“Before he was murdered, you mean.”
“Before he was killed,” Decker said.
Guerlin shook his head. “If I were you, I wouldn’t believe anything that the bitch said.”
“We have their conversations recorded,” Tran said.
“Right.” Guerlin laughed without joy. “Play it for me.”
“It’s evidence,” Tran told him. “There are things on it that you can’t hear.”
“I can’t hear any of it because it doesn’t exist. I know that the police are allowed to lie. I’m a cop’s son.” A pause. “I was a cop’s son. You’d say anything to get . . .” His voice trailed off.
To get a confession. Decker said, “Baccus wore a wire.”
“My dad would have found it. You’re lying.”
“It was very small and very hidden.” Tran got up. “Let me see if we can key it up to something unimportant. Just so you can hear his voice.”
“You can doctor in a voice.”
“Then nothing we’re saying will convince you that we taped your father before he died?” Tran said.
Guerlin didn’t respond. Then he said, “I don’t even know why you asked me here.”
“Like Detective Tran said, we initially wanted to notify you,” Decker said. “Now that you’re here, you may have questions. Is there anything that you want to ask us?”
Guerlin was quiet. “Yeah, a big one. Why’d she have to kill him?”
“Detective Baccus went in unarmed,” Tran said. “When SWAT came in, your father was attempting to kill her.”
“Bullshit! She probably sprang first. My dad’s a lot of things, but he’s no murderer.”
Tran looked at Decker, who said, “You know that your father killed the guard on duty at the jewelry store. You also must know that he confessed to two murders.” Guerlin was silent. “Two men. Brady Neil and Joseph Boch. Your friends—”
“Not my friends,” Guerlin said.
“You knew them,” Tran said.
“Yeah, I knew them. We worked in the same big-ass store. So what? Lots of people work there.”
“That’s certainly true,” Decker said. “But you happened to work in the warehouse with Joseph Boch. And you knew Brady Neil. As a matter of fact, when I first talked to you about Brady’s death, you seemed to like him—Brady.”
“Brady was okay.” He looked down.
“Yeah, you seemed upset when you heard about his death.”
“I was.”
“What about Boxer?” Decker said.
“When you came in, I didn’t know he was dead. He just didn’t show up at work, remember?”
“Yes, you’re right, Phil. I didn’t even know who Boxer was. Later, I found out he was Brady’s friend.”
“He was an asshole.”
“Yeah, I kind of remember that you didn’t like him.”
“No, I didn’t like him. I don’t like a lot of people, but they’re all walking around. Not missing or dead.”
Decker nodded. “Not many people liked Boxer.”
“He was an asshole.”
“Why do you think Brady liked him?” Decker asked.
Guerlin shrugged.
“More important, why do you think your dad killed them?” Tran said. “We’ve been looking for a motive, but we can’t find one.”
“So maybe he didn’t kill them.”
“Then why would he say he did?” Decker said. “I mean, how did he even know about them?”
Guerlin didn’t answer. Finally, he said, “My father knew their fathers.”
“Okay,” Decker said. “We know they were all involved in the Levine murders.”
Tran said, “You think he killed the sons to get revenge on the fathers?”
“Maybe.”
“Anything is possible,” Decker said. “But we’re talking about a twenty-year-old crime. Why now?”
“Look, Detective, I don’t know what was going on in my dad’s final moments.” Guerlin licked his lips. “If you have my dad on tape confessing to the murders, why all the questions?”
“He confessed to the murders,” Decker told him. “He didn’t say why. I don’t understand why your dad would want to kill Neil and Boxer. What was in it for him?”
“This is getting boring. I think I should go.”
“You can go,” Decker said. “It’s fine. But FYI, I’m not totally clueless. I have a few ideas that I’m working on. I’ll call you when I get somewhere.”
Guerlin tensed. “What ideas?”
