“That’s a personal matter.”
“I've got news for you Mr. Jameson, nothing is personal from this point on. I have three murders on my hands and if nothing else I will have your butt hauled down and booked for obstruction. Now, what was she holding over you?” I asked.
“She thought I was having an affair.”
I looked at him for a few seconds. There was more and we both knew it so I just waited.
“Okay. With a younger girl.”
“Define younger,” I said.
“Eighteen or so.”
“Or so? Was that the girl we saw at your house yesterday?”
“Her twin sister.”
“Mr. Jameson, I want you to write down their names and how to get in touch with them,” I replied shoving a pad of paper across to him.
“They have nothing to do with this. I don’t see why it is necessary to drag them into a murder investigation,” Jameson replied.
“Why don’t you let me decide what is necessary and what isn’t”
“No way. I’m not doing it,” he said pushing the pad of paper back in my direction.
“Dan, why don’t you show Mr. Jameson our holding cell. Book him on obstruction.”
“Now you’re talking,” Dan said, pushing off the wall.
“I want my attorney. I’m not saying another word,” Jameson told us.
“Book him Dan-o,” I said.
Am I clever or what? Hawaii Five-O has nothing on us.
CHAPTER FIVE
“Let’s hear it,” Captain McGregor said.
“It’s not about the murder of his wife. Yet. He refused to cooperate about necessary information. That’s why we booked him,” I replied.
“You know it probably won’t stick.”
“I think it will. I talked to Stacy Lawson and she said it had merit.”
“What do you think? Is he good for the murder as well?”
“That I’m not sure of yet. Do I like him for it, oh yeah. Did he do it? Too early to tell.”
“Dan?”
“I would love to get him on something. He sure isn’t broken up about his wife and now he doesn’t have to worry about an expensive divorce settlement. That’s a pretty good motive to me.”
“Okay. You have one out of three. Motive. You need to get means and opportunity if you are going to nail him for this,” the captain said.
Well duh. Investigation 101 teaches you that. We needed to start all over and work this case like it just happened today. The file was already an inch thick but I was inclined to start with a new file and work from there.
“By the way, his attorneys are Collins, Rolf, and Stewart,” the captain told us.
“Of course. I would expect nothing less,” Dan replied.
Collins, Rolf, and Stewart were at the top of a very short list of really good attorneys. Any of the three could strike terror in the heart of the prosecution if they didn’t have an airtight case. All we had to do was provide them with one.
**
“So what do we really know for sure?” I asked Dan after we went back to our desk.
“Okay. Melody Jameson was married to Ken Jameson. Melody had filed for a divorce on grounds of mental cruelty, abusive behavior, threatening her with bodily harm, and infidelity.”
“All true. We have the divorce papers here in the file,” Dan said, checking them off.
“We know that she was seeking half of everything but the biggest bone of contention came against the future earnings of Ken,” I said, reading from the notes.
“Also true. That is what seemed to set off his switch.”
“Well it is unusual. I doubt she could have made that stick. I’m sure his lawyers told him that,” I replied.
“Even so, just the threat took this to the next level which seemed to be all out war,” Dan said.
“We know that Ken Jameson had a ten million dollar insurance policy on Melody as well.”
“More motive,” Dan replied.
“His alibi looks pretty solid. He was in Montana on a hunting trip with two of his buddies. They confirmed the story.”
“We need to do a follow up. With the kind of money he has it wouldn’t be hard to buy an alibi,” Dan responded.
“We can do some backdoor checking as well. We need the lodge they stayed at and if they used a guide. We need to know everything about that trip,” I told Dan.
“I can start on that. What about the two buddies? Do you want to bring them in for an interview?”
“Not just yet. Let’s get all our facts straight first. Then we will separate them and Ken and ask our questions. If they are not telling the truth, one of them will crack. What were their names?” I asked Dan.
“Richard Ross and Bobby Wilcox. It just so happens both Ross and Wilcox received a promotion to Vice President last week.”
“Wow, what a coincidence,” I said.
“Except you don’t believe in them,” Dan noted.
“No I do not,” I replied.
CHAPTER SIX
Finding out the name of the girl who had been at Ken’s house turned out to be easier than we had ever imagined. It was as simple as knocking at the door. The girl we had seen naked answered the door, except this time she had on clothes. Well, for the most part. If the shorts had been any smaller they wouldn’t have covered her cheeks.
“Yeah,” she said, chewing gum.
“You are?” I asked.
“Me.”
“I’m going to ask you one more time and you will either tell me or I’ll haul your butt downtown.”
“You the cops?” she asked, suddenly wide-eyed.
“We’re not here to clean the pool,” I said tapping the badge that was on my belt.
What an airhead.
“I’m Brandy.”
“Brandy who?” Dan said.
“Brandy Hennessey.”
“Okay Brandy, we need to ask you a few questions, you mind if we come in?” I asked, pushing back on the door.
“Well Ken isn’t here right now.”
“We know. We have him locked up at the moment,” I informed her.
