Murder In the Past Tense (A Giorgio Salvatori Mystery Book 2)

by Lynn Bohart

  “What happened next?” Giorgio asked gently.

  “The one in the passenger seat got out to open the back door for me. As I was about to get in, he grabbed me from behind and put something over my nose and mouth. It smelled awful and I passed out.”

  She started to breathe heavily as she relived those moments.

  “I woke up tied to a bed…naked.”

  She had to stop for a moment. Giorgio just let her tell it at her own pace.

  “I tried to get them to let me go, but of course they only laughed. One of them started to hurt me almost immediately.”

  She shook her head, as if even now she couldn’t believe it.

  “At first, he just pinched my skin, twisted my fingers, things like that. I could tell it got him excited. Eventually…eventually, he raped me.”

  Tears began to stream down her cheeks, and Rocky reached over and pushed a box of Kleenex forward to her.

  “Take your time, Ms. Riley,” Rocky said.

  She took a tissue and wiped her eyes and nose and then continued.

  “They kept me there for two days. They did awful things to me,” she said, choking out a sob.

  “We know, Ms. Riley,” Giorgio said. “You don’t need to repeat that.”

  “Why would someone do that?” she said, crying and wiping her eyes.

  Giorgio let the moment play itself out as he waited patiently. Finally, he asked, “How did they refer to each other?”

  She took a deep breath to gain control again. “Believe it or not, they called each other Batman and Robin. The shorter one was Batman. He seemed to be the one in control.”

  “What did they talk about? When they weren’t…”

  “They didn’t, for the most part,” she interrupted him. “If they wanted to have a conversation, they went outside.”

  “How did you get away?” Rocky asked.

  “It was the third day. I was slipping in and out of consciousness. But I could tell that Robin was getting sick. I heard him say that he’d forgotten to pack his medication. Batman swore at him, and kept saying that he could just eat something. But by nightfall, Robin was really ill. So Batman finally said he’d go back and get his medication. I was tied to a chair and pretty out of it by that time, so I guess he didn’t think I was a threat. Anyway, he said he’d be back in a few hours and gave a gun to Robin. He told him to shoot me if I moved. I think that was more for my benefit, because Robin was really sick. Anyway, it had to be at least a couple of hours after Batman left that Robin finally passed out. I could barely see him, because…” she stopped and sucked in some air. “There was blood caked in my eyes and they were really swollen.”

  She was breathing heavily and Giorgio waited for her to get control again.

  “But the chair I was in was close to a counter where they’d left the knife they’d used to…to…” She had to stop and take another deep breath. “I was able to push my chair back and knock the knife onto the floor. Then, I had to tip my chair over, and I remember being really scared that Robin would wake up. But he didn’t. I somehow got a hold of the knife with my good hand. It was hard and it kept slipping out of my grasp. Anyway, I tipped the knife up and slowly cut my ropes. I almost passed out several times myself. The pain in my left hand was terrible, but I used my good hand and finally cut myself loose.”

  She looked up at Giorgio with a renewed sense of purpose.

  “I had to wash my eyes out, and I was shaking so bad that I kept dropping the towel. But then I just ran. No shoes. No clothes. I just wanted to get as far away from that cabin as I possibly could. I had no idea where I was, but I couldn’t take the road in case Batman came back. So I stuck to the forest. I fell several times and finally rolled down a steep hill and passed out. A couple of hikers found me in the morning and got me to a hospital.”

  “We need to know whatever you can tell us about the man who got sick. It sounds like he was a diabetic.”

  She nodded. “Yes, I think so. When I recovered, I studied up on it.”

  Giorgio nodded. “We can check that out,” he said, remembering what Edmond had said about feeling ill the night they had returned early from their fishing trip. “Anything else you can remember about him?”

  “For instance, can you describe them for us?” Rocky asked.

  She glanced at Rocky. “Both of them were very tall and had dark brown hair, almost black. On the slender side. Robin was taller than Batman, but by only an inch or two. Dark, blank eyes,” she said, stopping again. “Dead eyes.”