“About why your dad would want Brady and Boxer dead. The thing is, Phil, I don’t think he killed them—Brady and Boxer. Maybe your dad made a false confession to throw us off track or something like that. Why, I don’t know. Do you have any ideas?”
“No.”
The room went silent except for Guerlin’s tapping foot. Then he spoke up. “Well, like I said, my dad knew their dads.” Tap, tap. “Maybe they were trying to blackmail him—Brady and Boxer.”
“Brady and Boxer were trying to blackmail your dad?” Decker said. “Over a twenty-year-old crime?”
Guerlin nodded. “I do remember something.”
“Great,” Decker said. “Tell me.”
“He told me—my dad told me—that he took payoffs for the Levine robbery. Maybe Boxer and Neil found out about the payoffs and started blackmailing him.”
“Did he tell you that?” Decker asked.
“Yeah, kinda.”
“What did he tell you, Phil?”
“Just that,” Guerlin said. “That he took payoffs and Boxer and Brady were blackmailing him.”
Tran said, “How’d they find out about the payoffs?”
“Boxer’s mom. She told them.”
“Jaylene Boch told her son and Brady that your father made payoffs?”
“Yeah.”
“Why would she want her son to know about her involvement in the crime?” Decker asked.
“Why do you think?” Phil said. “Money.”
“Jaylene was in on the blackmail?”
“Maybe. I don’t know everything.” Guerlin became irritated. “You figure it out.”
Tran said, “If you knew that Brady and Boxer were blackmailing your father, why were you friends with them?”
“Not Boxer. I hated him.”
“Brady then,” Decker said. “He was blackmailing your father, but you remained on friendly terms with him?”
“I didn’t know Neil was blackmailing my dad until after he was dead. Then my father told me the whole story. That he was being blackmailed and he killed them.”
“And knowing all this, you went to work the next day?”
“What else was I supposed to do?” Guerlin became agitated. “I wasn’t going to rat him out. What kind of a son do you think I am?”
“I think you loved your dad.”
“Damn straight.” Guerlin looked at McAdams. “Do you talk?”
Tyler said, “I’m the tech guy.”
Guerlin rolled his eyes.
“Let me wrap my head around this,” Decker said. “Brady and Boxer started blackmailing your father. It was then that your father decided to kill them.”
“No, he told me after he killed them.”
“Then you’d be an accessory after the fact.” That wasn’t quite true, but Decker was on a roll. “Why would he put you in that position?”
Guerlin paused for a long time. “Maybe I got it wrong. Maybe he told me before he killed them.”
“And you didn’t think to say anything to Brady and Boxer about it?” Tran said. “That their lives might be in danger? You didn’t think about contacting the police or trying to talk him out of it?”
“I didn’t take him seriously. People spout off all the time.”
“Yes, they do,” Decker said. “But most people aren’t being blackmailed. That’s a very serious crime that pisses people off big-time.”
“You maybe could have warned them to stop,” Tran said. “Threatened to turn them in if they continued
their scheme.”
“Why should I?” Guerlin said. “Those two were always yapping with each other. Gossiping like little girls. What the fuck do I care about them?”
“Well, for one thing, their deaths immediately put the focus on you, Phil.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t paying them off.”
“I believe you,” Decker said. “But frankly, Phil, we have no proof that your father was paying them off, either. Maybe you have proof. Do you have proof?”
“Check Brady’s bank account. He always had spending money.”
“Yeah, I know about that,” Decker said. “His mother said the same thing. And I did check his bank account. He did have money, but not like a big score. I don’t think he got that money by blackmail, Phil. But I do have other ideas about that money.”
“Like what?”
“Later.” Decker shook his head. “The thing is, Phil, your father was a seasoned cop. I can’t see your father being scared into submission by a couple of punks with felons for fathers.”
Guerlin’s eyes looked on high alert. Then he said, “But it’s true. They had this whole scheme that would have ruined my dad. I heard them talking about it. As a matter of fact, I told my dad about it.”
