by Philip Cox
‘Assume the position,’ Leroy instructed as Quinn manoeuvred Lee up against the wall and frisked him. He recovered a Glock, similar to the girls’, but all-over titanium. Quinn unhooked his set of handcuffs and cuffed Lee. Perez was now doing the same to the girls. As they were being restrained, Leroy read them their Miranda warning, their rights.
‘You have the right to remain silent and refuse to answer questions.
‘Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law.
‘You have the right to an attorney before speaking to the police and to have an attorney present during questioning now or in the future.
‘If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed for you before any questioning if you wish.
‘If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present, you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney.
‘Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?’
Lee called out, still pressed against the wall, ‘We got nothing to say to you pigs, do we girls?’ The girls said nothing.
Leroy continued, ‘If you are not a United States citizen, you may contact your country’s consulate prior to any questioning.
‘Do you understand each of these rights I have explained to you?’
The girls each showed a trace of confirmation; Lee remained defiant.
‘Having these rights in mind, do you wish to talk to us now?’
Lee, Pinky and Perky each said nothing.
‘Okay,’ said Leroy. ‘Let’s get these beautiful people out of here.’
‘The back-up car should be downstairs by now,’ Perez said as they ushered the prisoners out of the room.
‘Pay attention to the view, people,’ Leroy said as the elevator took them down to the lobby. ‘It’s gonna be a while before you see it again.’
‘Screw you, man,’ Lee spat.
As the elevator doors slid open at the lobby level, a group of surprised guests parted to allow the six of them passage. Noticing Lee and the girls were handcuffed, some of the lobby guests began whispering; a couple took out their phones and began taking pictures.
Two patrol cars were waiting outside the hotel, their four officers waiting in the doorway.
‘You guys take the girls,’ Leroy said. ‘We’ll take him in ours.’
The uniformed officers took Pinky and Perky away, as Leroy took Lee’s manacled arm. ‘Come on, handsome; we’re downstairs.’
‘You two take him,’ said Perez. ‘I’ll catch you up.’
‘Where you going?’ Leroy asked.
‘Need to tell the hotel manager we’ve been here. Courtesy thing.’
Leroy and Quinn took Lee back down to their car. Perez arrived five minutes later, and sat in the back with Lee.
‘Right. Let’s go,’ Leroy said.
‘What about that bitch from the hotel?’ Lee asked.
‘What bitch from the hotel?’ asked Leroy.
‘The one who’d been passing on the names of likely johns.’ The three detectives looked at him. ‘Why? You don’t think those dudes were lucky finds?’
‘What bitch from the hotel?’ Leroy asked again.
‘The manager. Don’t recall her name.’
‘Katherine Huth? She’s upstairs. I saw her when we got here.’
‘Yeah, that’s her name,’ Lee said, matter-of-factly.
‘She’s gone,’ Perez said. ‘When I asked to speak to the manager, nobody could find them; then one of the porters said, “I think Katherine’s gone home sick.” So I spoke to somebody else.’
‘I’ll bet she’s gone home sick,’ Leroy said. ‘Ray: can you call her in? Get them to put out an APB on her. Don’t worry, Mr Lee. She won’t get far.’
Chapter 45
By the time they had returned to the station with Chong Lee, the two girls had already been processed and were in individual holding cells.
‘Both were carrying driver’s licences,’ said the desk sergeant. ‘Paula Martinez and Roxanne DuPrat. Both have form for possession of Mary Jane. DuPrat was the most recent - six months ago.’
‘Here’s one more for you.’ Leroy pulled Lee over to the sergeant. ‘This one’s from Singapore, apparently, so he may not have a record here.’
‘He had his Miranda warning also?’
‘Yup. Plus the piece about his consulate. If you can get him processed as soon as you can, I’d be obliged. We need to talk with him like yesterday.’
‘Sure thing, Sam.’
The sergeant was as good as his word, and after Leroy and Quinn had made a bathroom stop, checked their desks and emails and got more coffee, Chong Lee was ready for them. Leroy noticed on his desk the report left by the patrolmen who had visited the Europa restaurant. He carried it to the interrogation room, flicking through it as he walked.
‘Has he asked for an attorney?’ Leroy asked the duty officer.
The officer shook his head. ‘He’s said nothing, apart from using the bathroom.’