  “Any unusual things about how they looked or how they moved?” Giorgio said.

  She looked up at him. “Unusual in what way?”

  He shrugged. “Anything that made you think to yourself, ‘Hey that’s weird.’ Or when you saw it you commented on it in your mind.”

  She thought a moment and then her eyes lit up. “Yes. Robin’s feet.”

  “His feet?” Rocky said.

  “Yes. He had enormous feet. I had to look at them for hours when I was in that chair. Sometimes he was sitting in front of me, toying with me. Other times he was sitting on the bed close by. His shoes looked custom-made. Very expensive. And when he walked, he walked like a duck, his toes pointed way out to the side. He sat like that, too. It was like his feet weren’t his own, you know what I mean? Like someone had stuck someone else’s feet on him. Does that help?”

  “Yes,” Giorgio said quietly. “That’s exactly what we were looking for, Amber.”

  “Do you know who he is?”

  Her voice had taken on a plaintive quality.

  “Yes,” Giorgio said.

  Giorgio pulled out several pictures. Three were of local cops they used in lineups. The other two were of Royce and Edmond. He cautiously slid them all across the desk. She stared at them for a moment and then slowly picked up the ones of Royce and Edmond. Her face had gone pale, and she suddenly looked like she might be sick.

  “Oh my God,” she whispered.

  She dropped the photos and glanced up at Giorgio, her eyes filled with tears.

  “Who were they?” she asked, as if even now, she feared them.

  “Brothers. I can’t give you their names, because they haven’t been charged with anything. But we think they have a long string of murders on their hands. You were very lucky. You do recognize them, I take it.”

  She seemed to shudder. “Yes. That’s them,” she said, pointing to the pictures of Royce and Edmond. “That’s Batman,” she said pointing to Royce. “And the other one was Robin. But it doesn’t feel like I was lucky. There were many times over those few days that I prayed for death.” Her right hand fluttered to her face. “I lived, but I’m covered in scars.” She touched one of the places where they’d peeled skin away. Her fingers were shaking. “Will I have to testify in a trial or anything?”

  Giorgio glanced at his brother. “I don’t know. As I said, one of the brothers is already dead. He died several years ago. The other one is in his eighties.”

  “But…how did you find me?” she asked.

  “We’re following up on the murder of another young girl who was killed the same night you escaped. Her body was just recently discovered. She hadn’t been kidnapped and tortured like you. It looks as if these men had been doing this for a very long time, and there had never been any problems. Then you escaped. That became a very big problem. They came home earlier than expected, and we believe this other girl overheard something, perhaps a discussion about what happened with you.”

  “And that got her killed?” she almost screeched.

  Giorgio drew his lips together and nodded.

  “Oh,” she said. “I’m so sorry.”

  “It wasn’t your fault,” Rocky said quickly.

  Giorgio stood up. “Ms. Riley, I’m going to ask the sheriff to send an officer over to stay with you. I believe we’re very close to solving this case, but things are at a critical juncture right now. I want to make sure you’re safe.”

  She straightened up. “From who? Th
e guy who’s in his eighties?”

  “We don’t know. But two other people connected to the family involved have recently died under suspicious circumstances.”

  “Why come after me now?” she asked, standing up. “Why didn’t they try to find me all those years ago?”

  “Maybe you can answer that better than we could,” he said.

  She thought a minute. “Well, they didn’t know my name, either.”

  “You didn’t have your purse with you?” Rocky asked.

  “No. I stormed out when my boyfriend and I got in a big argument. I didn’t take anything with me. I was kind of stoned, to be honest. I just started walking. And when I was finally found, Sheriff Masters purposely kept my picture and name out of the papers. He’s been very protective of me over the years.”

  “Sheriff Masters said that no one in town ever saw them, so they may have felt that if they could just lay low, no one would ever be able to ID them. They must have brought everything they needed with them to the cabin. Food. Gas. Water.”

