at a time, and they are all denied bail, not only for being charged with murder but also for being a flight risk.
“We need to find out who the brains are behind this. Or at least, who was the one who spoke with Martha and the others on how to drop off a body with no evidence for our Susan to find.” Looking over to Sharon, “Let’s talk to all of them again and find out if one will want a better deal to tell us.”
We walk each one of them back into the interrogation room, starting with Martha.
“Martha, since you are a woman, we thought we would give you the first chance to plead a deal. We already know you were the one who killed most of those women and that means life without parole. So take our offer, murder two, twenty to life.”
“Ha ha ha, you think I’m going to talk, with a deal like that. Do you even know how old I am? Twenty-plus years would mean I would be too old to do anything but suck food through a straw. So my answer to you go screw yourself.”
Sharon looks over to me. “Well, I guess we will give this offer to someone who will appreciate it.” We both walk out the door.
After Mr. Tan is brought into the room, he too thinks the offer is a bit ridiculous. Besides, he feels his group of attorneys will get him off, completely free of all charges.
We bring in Mark, with the same offer, maybe we will get a different response from him.
“Mark, we know what everyone has done, and where you stand in it all. We are willing to make you an offer of murder two, twenty to life,” I tell him.
“I need my attorney here, so I have this all nice and legal.”
“Does that mean you are willing to make a deal?”
“Probably, but I still want my attorney.”
“Okay,” I look over to Sharon, “Get him a phone.”
Mark takes the phone and makes a call to his attorney.
Mark looks up at us and says “He says for me not to say anything until he gets here.
“Okay, we’ll wait outside until he comes.” We get up out of the chairs and proceed out of the interview room.
Sharon asks me a question. “Why are you making this offer to Mark and not to Stephen?”
“If Mark doesn’t take it, we will make the same offer to Stephen. Whoever bites first, I’ll take. Besides, Stephen said he didn’t know who it was.”
About fifteen minutes goes by when Sarge walks into our office.
“Well, well, looks who shows up. We haven’t seen you for a few days. But then that is the good news,” Sharon says in a joking tone.
“There haven’t been any more celebrity murders of late,” he replies.
I ask him, “What brings you here?”
“Just wanted to see who killed those women,” Sarge says.
“We have three of them here and another one over in your cell blocks.”
Paul runs in. “You'd better come quick.”
Sharon and I rush out of the office and follow Paul down the hall where the interview room is. Mark is on the floor in convulsions.
“Paul, get Susan and Sharon, You call for a bus.” As I enter the room, I try to see what I might be able to do. At this point, I don’t know if he is having an epileptic fit or what is happening to him. He is foaming at the mouth. My initial reaction is he’s been poisoned.
Susan gets to the cell in very little time, bringing her kit with her. “Mike, don’t touch him,” She says, as she moves me out of the way. She places a breathing resuscitating mask over his face and begins hand compressions, trying to get him back to breathing. After about four minutes, the firemen from the firehouse show up. Susan steps aside and allows two of them to take over. One does heart compressions as the other continues with the mask. After about eight more minutes, Susan tells them to quit as she is pronouncing Mark deceased. The ambulance arrives, but it’s too late. Susan then starts to process the crime scene. The three of us go back to the office, as I ask her to tell us as soon as possible what the verdict is.
Our heads are hung low as we walk in. We just lost a prisoner, a prisoner who was about to tell us all we needed to know and make a confession. I’m thinking, now what?
Sarge is sitting in a chair waiting for our return, drinking a cup of coffee. “What happened?”
“Hi Sarge. Forgot that you were here. We just lost a prisoner,” I say with a saddened heart.
“Oh, who was it?” he asks.
“Mark Jacobson. We believe he is the one who killed Michelle Borne. But what hurts the most is he indicated he would testify against the others, but that’s not going to happen now.”
“Sorry to hear that. Maybe one of the others will step forward,” he responds.
“Let’s hope so. The only one that will is David Brenner. But right now, he is in no shape to go to court,” I mention as I take a seat.
As Sarge finishes his coffee, he says, “Well, I better get back to my desk and finish up some paperwork. Hope all works out.”