“What? Why? He didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Why don’t we sit down and talk about that?”
She reluctantly let us in. The place was huge. A massive stone fireplace that you could practically walk into dominated the far wall. Furniture that didn’t look like anyone should ever actually sit on it was situated throughout the room. A sculpture depicting something that looked vaguely rude was standing against one wall. Two sixty inch plus televisions were mounted on the other wall. Obviously the room was for showing off. The coffee table looked like a big fat tire with glass over it. It had a polished chrome mag wheel.
“Is that a race car tire?” Dan asked.
“Yeah, isn’t it a blast? Dan used to race Formula One cars.”
“Really. I guess that was left out of his profile that I read online.”
“He was almost the world champion,” she said like she was expecting us to actually believe it was true.
“Brandy, I need to see a picture ID if you would,” I said.
“Uh, well...I don’t have one with me.”
“You don’t have your ID? No driver’s license? School ID?”
She looked away and fidgeted with her hands. Obviously she was lying like a dog.
“Brandy, just go get it. Don’t make me do this us do this the hard way. Do you think you are tough enough to handle a night in jail?” Dan asked.
She hung her head then slowly got up and went into the other room. A few seconds later she returned with her purse, opened it and rummaged around. She handed over her ID.
I looked at the date. It said she was twenty-one. Then I looked at the picture. I looked up at her.
“I said you’re ID. Not this fake one. You don’t look anything like this chick. And unless you lost thirty or so pounds since this was taken, it isn’t you. Hand it over,” I said.
I was starting to get irritated.
I was insulted. Did she think I wouldn’t know it was a fake ID? Did she even know how to think? She rummaged around some more and handed her real ID over. She was seventeen. She would be eighteen in twenty-four more days. I was just about to say something when the front door opened and another girl walked in.
“Brandy I’m…” she stopped when she saw us.
“Please, come on in,” I said motioning her over.
She was obviously Brandy’s twin sister. She had the same color hair, same face, and exact same build.
“You are?”
“Brandy’s sister.”
“And does Brandy’s sister have a name?” I asked.
“Sherri.”
“Ah, of course. Brandy and Sherri,” I looked at Brandy’s ID, “Hennessey. Boy your parents knew how to pick them. They must be a barrel of laughs at parties. Sherri are you identical twins?”
“Yeah. I was the oldest by ten minutes.”
“Well, there you go. Please, have a seat. We have some questions for both of you in that case.”
She sat down next to her sister. They were dead ringers for each other.
“Are the two of you living here?” I asked.
They looked at each other for a second then Brandy said, “Sort of. I mean we have been for the past month.”
“Is just one of you or are both of you sleeping with Mr. Jameson?” I asked.
Again the look passed between them. Neither offered to answer.
“Alright girls. Listen carefully. You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to have an attorney present, if…”
“Are we being arrested?”
“You can’t afford an attorney one will be provided by the court. Do…”
“You are arresting us?” Sherri wailed.
“Do you understand your rights?”
“No. No I don’t. I don’t know why you are even doing this. We haven’t done anything wrong.”
“Then let me ask you again. Are either or both of you sleeping with Mr. Jameson?”
“We both do,” Sherri said, hanging her head.
“See, that wasn’t so hard,” Dan said.
CHAPTER SEVEN
After having our chat with the twins we learned that their parents didn’t know or care where they were. They had pretty much been on their own since sixteen. It was hard to blame them. It wasn’t hard to want to squash Jameson like a cockroach.
My cell phone vibrated and I looked at the caller ID. It was Captain McGregor.
“Yes captain.”
“Where are you?”
“At Jameson’s house.”
“Do you have a warrant?”
“Don’t need one. We were invited in.”
“Invited in? By whom?” he asked.
He does that who, whom thing. I personally don’t get it but it makes him think he is superior. Whatever.
“Two seventeen year old twins that he has been sleeping with.”
There was a long silence on the other end. I could just hear him talking to someone with his hand over the phone. After a minute or so he came back on the line.
“Can you verify that? The age?”
“Absolutely. I have their ID right here. They turn eighteen in a few weeks.”
More muffled discussion was going on.
“Okay, bring the two girls in. I want the DA to talk to them as well. Jameson’s attorney is raising hell but given what you just told me, I think he will calm down a great deal,” McGregor said.
“We’re on our way,” I told him.
**
“Okay go over it again,” Stacy Lawson the Assistant District Attorney said.
So I started at the beginning with how we saw the girl the first time and then our second trip. About what they told us about sleeping with Jameson.
“That’s good. I’m going to talk to the girls individually and see what their story is. You are welcome to watch,” Stacy said.
I’ve seen her work before. She can seem as sweet as sugar but like a snake she will bite you hard the second you slip up. I knew if anyone could put fear in them it was her.
“Dan and I will watch,” I told her.
Within fifteen minutes they were spilling their guts. Everything from the sex to the drugs he supplied them with. As unbelievable as it seemed, they even knew his supplier's name. It seems Mr. Jameson was a scumbag on many levels.