  Her eyes lit up. “Yes. They had several coolers and boxes lined up along the wall.”

  “They were very smart,” Giorgio said. “They just didn’t count on Robin forgetting his insulin. If they’d tried to go to a hospital or a doctor’s office to get that, it would have stood out. Somebody would have remembered that. So Batman had to go back home to get it.”

  “But why didn’t they just kill me? Then both of them could have left.”

  “Because it would have taken too long,” Rocky said. “Killing you. Burying you. And then cleaning up the cabin. They couldn’t leave a trace. It sounds like Robin was too sick to help, and he needed the insulin too quickly. He must have been close to what they call diabetic shock. My guess is that they were in a big hurry when they left. That’s why they burned the cabin down. They had to make sure they destroyed any evidence.”

  She extended her hand. “Thank you,” she said. “I’ve been looking over my shoulder for over forty years.”

  Giorgio shook her hand and then gave her his card. “We’ll wrap this up as quickly as we can, Ms. Riley. And if we can, we’ll keep you out of it.”

  Giorgio and Rocky left and climbed into their car. Giorgio called Sheriff Williams and arranged protection for Amber, and then they stopped for a quick dinner on the way out of town.

  It was just getting dark when they finally pulled onto Highway 18, heading for the valley. Rocky was driving.

  “What’s our next move?” Rocky asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

  They were on a two lane stretch of road with the mountain to their left and a deep ravine to their right.

  “I’m going to call the captain, but I think it’s time we go arrest Edmond.”

  “Shit!” Rocky snapped, looking up into the rearview mirror.

  “What?” Giorgio said, twisting around and looking out the back window.

  “Some dumb ass behind me. He’s right on my tail.”

  The headlights from the other vehicle glared into the sedan. The car began to pull around them.

  “Idiot,” Rocky snarled. “Where does he think he’s going? There’s not enough room to pass.”

  Rocky pulled over to the right as much as he could to allow the other car to pass, bringing the guardrail alarmingly close.

  “Jeez, I hope no one comes the other way,” Giorgio said, glancing ahead of them.

  The vehicle pulled up alongside the sedan. Rocky waved him by, but it stayed where it was. Rocky glanced over.

  “Shit!” he exclaimed again.

  Giorgio turned, just as the van plowed right into them.

  The sedan swerved to the right, smashed through the guardrail and flew over an embankment. It came down hard on the front end, and then bounced down the slope, banging over rocks and logs. Both men were thrown around inside, forced to hold on to whatever they could find.

  Ten seconds later, it was all over.

  The car slammed into a tree. The air bags deployed, exploding into their faces, while steam burst from the battered hood.

  Things remained still for several moments. Both men sat, dazed.

  “Your nose is bleeding,” Rocky said, pushing the bag away from his face.

  Giorgio looked over at his brother, waiting until his eyes could focus. Then he lifted the back of his hand to his nose and felt the warm blood. He wiped it off.

  “Who the hell was that?” he exclaimed.

  Rocky glanced into the rearview mirror. “It was a blue van. That’s all I know,” he mumbled.

  Giorgio’s head snapped around. “Then let’s get out of here.”

  Both men disentangled themselves from the airbags and seatbelts and began to climb out of the car.

  The car had landed in the center of a bank of bushes that encircled the tree, making it difficult to open either door. Giorgio pushed his door and finally had to lean his weight against it to get it open. He fell out and pushed his way through the branches until he was behind the tree. Rocky slid through a small opening between his crumpled door and the frame, and climbed through the bush on his side. Just then, a shot rang out and clipped the low hanging branch of the tree.

  Rocky scrambled through the bush and slid on his butt down to where Giorgio was. They both removed their weapons.

  “Can you see anything?” Giorgio said, peering through the bush, past their steaming car and up to the road.

  “No. It’s too dark.”

  Giorgio pulled out his cell phone. “Thank God!” he said when the phone lit up.