“Thanks, see you later.”
After Sarge walks out the door, I ask Sharon to drive over to the hospital and check up on David.
“You just want me to check on his progress?” she asks.
“Yes, but also sit there for a while. Just make sure he is still willing to testify with what he has told us, and that his mind hasn’t been changed by the attorney.”
“Okay. I'll be back in a couple of hours.” She walks out the door.
“Paul,” I ask, “has anything come up on those cell calls?”
“Mike, you won’t believe what I found out. Almost all of those calls came from here.”
“What?” I'm stunned. “They're out of this office.”
“No, no, that’s not what I mean.” He looks a bit apologetic, “Well yes, or I mean no, I mean within a block or two of here. The calls could have come from here, but not necessarily. The towers picked up those calls in a cross-section around here. Could be from the fire station, the police station, or even the apartments across the street, but those calls were made very close by.”
Chapter 67
Sharon goes to the hospital and takes the elevator to the fourth floor where his room is. As she enters the floor from the elevator, she sees the back of a person going down the exit stairway and thinking it was someone she knows. Before she goes into David’s room, she goes up to the nurses' station and starts to chat with the nurse that Mike had spoken with and liked. She asks if the nurse is interested in Mike and if she wouldn’t mind if he asked her out.
Sharon glances up the hallway and notices the guard and the chair are missing, and then the monitor's alarm go off. The nurse picks up the phone and makes a quick announcement. “This is a Code Blue. Code Blue on Ward 4, room 416.” They all rush to David’s room. A cart is wheeled into the room, and two doctors from another floor come rushing in as he is going into convulsions. His mouth is foaming just like Mark's.
Sharon steps out of the way to let the professionals do their job. They do everything they can. They place a hard board underneath him, and one doctor climbs on top and does chest compressions as the other uses the mouth-to-mouth tube to breathe into his lungs. In just a few minutes, they pronounce him dead. They pull the sheet up over his head and turn off the machines. Sharon makes the call.
“Mike, you won’t believe what just happened,” Sharon says in a somewhat frantic tone.
“David is dead,” I say, just having a gut feeling.
“Yes, how did you know that?”
“That was why I had sent you over there. What happened to the policeman who was watching him?” I ask.
“He wasn’t at the door when I got here. I was just about to ask the nurse about his whereabouts when the alarm went off,” she says in a distressed voice.
“Let me make a call. You come back to the office.”
As she walks down the hallway of the hospital towards the elevator,
she notices a custodial door opened just a crack. She strolls over to the door and glances in just to check. She pushes the door open and looks around the door, to find the policeman who had been assigned to the duty of watching David lying on the floor. She bends down and feels for a pulse. None to be found. She calls out to the nurse and at the same time calls Susan to come over and take care of both crime scenes. Sharon tells the nurse not to let anyone in either room until the medical examiner gets there. She then leaves the hospital and heads back to the office.
Paul asks, standing across the room working on the computer. “What’s wrong? It sounds like something is wrong.”
“Yes, but hold on.” As I raise my hand in a motion for him to wait, as I dial the number to the police commander office just next door. “John, this is Mike. I had a policeman sitting outside the door of one of my prisoners, David Brenner at the hospital. Do you know what happened to him?”
“Hold on a second. I’ll check.” After he comes back on, he says, “As far as I know, he is still on duty.”
“He’s been killed, and the policeman wasn’t outside the door.”
“Oh, shit. How did that happen?”
“I don’t know yet, but I’m going to find out. I do have an idea, and if I’m right, you’re not going to like it,” I say before hanging up.
Paul receives a call. “I tried calling Mike on his cell, but he didn’t answer.”
“He just got off the line. He was speaking with the Commander about where the guard was.”
“You can tell him that I found him in a room, dead.”
“How did he die?” Paul asks.
“His throat was cut,” she answers as she arrives in front of the station.
“Here’s Mike.” Paul hands the phone to me.
I take the phone and listens to what Sharon has to say.
“Mike, when I got to the hospital, I thought I saw someone I know take the stairway exit.”
The Hollywood Serial Killers: A Mike Kane Mystery Series Page 17