‘Well, he’s had the mandatory warnings. We’re under no obligation to wait until he decides on an attorney; let’s get started, Ray.’ He looked back at the officer. ‘Has Lieutenant Perez been down?’ Then to Quinn. ‘I wondered if he wanted to sit in, given his involvement.’
‘He came down looking for you, Sam. Then said something about having to check out.’
Leroy chuckled. ‘Sure, thanks.’ Then to Quinn again. ‘His hotel room. He can watch through the glass later if he wishes.’
Chong Lee was waiting in the interrogation room, sitting one side of the table. The officer with him left as Leroy and Quinn sat down. Leroy began recording, saying aloud their names, then the date and time.
‘Let’s cut to the chase, Mr Lee: did you kill William Kirk?’
Lee said nothing.
‘William Kirk was shot, shot to the head; and I’ll take book that the slug we took out of his head will match your little Glock. You guys get a discount on the Glocks? You know, your little blue one and the girls’ little pink ones?’
Lee said nothing.
‘So you shot him, then you cut his head off, for Christ’s sake.’
Lee said nothing.
‘You’re from Singapore, right?’
Lee looked up at Leroy; he looked surprised.
‘They have the death penalty for murder there, don’t they? They must do: they have it for most other things, so I understand.’ Leroy leaned forward. ‘You want to know something? We have the death penalty here in California. There are seven hundred guys waiting on death row, and I’m going to make it my personal mission to get you fast-tracked.’
That was enough for Lee. ‘All right, all right. But I didn’t kill him.’
‘Who did, then?’
‘It was her from the hotel.’
‘Katherine Huth? You telling me she killed William Kirk?’
Lee nodded.
‘How did she do it? When? Why?’
As Leroy and Lee spoke, Quinn was casually flicking the report about the restaurant.
‘When… Kirk?’
‘William Kirk.’
‘When Kirk told me he was a private investigator, I called my boss. He told me to get Kirk to that parking garage at Union Station, top level. We parked there, and she came up and shot him through the head.’
‘You said your boss. So Huth’s not working on her own?’
‘No. There’s a guy as well. She had him deal with the body.’
‘Who is this guy? You got a name?’
Lee traced an invisible line around the table. ‘Guy called Dudley.’
Leroy sat back and looked over at Quinn. ‘Andrew Dudley?’
‘Yeah, that’s the guy.’
‘How did you meet them?’
‘Last Christmas, I tried to steal his car. He caught me, threatened to call you guys, have me deported, unless I did stuff for him. He said he wanted me to “se
ll insurance”, so he said. He said he knew someone - Katherine – who worked in some hotel Downtown. Said she’d give me the names of guys who were likely subjects.’
‘What about those girls? Did he or Huth provide them?’
‘No, I had to find them.’
‘Where did you find them?’
‘On Craigslist.’
Leroy laughed. ‘On Craigslist? Their listing, or you posted one?’
‘Their posting.’
They are hookers, then?’
‘I think they’re escorts. They told me they were actresses.’
‘Sure. Same listing for both of them?’
Lee nodded.
‘So, you found the girls online, and explained what you wanted them to do?’
‘Yes. They were to be well paid, but insisted there would be no actual sex with the guys.’
‘Which there wouldn’t be if they were full of roofies. It was rohypnol you used?’
Lee nodded.
‘Where did it come from? Who was the supplier?’
‘She provided it?’
‘Huth?’
‘Yes. She said it came from over the border.’
‘The stuff’s legal in Mexico. So once the guys were out of it, you showed up and took the pictures. Camera or on your cell?’
‘iPad.’
‘Which we have downstairs.’
‘So next morning, you’d show up and begin the extortion process.’
Lee nodded. ‘Usually a couple of grand that day, then I’d give them a box number for the next payments.’
‘Or you’d put the stuff online.’
‘Yeah, something like that.’
‘Is any of it online nevertheless?’
Lee nodded. ‘Yeah, some of it went on already. Porn sites.’
‘Going back to William Kirk, why did you cut his head off?’
‘I didn’t do that. I didn’t kill him, either; I told you that. His head was on when they took his body away.’
‘Who took the body away?’
‘Two guys in some kind of truck.’
‘A pick-up?’
‘Sure, it was a pick up. They were already waiting in the parking garage.’