“Okay.” Decker was quiet. “Let me wrap my head around this. You told your father that Brady Neil and Joseph Boch were going to blackmail him over his participation in the Levine robbery/murder. And your father killed them to avoid being ruined.”
“Yeah.” Guerlin nodded his head. “Exactly.”
“Then the money that Brady had in his bank account couldn’t have been from blackmail because at that point, the scheme hadn’t gone through yet, right?” When Guerlin was quiet, Decker said, “What did your father say when you told him about the blackmail scheme?”
Guerlin didn’t answer.
“Phil?”
“He said . . . I told him, and he said he was going to kill the punks.”
Using the same word punks that Decker had just used. “But you thought he was just spouting off.”
“Yeah,” Guerlin said. “But apparently he was serious.”
“Didn’t you say your father isn’t a murderer?”
“Not without good reason.”
Tran said, “Then your father does kill when there’s a good reason?”
“When threatened, anyone can kill.”
“True enough,” Decker said. “So now you’re telling me that your father killed Brady and Boxer because they threatened to blackmail him.”
“For the hundredth time, yes.” Guerlin took in a deep breath and let it out. “Boxer’s old lady was in on the original plan. She was the one who told Boxer about my dad. And Boxer told Brady Neil and the two of them made these plans.” He was breathing fast and didn’t make eye contact. “I told my dad about it. He didn’t go in with the intent to kill him—”
“Him?” Decker asked.
“Boxer. He was the main guy. Just another reason why I hated him.”
“You’re telling me now that your dad didn’t go to Boxer’s house with the intent to kill him.”
“Yeah, right. He just wanted to scare him a little to get him to stop. You know, rough him up.” He bit his lower lip. “I guess things got out of hand.”
“I thought you just said he wanted to kill them,” Decker said.
“I think that was a figure of speech,” Guerlin said. “He just wanted to rough him up.”
“Except that your father killed them.”
“Like I said, maybe things got out of hand.”
“That’s how it sometimes happens.” Decker waited a moment. “Okay. Let me wrap my head around this, Phil. You told your father about a blackmail scheme because you overheard Brady Neil and Boxer talking about it, right?”
Guerlin nodded.
“Can you say yes or no for our video recording?”
“Yes.”
“Okay,” Decker said. “Then your dad went to Boxer’s house to get him to stop blackmailing him—or stop the scheme of blackmailing him. Because at this point, the blackmail hadn’t gone through yet, right?”
“Right.”
“But things got out of hand and your dad wound up killing Neil and Boxer.”
“Yes.”
“So Brady just happened to be there or . . .”
“I guess.” Head down. “I wasn’t there.”
“Right,” Decker said. “I do have a little question about what happened. Why did your father leave Brady’s body in an open place to be easily discovered? And why would he bury Boxer where no one can find him?”
“How the hell do I know? We didn’t talk about it—the killings. We certainly didn’t talk about where he buried them.”
“You have no idea where Boxer is buried, or if he’s even dead?”
No eye contact. “No idea,” Guerlin said.
But Decker had other ideas. After the murders, Phil called his father up in a panic, and the two of them took care of the bodies. They buried Boxer first and then dropped Brady Neil out in the open. Maybe Phil wanted him to be found. Or maybe, by that time, they were too exhausted to bury him properly. “And the crime scene,” he continued. “Not much of Neil’s blood. A shitload of Boxer’s blood—”
“Boxer was a fucking idiot. I don’t blame my dad for beating the shit out of him. That asshole can get under anyone’s skin. It was probably his idea to do the blackmail in the first place. Brady probably just went along with it.”
“Nah, I don’t believe that,” Decker said. “Boxer wasn’t smart enough to plan something that intricate. And in my opinion, Neil seemed too smart to try to blackmail a seasoned cop. He knows what a pissed-off cop is capable of doing. There must be some other reason why your father killed them.”
Silence.
“Let’s talk about other things, Phil,” Decker said. “I got some interesting information from some teenaged boys I interviewed a while back. This is what they told me, okay?”
