The investigators walked around and through the lifelike scene, noting the low cross beam height of seven and a half feet, the crude noose that gripped Ham’s neck under his chin, and the placement of the drummer’s throne. Jenkins took a measurement of the length of the overturned throne.
“May we simulate the hanging now?” Jenkins asked.
Ham’s image appeared, standing on the drummer’s throne, about two feet from the ground. With a single movement, the seat fell backwards, and Ham dropped down and dangled. The noose slid under his chin and pulled his head back.
“Do you see that?” Jenkins commented. “Run it again. See, he only dropped about a foot, no snap. That could have suffocated him, but that fall would not have broken the hyoid bone.” Pointing at the lower neck, he continued, “Look closely here at the two bruises and cuts. They are fingernail indentations, typical of strangulation.”
“Your conclusion?” Melendez said.
“This man died from strangulation that broke the hyoid bone. I believe the crude hanging was staged after the strangulation.”
“What about the alcohol in his stomach?”
“Very unlikely it would have been self-ingested, because of the Antabuse. Even if attempted, there would have been a huge mess, as in vomit, maybe even some blood. It must have been forced, as part of the staging.”
“Okay, let’s move to Janis Joplin.”
Instantly they were in her room at the Landmark Hotel. Her body was wedged between the twin beds, and her head was lying back against the bedside table, badly cut. Her feet were splayed. Bruises covered her legs, arms and the side of her mouth, and she had multiple needle marks on her arms. The room was disheveled, as if a struggle had taken place in it.
The image made Gantry sick to his stomach. He quickly walked out of the facility and into the men’s room. After putting some cold water on his face, he made his way back to the conference room he had been working out of and back to the commonalities program.
So much for wanting to see the technology so badly, he thought.
In the virtual crime scene room Jackson was talking.
“Look at the location of her body,” he explained. “Seems an unnatural position for a fall. Let’s test alternative falls and positioning.”
With that, Joplin’s holograph fell from one bed, then the other, and then fell from the front and also backwards, with no outcomes close to what the crime scene photos indicated.
“Now let’s test the scenarios of her being pushed and held down,” he said.
The hologram simulated this, and the resulting image was similar to the crime scene photos.
Jackson said, “The autopsy originally concluded that Joplin died from acute heroin intoxication. Our re-examination of the test results and hair analysis last night discovered a lethal dosage well beyond that of usual overdose victims. The fourteen needle marks you can see on her arms suggest multiple injections. It’s extremely unlikely they were self-administrated, and their presence is inconsistent with the original investigator’s notes, which stated that she was trying to get off drugs prior to her death.”
He turned to Melendez just as Raphael was reflecting on what Gantry had also told him about Joplin.
“Agent Melendez, my conclusion, based on these simulations and the re-examination of the original test results, is that Joplin had been restrained against her will and administered multiple injections of heroin, causing cardiac arrest. Because of her history, the previous conclusion was that she had simply overdosed.”
The team methodically went through the rest of the cases over the course of the day, re-creating the crime scenes and testing alternative outcomes. The lead detectives went over and over the scenarios, captivated by this newfound capability. Some requested 3-D printer copies of key body parts to surgically examine minute details. It was as if they had the actual, untouched crime scene bodies to examine, even though the crimes had occurred more than forty years earlier.
The global forensic teams were well into their chemical analyses and were passing along their observations throughout the day to the lead investigators at the virtual crime scene facility.
The go/no-go conference call was in twenty-four hours, and each team was heads-down coming to their conclusions and preliminary perpetrator profile. The new technology was dramatically speeding up what normally would have been an excruciating process.
Gantry spent the rest of his day refining connections and commonalities. Tanner had asked him to prioritize his top three interviews so they could get him out into the field without delay. He also promised Tanner he would review the field investigator guidelines and case study videos to savvy himself up.
Checking his phone, Gantry saw that he had three messages. Dennis had called him twice, asking if he was cleared to fly to London, and Jodi had left a message asking if he wanted to get a drink later that night. In spite of the tremendous swirl of activity in was in the middle of, it was all he could think about the rest of the day.
Later that night he met Jodi at the roadside bar. It was the first time they had been alone since she left him. He was visibly anxious and stumbled with his words until she reached over and stroked his hair back behind his ear as she used to do.
“Gantry, this is as difficult for me as it is for you. You don’t have to talk,” she sweetly offered.
He nodded and suddenly felt calm.
She leaned in towards him. “Isn’t it insane that we reconnect over a possible murder case after all these years? And a case that we both bring our unique insights and experience to help solve.” Gantry just smiled.
“Gantry, when I first heard about the possible re-opening of these cases, something drew me in like a magnet,” she explained.
“Me too,” he answered.
“And then I heard how it all started with you, and it seemed almost cosmic. Like they needed you and needed me to solve this.
I wanted to call you, but protocol demanded that I couldn’t.
“That’s why I called Alex. I got really worried for you as this began escalating into something sinister.” Joni reached over and wrapped her hands around his.