Dan and I get to hear a lot of stories but this one was a shock even to us. He had found them sitting in front of the bus station and offered them a place to stay. He was rich, they were young and dumb and he made the most of it. Even Stacy’s eyes almost bugged out of her head during one part of Brandy’s story. Sherri didn’t confirm or deny it.
While all of this was intriguing it wasn’t helping much with the murder of Melody Jameson. They had only seen her one time when she showed up unexpectedly and they had a big fight in the driveway. According to them it was Melody doing most of the yelling. Ken just stood there and smirked by Sherri’s account.
The DA could nail him on the underage sex with minors but it wouldn’t be for nearly the time that I wanted to put him away for. He was nothing more than a pedophile as far as I was concerned.
“I’m going to keep that sucker in jail for as long as I can. What a creep,” Stacy said when she came out the interview room with Sherri.
“But nothing to like him for the murder of his wife or the other two women.”
“Get me something and I’ll go for the death penalty for Jameson,” Stacy said.
“We’re working on it but so far we have nothing other than motive. We are going to go back and look at his alibi again. Something doesn’t smell right,” I told her.
“What about the necks being slit?”
“The ME said his best guess is a hack saw or something like that. Jagged teeth. It could have been what he called a ‘sawback’ knife. If we bring him a weapon he is certain he can make a match.”
“Then find that damn weapon,” she said and walked off.
“Easy for her to say,” Dan said.
“Yes it is but it is what we are paid to do, so let’s go do it,” I replied.
CHAPTER EIGHT
STAR TODAY – PROMINENT STOCK BROKER ARRESTED
Ken Jameson was arrested on charges of sex with a minor yesterday. Detectives arrested Mr. Jameson after a visit to his home about the murder of his wife, Melody Jameson. Her body was found yesterday as well.
According to sources, when the detectives delivered the news about his wife, they observed that he was entertaining a nude girl who appeared to be underage. Jameson refused to answer questions and was then taken to the station. He was originally booked for obstruction of a murder investigation but today those charges also included having inappropriate relations with two teenage girls. The names of the girls are not being released but we have learned that they are twins.
Calls to Mr. Jameson’s attorney have been unanswered. A hearing on bail has been set for tomorrow. The District Attorney’s office refused to comment on the case citing confidentiality in an ongoing investigation. When asked if there was any link between Mr. Jameson and the murder of his wife, ADA, Stacy Lawson, would only reply, ‘No comment’.
**
“Let’s go bring in Jameson’s two new vice president buddies,” I said to Dan.
“You want to take two cars, to keep them separated?”
“I think one car is enough. I’ll put one up front with me and the other in the back with you.”
“That should work,”
Traffic was a bear. It was rush hour and it seemed no one could think more than ten feet in front of them. There were cars trying to push into turnoff lanes at the last minute, slamming on their brakes at the last second, and at least one jerk was backing up on the shoulder of the interstate because he had missed his turn and those were the good drivers.
I saw my life flash before me at least a half dozen times before we got
to the Jameson & Associates Brokerage Alliance building. It wasn’t the biggest building in the area but it was certainly respectable and well done. I think it was the bronze windows that gave it character.
The inside was nicely done as well. A large semicircular reception area was situated just a few feet from the entrance. An attractive woman, probably in her fifties, greeted us.
“May I help you?” she said with that universal smile plastered on her face from years of practice.
“Yes,” I said, showing her my badge, “We need to speak to Mr. Ross and Mr. Wilcox.”
“I see. May I tell them what this is in reference to?”
“No, but thanks for asking. If you would please,” I said.
“Alright just a minute,” she said and picked up the phone.
She made two quick calls while we waited. In a few minutes, a tall husky man with a full beard walked into the reception area. A few seconds later, a shorter more trim man who looked to be ten years younger joined us.
“Mr. Ross?”
“I’m Ross, the tall husky one said.”
“I’m Detective Bartoni and this is my partner Detective Roberts. We need to ask you a few questions about your Montana hunting trip with Mr. Jameson.”
“Yes, we understand his wife was found murdered. How is Mr. Jameson doing?” Ross asked.
“He seems to be managing quite well,” I answered.
I noticed he didn’t mention the pending charges. Just watching them it was obvious that Wilcox was the more nervous of the two. That was who I wanted to go to work on first.
“How can we help you,” Ross said.
He was apparently taking the lead role. He seemed more sure of himself.
“Actually it would be better if we talked down at the station. It might cause some embarrassment conducting it here.”
“We have a very nice conference room,” he suggested.
I couldn’t really force them to go to the station but I knew the interview rooms always gave us a small advantage. Getting them out of familiar territory often gave us the upper hand.
“That’s fine with us. We do need to talk to each of you alone. Why don’t we start with Mr. Wilcox first and we can send for you when we are ready.”
WHAT GOES AROUND - ANGIE BARTONI CASE FILE #4 (ANGIE BARTONI CASE FILES Book 1) Page 2