by Gloria Obizu
Isabel, not with all that is going on right now. I doubt if anyone will want me work for him like this! Consider that! Carissa continued crying while talking.
All these shall come to pass and everything will be okay? I’m not saying I’m not worried ‘cause that will be a lie, but what am I gonna do? Nothing! As she continued taking Isabel broke down in tears too and for the first time since Carissa came to live with this roommate, she saw her cry.
Please don’t cry with me ‘cause that’s not good for both us, Carissa said, tried so hard to stop her own tears and won. After a short pause she continued. We better start doing some fast thinking to see how we can continue with our lives. Sometimes I just wish this whole mess will just go away ‘cause is so hard to believe so much has happened in such a short time. I’m still dazed! Everything was going on so fine! Am I wrong? We were happy together and doing so well on our own and then came this evil and the music just stopped without warning? Who can take all that and still standing? I actually thought I finally found a breakthrough in life and was just beginning to settle to it and see how I’m gonna work out things for the future and then this happened. I just started thinking about going back to school for my GED, understand? Now I might end up in worse situation than I’ve ever been ‘cause we don’t know where this is leading.
Somehow, Isabel regained control of herself too and now wiping her tears she said, tell me something Carissa, when last did you speak to your Aunt?
Why do you want to know?
Just kind of curious! With the way things are going right now, you may want to give her a call.
What the hell for? Carissa asked.
I don’t know, I’m just saying.
Well, if you must know, it’s been months I had anything to do with that Aunt of mine. I spoke to her last the day we moved in here to let her know about it and that was it.
You haven’t talked to her again since then?
Why should l?
Why not?
She likes to control my life and I don’t want to see that continue anymore. Besides she should be looking out for her little nice but she is not doing that, so what do you want me to do?
So she never called you or what? Isabel continued.
I mean she called a number of times but I guess she quit when I wasn’t picking up her calls. Anyways, I don’t think I should have ditched her the way I did, understand? It was wrong! I might need her now and I don’t know how she will be reacting.
I’m happy you realized is not her fault ‘cause she tried! Get what I’m saying? I’m thinking you might find a way of reconnecting soon. I’m Serious! Isabel said.
I’ll probably go to her house, Carissa added.
That’s a good idea. But call before you go!
I’ll try! My guess is she probably changed her number or something, I don’t know! Carissa continued.
Why not go ahead and try now and see, eh?
Carissa fished the number and dialed but just like she guessed the line was dead. You see! I told you! She is already disconnected.
May be you should have done it earlier! Anyways you know what is good for you!
Like I said, I’ll pay her a visit soon. She can run but certainly can’t hide from me. The house where she lives belongs to her and she will always be there so I’m gonna go find her! Why did you start talking about my Aunt like this so suddenly?
May be I’m scared, Isabel said. May be I ain’t thinking right anymore! Anyways, right now I wanna go to bed ‘cause I’m really tired and having this very bad headache so I need go lie down and see if it will go away.
Sometimes I don’t understand how you can sleep with all these going on. As for me, sleep has left me since this thing happened. Right now, I’m just gonna lie down on my bed and try to see what I can work out for myself, I’d need some quick thinking.
Without saying more words, Isabel went into her room, lay down on her bed and called Wallis. They talked for a while before she went into plotting until another day light came to shade her rays.
Chapter Seven
On Monday the 16th of May, some officers of the LAPD gathered on a round table with the best brains on the block listed. Officers like Thomas Jenkins, Geoffrey Kettles, Courtney Mansfield, Lawrence Bedford and the rest of them. Everything focused on the Wilkinson Street party shooting, the bullet extracted from the corpse of Teri by autopsy and how it was a perfect match with another spent bullet picked up at the scene of the shooting. And the two bullets exact match with some other ones used in another murder in faraway Dallas some five years ago. How the gun that fired all these bullets itself was never found and has not been found till this day. Even though there is someone saving a jail term for that murder committed five years ago in Dallas, that someone couldn’t have committed this second murder because from all indications the person had a solid alibi, she was right inside her cell at the time Teri was shot. So, if this fellow at Dallas prison did not commit this second murder, which did? What is the link between what happened in Dallas five years ago and Teri’s death? And most importantly who is the culprit or are the culprits behind the cases? Where is the gun that fired the bullets and how can the LAPD get hold of it?
The motive! That is always the case. Find the motive behind a crime and you solve it! And I think that is the key here like in every other crime! Mansfield suggested. And once we figure that out, a pattern will fall in place.
At this point, Kettles came into the discussion. I’m not taking that route. No! I’m gonna fine tune that phrase a little bit.
And how is that gonna play out? Mansfield asked.
Connect with this lady in a Dallas jail and you solve this crime. Kettles said. I suggest we carry out the plan we already have in place and go have a chat with her as soon as possible. To my mind, she holds the key to resolving this whole mess. The motives in both murder may be tied together somehow and might be anywhere on her fingertips. So are all the other answers like how the same gun she used to kill somebody five years ago surfaced in Los Angeles in another murder, and most importantly in whose hands? If we solve this puzzle, we solve it all.