“Gantry, this is not a random kook. This is a sophisticated killer. I know. Promise me that you insist on having protection.” He smiled again. He wasn’t scared. He actually felt at peace with her.
They walked out to her car.
“I have something for you.” She popped the trunk and pulled out his old knapsack.
“I opened it to look inside to see what was so valuable, but it smelled like a cesspool and had roaches crawling all in it!” She laughed, “Happy hunting.” She gave him a long hug that Gantry didn’t want to end. “See you tomorrow,” she added.
When he got back to the motel, he emptied the bag on the floor and sifted through his old journals, pictures, a roach clip, a paisley bandana, twenty-year-old chewing gum, and a pair of pink tinted horned rim glasses, and what he was hoping to find…the letter from Janis.
The forensic and chemical-analysis teams had agreed on three areas of coordinated focus. The first was to retest the available DNA of each rock star for any inconsistencies with the autopsy reports, and to test for third-party DNA. The second was to perform a chemical signature analysis on all the drugs to determine if they came from a common source. The third was to re-examine all evidence for fingerprints, re-interview original persons of interest (and interview any new ones that were warranted), and probe for new evidence or surveillance videos. Finally, the team would retrace the original investigation and analyze all notes and reports for any insights they might provide.
The teams had been working separately for the last twenty-four hours and had scheduled an update session well in advance of the scheduled go/no-go call. Melendez had told Tanner that this was a closed call, meaning no Elliot or Jaeger.
All team members in Virginia, including Laurent, Jenkins, and Randolph, were assembled in a conference room at Quantico. Remote team members in Europe had dialed in.
> Tanner was hosting the call. “Have we all had enough time to come to preliminary conclusions?”
His question was answered by a Greek chorus of low grumbling.
“Perfect,” he said with a smile. “Mademoiselle Laurent, please do us the honors. What has your team uncovered on Jim Morrison?”
“Something very unexpected,” she replied. “As you know, Morrison was found dead in his bathtub of an apparent heart attack, even though an autopsy confirming that was never performed. There was no evidence of drugs noted at the crime scene, but the testing of a hair sample saved in a jar as a souvenir by an investigator did prove positive for high levels of heroin. We found that inconsistent with his history. His bodyguard, Tony Funches, had previously confirmed that Morrison did not take heroin and had an aversion to needles.
“Based on the insight from the Brian Jones call, we tested another hypothesis,” Laurent continued. “We went back and re-examined the contents of Morrison’s evidence box. There were two shocking findings. First, all the prescription bottles were drawn on the St. Albans Pharmacy in London. Second, like Jones, an asthma inhaler was found at the crime scene in the living room, but it was not originally analyzed. Upon analysis, it proved to be filled with a deadly concentration of heroin.
“Morrison died of cardiac arrest, but it was most probably induced by a high dosage of heroin administered via the altered inhaler. It would be inconsistent with his history and habits for him to have knowingly administered the drug to himself. The massive dosage would have instantly incapacitated him and made it impossible for him to have walked into the bathroom and draw a bath. We will simulate that this evening, but I am certain of the results.”
Tanner and the team were silent.
“Any questions or observations on Morrison?” Tanner asked. “No? All right, continuing on. What did the Hendrix team find, Mr. Jenkins?”
“Also something unexpected, I’m afraid. We performed a DNA hair analysis and found no history of the kind of barbiturate found in Hendrix’s bloodstream at the time of his death. We then performed a chemical signature analysis on that barbiturate, and compared that to the prescription drugs found at the crime scene. There were no matches. Our conclusion is that the large volume of barbiturates found in his bloodstream were not from any of the evidence bottles. But surprisingly, most had a common imperfection, including the barbiturate in his bloodstream, meaning they come from the same source.
“We found no mention of injection marks in the original report, and we re-examined his blood-alcohol results, which proved to be surprisingly moderate, not excessive. When we combine that insight with the results of the virtual crime scene analysis, we conclude that Hendrix was forcibly drugged with a lethal dosage of barbiturate and then later ‘water-boarded’ with red wine to the point of suffocation. The vomiting would have been a reflexive action.”
Tanner was about to move on, when Jenkins interrupted him.
“There is one more thing we found in the evidence box that seems interesting.”
“What’s that?”
“There is a dated journal in the box.”
“And...”
“It covers January 1970 through September 1970, up until the time of his death. There is a number ‘2’ handwritten on the cover. Inside are various entries, lots of poetry and song lyrics, lists, doodles, et cetera, nothing in any particular order. But there are some entries that we may want to look into. They describe visits to his psychiatrist about his recording legal issues. It reads as if this was going on for some time and keeps referring to an incident the previous year that, quote, ‘scared the shit’ out of him.”
“Noted, thank you,” Tanner responded. “Detective Randolph, Let’s talk about the death of Ron McKernan.”
“Certainly. McKernan died from massive intestinal bleeding and was dead for two days, before he was found by his landlord. A non-extensive autopsy was performed. An interesting fact is that McKernan did not use drugs other than some over-the-counter medications and prescriptions. That said, the prescriptions found in the evidence box were drawn on the Carlton Pharmacy, the same as for Joplin and Wilson. We tested all the medicine bottles and his asthma inhaler, and conducted a hair and organic material DNA test. What was completely unexpected were the traces of arsenic found in his inhaler,” Randolph said.