No response.
“They told me that Brady was reselling electronics equipment at deep, discount prices. And whatever he got for them was pure profit because the electronics were stolen from Bigstore warehouses.”
Guerlin’s jaw was working overtime. His eyes were everywhere except on Decker’s face. Finally, he said, “If Brady and Boxer had a side business going on, I didn’t know about it.”
“I don’t think that’s quite true, Phil, and here’s why. To pull off this scheme, Brady needed someone way smarter than Boxer in the warehouse. You’re a smart guy, Phil. I think that someone was you.”
“You can think whatever shit you want to think, but it wasn’t me.”
“What happened, Phil? Did Boxer try to muscle in on your sweet deal?”
“I’ve heard enough.” He got up from his chair and headed toward the door.
“Did things get out of hand at Boxer’s house?” Decker called out. “Did you call in your father to help clean up the mess? Did your father give you a perfectly logical cover story in case the police questioned you?”
Phil turned the handle of a locked door. “Let me out of here!” Seething. “You can’t keep me here.”
“We just locked it for privacy, Phil.”
“Then let me out of here. I know my rights! You have no fucking proof!”
His words were suspended in the air.
“Listen to what you just said, Phil,” Decker said. “‘I know my rights. You have no proof.’” A pause. “‘You have no proof,’ not ‘I know my rights. I’m innocent.’”
“I am innocent! I’m fucking . . .” His eyes welled with tears. “My father was murdered. This is police harassment! I’m going to sue your asses off.”
“You don’t want to do that,” Decker said. “Because once you do that, we are entitled to defend ourselves by examining every intricate detail of your life.”
Phil wiped his wet face. “Let me out of here. I’m not talking to you anymore. I want a lawyer.”
“If you’re innocent, why do you need
a lawyer?”
“You can’t question me once I ask for a lawyer.”
“I can do anything I want because you haven’t been arrested.”
“I’m not talking to you anymore.” He dried his tears on his shirtsleeve. “Either let me go or arrest me and get me a lawyer. Which you can’t do because you have no proof.” He looked down. “And I’m innocent.”
“Believe it or not, Phil, I’m not here to harass you. I just want to get to the bottom of everything because I don’t believe your father killed Brady Neil and Joseph Boch Junior.”
“I don’t care what you believe. Open the fucking door.”
“Sure,” Decker got up. “Thanks for your help.”
“Fuck you.”
“Detective McAdams, can you kindly escort Mr. Guerlin out?”
Tyler got up. “You know what I think?”
“I don’t give a shit what you think,” Guerlin said.
McAdams looked him in the eye. “I think a guy who lets his daddy do his dirty work for him is a real pussy.”
Guerlin snapped. He went for the throat. Immediately Decker and Tran shot up, pulled him off Tyler, and slapped his arms behind his back.
Tran immediately snapped on the cuffs. “I’m arresting you for assaulting a police officer.” Then he read Phil his rights. Guerlin responded with a resounding fuck you.
Decker said, “You’re right about one thing, Phil. Detective McAdams doesn’t say much. But when he does talk, he sure packs a punch.”
Chapter 35
Guerlin spent a night in jail, pleaded no contest to the charge, and the judge gave him a suspended sentence with community service for six months. No other charges were filed against him. And Denny Mayhew was still at large. Since he lived in Arizona, rumor had it that he had crossed the border into Mexico, where he’d be lost for a while, if not forever.
Not everything was neatly wrapped up with a bow. Decker didn’t feel a lot of satisfaction with the case. Two murderers were going to be released from prison, and Philip Guerlin, the man who was probably responsible for two deaths, was walking around town, cleaning up garbage on his weekends.
Two weeks later, Bergenshaw penitentiary announced the release date of Brandon Gratz and Kyle Masterson. Decker made the three-hour trip to the prison the day before the scheduled moment of freedom for the two felons. He was doubtful that Gratz would see him, but he was pleasantly surprised when he did agree.
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