  Another bullet winged the side mirror of the car, and they both ducked.

  Giorgio dialed the Sheriff’s office. “Sheriff, this is Detective Salvatori!” he barked into the phone. “Someone’s shooting at us. We’re pinned down on an embankment about a mile or two out of town on Highway 18.”

  Another bullet ricocheted off the tailpipe. Rocky crawled up underneath the side of the bush and squeezed off four rounds in the direction of the incoming fire.

  Giorgio came up behind his brother.

  “Can you tell if it’s Fritz or Perry?”

  Giorgio had his own gun out now.

  “No,” Rocky said, peering through the darkness. “Whoever it is up there behind those boulders.”

  He nodded to the turn in the road where several giant rocks cradled the edge of the pavement.

  A bullet whizzed past Rocky’s shoulder, embedding itself into an old log behind them. Giorgio flinched to the side as it flew past.

  “Shit, he’s getting too close. C’mon.”

  Giorgio backed up and scuttled to the other side of the tree. Rocky followed him. They positioned themselves behind the rear wheels of the car, facing up the hill. Giorgio lay on his stomach, with his arms stretched out under the car chassis, the gun clasped between his hands. When a gun flash lit up the night and a bullet hit the other side of the car, he fired. A voice cried out and a moment later, the sound of screeching tires echoed through the canyon as the car sped away into the dark curves of the mountain.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  Giorgio and Rocky spent the next hour and a half at the sheriff’s office in Big Bear, filling out a report. Since it was clear they’d been followed, Giorgio called Sheriff Tubbs, who volunteered to take Amber Riley into his home until he got an all clear from Giorgio.

  It was almost eight o’clock when he and Rocky hit the road again in a rented car. It had been a long hour and a half, in which both men had been chafing at the bit to get going. Their adrenalin was flowing and they wanted to end this.

  Giorgio called Ron Martinelli.

  “Is your uncle a diabetic?” he asked.

  “Uh…yes, why?” Ron replied.

  “I’ll explain later. I also need to know if Perry or Fritz might have access to a commercial van through your company. An old blue or gray one?” he asked Ron.

  There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. “Not through our company. But Fritz has a separate recycling business. He drives one fo
r that,” Ron said.

  “What color?”

  “Blue.”

  “Okay. Stay close to the phone,” Giorgio said. “I may need you again.”

  He hung up and called Captain Alvarez at home.

  “Captain, we have a positive ID on Edmond Martinelli as one of the men who abducted, tortured and raped a young woman up in Big Bear back in 1967.”

  “A positive ID?” the captain said.

  “Yes, sir. Her name is Amber Riley and she still lives there. We interviewed her and showed her four photos. She picked out both Royce and Edmond Martinelli’s pictures. We’re on our way to Edmond’s house now to arrest him. We’re about two hours away.”

  “So how is all of this connected to Lisa Farmer?”

  “When this girl escaped,” Giorgio said, “Royce and Edmond came home early. Lisa was hiding in the study that night when Royce took a phone call from Edmond. Lisa must have overheard them discussing the girl who got away up at Big Bear.”

  “And that’s what got her killed,” the captain stated.

  “Right. But there’s more. As we were leaving town up here, a blue van ran us off the road and then someone opened fire on us. We’re pretty sure it was either Fritz Martinelli, or his son, Perry. I think I hit whoever it was. I’ve already put out APBs on both of them. We don’t know which one tried to kill us, but Ron Martinelli just told me that Fritz owns a blue van. This is all coming to a head, Captain.”

  “Good work, Joe,” Captain Alvarez said. “If you’re going straight to Edmond’s house, I’d better call in the Altadena police and tell them to meet you there.”

  “Okay,” Giorgio agreed. “But no lights or sirens. We’ll meet them half a block up the street. Have them bring the warrant.”

  “I’ll have McCready and a couple of our officers meet you at Martinellis. Be careful,” he said and hung up.