“Are you certain the inhaler had not been contaminated?” Laurent asked.
“We were not sure, which prompted us to perform a Marsh test, a chemical analytic procedure to detect the presence of arsenic using the recovered hair samples. The test confirmed lethal levels in McKernan’s system, potent enough to cause gastrointestinal bleeding and heart failure.”
The room was silent.
“Our conclusion is that Ron McKernan died from arsenicosis, or arsenic poisoning, delivered via his asthma inhaler. In short, we believe he was murdered.”
“Allow me to sum up,” Tanner said. “Ham, Jones, Hendrix, and Morrison all had prescriptions drawn on the St. Albans Pharmacy in London, while Joplin, Wilson, and McKernan all had prescriptions drawn on the Carlton Pharmacy in Los Angeles. We found common imperfections potentially leading to a common source for the drugs in London and in L.A.
“Three of the dead stars appear to have ingested lethal drugs via an inhaler, and two appear to have been orally forced. One was strangled and one overdosed from multiple injections of heroin. Is that correct?” Tanner asked.
“Correct,” each team member answered.
The St. Albans Pharmacy had been located near Piccadilly Circus, on St. Albans Street, in the heart of London. It had been closed for years and the space was now an Indian fast-food restaurant. The Carlton Pharmacy in L.A., originally a block off the Sunset Strip, was also long gone. A Red Wing shoe store stood in its place.
The London and U.S. corporate forensic teams focusing on the pharmacies had been working independently and were now having their first joint call to compare notes.
Hammond kicked it off. “St. Albans Pharmacy was only in existence for about five years. The original municipal filing shows that it was incorporated by three individuals: Thomas S. Marland, Kenny L. Roberts, and Joseph M. Clark. We have secured their bank records and—”
“What was that last name?” said Tanner.
“Joseph M. Clark.”
“We have the same name on the Carlton incorporating documents, with a listed address in Los Angeles,” Tanner confirmed.
“Yes—Clark’s address on the London filing is a Los Angeles address.”
That night, Melendez called Robert Bruce.
“I guess you heard the teams are finding ‘misadventure’ with all of the dead rock stars. The murder allegations look like they might be real.”
“Yes, I heard,” Bruce answered.
“I wanted to run something by you. You recall the unused Al Wilson plane ticket?” Melendez asked. “It was issued by Nevermore Travel Agency out of Los Angeles.”
“Yes.”
“Well, the Hendrix team found a reference to the same travel agency on a list found in the evidence box. We also found in our commonality effort that many of these stars used this same travel agency. It must have been a popular one with rock and rollers at that time. And remember, travel agencies were frequently used to launder and move money around the globe.”
“We used to track travel agency bank records back then,” Bruce responded.
“We did, as well,” Melendez agreed. “I had one of our top financial forensic analysts dig into the ownership of Nevermore and into their bank records. In the original incorporating documents, we discovered a founding principal named Joseph M. Clark. The same Joseph Clark that our teams found in the St. Albans and Carlton Pharmacy filings.”
“Are the teams aware of this?”
“Not yet. I want to check bank records first. We can review what we find on our call tomorrow,” Melendez answered.
“This could be a break for us. Talk to you tomorrow.”
Bruce and Melendez welcomed t
he teams to the call. There was an unmistakable buzz as the teams were now deep into the details surrounding each dead rock star. They all knew this would be the determining call.
“Thank you all for completing the summary forms,” Bruce said as a findings-and-conclusion chart was shared on the monitor. He gave them time to absorb what was in front of them.
Melendez said, “As you can all see, the forensic analyses and the crime scene re-creations for each of your cases have confirmed what Mr. Elliot’s messages suggested. Each of you believes these individuals were murdered, and in most cases, the crime scenes were staged to make the deaths look like accidents or suicides. Let’s devote this call to our initial profiling, and compare it to the results of our commonalities analysis.
“Staged crime scenes have usually suggested someone intimate with the deceased. And the souvenirs sent as clues would seem to confirm that.”
Bruce added, “The creative delivery of the drugs suggests sophisticated chemical knowledge and access to the drug sources or pharmacies.”
“Their bodies were not disfigured, molested, or bloodied,” Prevot pointed out, “which means they were not killed in an angry rage.”
Melendez added, “The crime scenes were purposely staged to lead the authorities to a fast, straightforward and lifestyle-consistent conclusion. The perpetrator knew how these deaths would be perceived and analyzed.”
Gantry took the opportunity to add something.
“If I may, that seems to rule out a deranged fan. Jean de Breteuil or Les Perrin were at the scene of some of these murders, but not all of them, and don’t seem to have a real motive. To me, the engineers and roadies don’t fit the pattern either.”
The conversation was now moving quickly, with voices overlapping.
Bruce asked, “Does this fall into any serial killer patterns that any of you are familiar with?”
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