Yeah! I agree with Kettles that these are very pertinent issues, said Bedford. A lot could have happened in five years you know! Someone could have stolen that gun from where she hid it. Anything is possible. She could have sold it to someone who sold it to another, we don’t know but somebody knows and that person is where we can reach her. We must make arrangement immediately to go have a chart with this lady in Dallas.
Her name is Lulu! Lulu Dominguez, Kettles continued. And according to Police reports, she was a twenty eight years old hawker when she killed a guy. The story was that she hooked up with this guy and they spent their time in his home because his wife worked night as a waitress in some bar, then one thing lead to another, possibly money issues who knows, and she shot him two times.
She shot him twice! Jenkins who is the lead investigator began. And that is yet another puzzle to the whole set up because Teri’s murder took a similar pattern. And just like in the case of the Dallas guy named Norman, this guy Teri also died later in the hospital. In Norman’s case, his wife returned from work, found him and dialed 911. Ambulance arrived, took him to the hospital but he never saw the daylight again until he died. Since this Teri’s incident, I’ve studied the case of this Norman a lot and the more I look into it the more I make all sorts of postulations and what I’ve been able to deduce so far is that there is a twist somewhere that could be hard to untie. Honestly I don’t know exactly what it is, but my basic instinct driven by my years of experience as an officer of the law tells me that this case will eventually turn out something larger than the ordinary.
Hum! What are you actually trying to dig up Old-Hand? Bedford asked. I mean can you shed more light on that?
To start with, this Lulu of a lady never ever admitted to the mur
der as charged. Remember she went into hiding as soon as the Police came after her and was not arrested until about a year ago. Her trial lasted three months if you remember. She actually pleaded not guilty and stood by that throughout the trial. Infect the defense team did put up a very strong argument on her behalf even though they failed to convince every single member of the Jury that sent her to jail. From the defense team’s point of view, she was a hawker no denying that. On the night of the murder, she worked in a brothel between 6pm and 12am, everyone saw her on her bit that night. Lulu and a follow hawker wanted extra cash same night, so when they left the Brothel they didn’t go home. There was a place the girls usually hook up with some drunken guys who wanted a little private thing you know, those with things to hide like wife issue or girlfriend stuff and for the hawker this is also solid cash that goes straight to the pocket. No pimps, no Johns, no one else gets a penny but me thing, understand? So on that particular day, Lulu and this other girl with her waited for an unusually long time for some guy to show up but no luck seemed to come their way. Then it started raining, and the girls were going to leave when out of the blues this car pulled up right in front of Lulu and the hawker in her automatically kicked in. She approached the guy even though she could see clearly he was heavily drunk. You could small him from a mile but Lulu needed more cash anyway and since it was kind of a dry night she went, charted him up all the same and eventually they agreed to do business. Then the guy took her home. Eventually, they ended up making out on a couch in the living room but then as soon as it was over the guy just went off to sleep like the pig he was, snoring away like hell. He was gonna pay up front but lied to Lulu about forgetting his wallet at home or something but kind of acted real cool about it and she accepted to get the money when they get to the house. But the moment they got in, he took this Wallet filled with cash out of his pocket and kind of tossed it on the table like he didn’t really know what he was doing and was all over Lulu and you know, they just went ahead and did it. After all, Lulu already seen the wallet is loaded and knew she was gonna get her money one way or the other ‘cause she is experienced on the job and knows how to work her way out of any situation. Later, she took the wallet and left him a small note with the name of the Brothel where she worked and signed Lulu. She even wrote down the time, date and a room number so he could come over there and pick up his wallet ‘cause she didn’t wanna take more than she bargained for. The thing is that she just wanted the guy to sweat a little bit ‘cause of the wrong way he handled the business, that’s why she left him the note telling him where to come pick up his Wallet and left the house. She admitted it was a dumb thing to do but she wasn’t thinking anything was gonna go wrong. I mean she saw him as a healthy grown man who didn’t look like he was ready to die. Besides she was in a manner of speaking trying to biff up customer, client relationship with a guy she thought had a lot of money and ready to part with it. The guy was still sleeping when she left the house and she did nothing to harm him! And you know the interesting thing about it all? She remained consistent with her story throughout the trial. That note left by Lulu and one of the ear rings found at the crime scene which was a match with another found at Lulu’s apartment latter, nailed her in the case. All those stuff kind of put her at the crime scene and she never denied she was with Norman the night he died anyway. The prosecution stand hammered on those issues until they stuck with the Jury. No weapon was ever found until now the dammed thing mysteriously showed up in LA. But at the end of a very lengthy trial in which both sides to the argument put in everything they could, she was convicted. Even though it was a hung Jury that slammed her with a life sentence, it was still a conviction all the same. Now, my thing is this! This time around, it is obvious Lulu did not fire the gun that killed Teri Parkinson because we have a proof to that, right? She was in her jail room at the time of the shooting. That’s a water tight alibi, right?
Correct! Kettles reacted.
Ok! There is also a chance she never fired that gun the first time, but because we didn’t have a prof to that, she got slammed, Jenkins continued.
I sense the route you’re taking Jenkins but I’m not so sure I’m riding with you. Anyways there are even more issues to add. The other lady in this case, I mean Norman’s wife named Lucinda Armstrong is also dead. She died from complications of child birth and what that possibly did was also complicate this entire case, I hope you’ll agree with me Old-Hand.
Oh yes! I do! Anyways whatever happens, I think it is wise we leave for Dallas soon to go see what this Lulu will have to tell us about the gun first and we take it from there. Jenkins concluded.
And due to the nature of the case as one that captured the attention of everyone, two officers set on their way to Dallas the next day. They knew exactly where they were headed so it was not hard at all finding Lulu Dominguez. Bottle neck and what have you quickly dealt with before they had their chance.
To the Officers seated a long time waiting for Lulu, it was obvious the moment she walked in that the encounter was not going be essay. Those were very experienced officers handpicked to go talk to Lulu and they could easily tell which ball would be easily netted and which would be a hard game. Now, with all eyes set on her, she came in, took a seat as offered, bent her head towards a table in front of her and began drawing imaginary lines frantically with bare fingers. But trained Officers are equipped with patient, so they waited.
Jenkins eventually spoke in a kindly manner after some moments of silence. My name is Thomas Jenkins and this fellow here sitting next to me is Brain Kettles. We also have Martin Samples and James Macqueen. We are all officers of the United States Police force here to see you and I know you probably guessed why! I and Officer Brain Kettles, he said touching his collogue, are of the Los Angeles Police Department, while the other officers with us are of the Dallas Police department. May we know your name?
Lulu! Lulu Dominguez! She said in an equally frantic manner.
Thank you Miss Dominguez. We are here at this time to talk to you about something very important, so I solicit your cooperation. We would like you to listen carefully and give answers to questions as truthfully as you remember, is that, ok?
Ok!
Thank you! Now may we proceed with the questions? Jenkins continued.
Proceed! She continued reacting overtly.
Ok! Do you remember an incident that happened on the night of 19th of October some five years ago?
No!
You don’t recall or don’t want to talk about it?
I don ‘recall anything. I don’t know anything. She said and continued with her drawings.
Lulu! Listen carefully! You need to work with us, okay? We understand you probably didn’t want all these happen and wish you are out of here right now having fun with your friends and family but everyone gets into some situation sometimes. But it’s our duty as Officers of the law to help resolve issues and that is why we are here to solve a common problem, okay? If you remembered anything please feel free to let us know at any time in this conversation.
I’ve nothing to say. Lulu continued with her frenzied reactions.
You don’t have to be scared of any one of us, Jenkins added. We’re the good guys and we are here to help you. I want you to understand that!
I don’t understand anything and I never will! Lulu said with emphasis.
Ok! You’ll understand if only you’ll listen. A guy named Norman was killed five years ago and you happened to have been with him and in fact by all accounts you were the last person seen with him before he died. This incident happened at 9440 Rally Street, sometimes after mid of an October night. We don’t want to start recounting all other events that went with it because we all already know. The thing is about the gun used in this crime which was never found. Incidentally, this same gun is once again used to commit another murder in faraway California which is why we members of the Californian Law Enforcement
Agency are here. At list if nothing else, you may want to let us know what you did with the gun after Norman. Did you sell it, hide it or give it to someone else? Was it stolen from you or something?
Lulu suddenly became very responsive. You mean the gun? Yeah! I hid it! Yes I hid it! When was this other murder done?
About two months ago! Jenkins said.
Yes! I did that murder too with the same gun.
What! Jenkins reacted.
I had the same dream again, turned into this huge bird, she demonstrated with her hands, flew to this faraway city and with that same gun killed somebody. What are you guys gonna do with me now, eh? Give me another life sentence or what?
You don’t get it Lulu!
Why can’t you guys leave me the hell alone then? I had enough, okay? Just get out and leave me alone! She screamed as tears began running down her chicks. Please take me back to my room! I wanna go back to my home right away! The officers tried so hard to calm her down but she was unrelenting. Not wanting to persuade her further Jenkins called off the interview and Lulu walked briskly as two female officers escorted her to the cell.
Remember I warned you guys before this right? That was Martin Samples talking now. She’s been like that ever since she is been here. According to reports from her psych evaluations she is in denial and also suffering from a serious psychological issue of conflict within herself over what she has done. In that case she wishes she never did it because of the deprivations prison life imposes on her young life but then she already did the crime and nothing could wash it off her hands so she suffers and is actually in a lot of real pain. She is supposed to be on some medications to help her through this period but she never ever takes them. The only medication she ever gets is this life in denial that she lives which never accepts she committed this crime. As long as she is in that state, everything is fine. But confronting her like we did right now was like throwing the whole thing at her face and that kind of brought back the memory of it all and she wasn’t gonna accept that, so she fought. She is one of the more difficult cases we have here.