At that point, Quinn tapped Leroy on the arm. ‘Sam…’
‘Hmm?’
‘You got a second?’
Leroy said, for the benefit of the recording, that they would be taking a break. They gathered outside the room.
‘What’s up?’ Leroy asked.
‘The report the patrol car left us about the restaurant.’ Quinn showed Leroy the second page. ‘Look at the list of employees they spoke to. The kitchen staff.’
Leroy scanned the list. One name stood out like a bikini in a snowstorm.
Rudi Johansson.
‘Son of a bitch,’ Leroy whispered. ‘His truck was never stolen. He’d just gotten rid of it.’
‘And I’ll bet Evald Mets was the other guy,’ Quinn added.
‘Has to be. Ray, we were searching for a connection, and now we’ve found it.’ He turned back to the interrogation room. ‘Let’s get him back into his cell. He and the girls can wait. If Huth’s gone missing, she has to be with Dudley. We need to go get him.’
‘Restaurant or house?’
‘If they’ve guessed we’re on to them, the house is the best bet. I’ll get the lieutenant to send somebody to the restaurant just in case, but we’ll head up to his house. If the R2 came from Mexico he might have a contact there: we need to get to him - them - before they get over the border.’
Chapter 46
Even at that late hour, traffic on the freeway was heavy, so Leroy had to make full use of the lights and siren.
‘If we don’t get there in time, we’ve lost him - both of them – for good,’ Leroy said grimly. ‘Ten to one they’ll head for the border.’ Lieutenant Perez said he would go to the restaurant with two others, but the smart money was on the house.
To the side of the road, Quinn could see the illuminated Capitol Records building, on the Hollywood and Vine intersection, its thirteen floors constructed to resemble a stack of 45rpm records and stylus. The blinking light on top of the tower spells out Hollywood in Morse code. ‘This case was never about Hollywood,’ he said.
Leroy agreed. ‘No, it never was. Apart from the fact that one of the witnesses just happened to be a screenwriter, and not a very successful one at that, there’s no connection whatsoever. If we hadn’t chanced to be on the Kelton case, some other poor sucker would be doing this.’
They exited the freeway at Burbank Boulevard and sped east. At the intersection with Lankershim a patrol car joined them, its own lights flashing and siren wailing.
‘Nearly there,’ said Leroy, as they made a sharp left across westbound traffic, earning several blasts from drivers’ horns, drivers who clearly did not understand what police lights and sirens meant. ‘What the hell’s that?’ Leroy asked looking to his right.
To his right, on one of the cross streets was what looked like a beam of yellow flickering colour, lighting up the night sky. Their GPS told them the next street was Dudley’s, and as soon as they made the right they could see that one of the houses was on fire.
Quinn squinted against the brightness of the flames. ‘You have to be…’
‘I don’t believe this,’ Leroy said, pulling up with a squeal of brakes. ‘It’s Dudley’s house.’ They both leapt out of the car, joined by the two uniformed officers from the patrol car.
The house was for the moment intact, but the fire was beginning to take hold. Half a dozen neighbours were out in the street, some fully dressed, some in dressing gowns.
Leroy turned to one of the uniformed officers. ‘Call the Fire Department.’
‘My husband’s called 911 already,’ one of the neighbours called out.
‘How long?’ Leroy asked. He had to raise his voice over the crackling sound from the fire.
‘Ten minutes, maybe more,’ came the reply.
‘This was deliberate,’ Quinn said. ‘They’ve been here to destroy any evidence. Oh, shit – Sam, look up there!’
They looked up and saw a figure in an upstairs window. The window was open, smoke pouring out. It was dark and the air filled with smoke, but from the flames below, they could see it was not Andrew Dudley or Katherine Huth, but Rudi Johansson.
‘Why doesn’t he jump?’ asked Leroy. ‘It’s only one floor. Jump!’ he called out.
‘I can’t, I can’t,’ Johansson screamed back.
Leroy looked at Quinn. ‘We can’t wait for the fire department to get here. I’m going in to get him.’
‘Sam…?’
‘I have to, Ray.’
‘I’m coming too.’
‘No way, Ray. It doesn’t need two of us.’
‘Way, Sam. Come on, before it gets worse.’
The onlookers gasped as Sam Leroy and Ray Quinn both filled their lungs to the limit and ran into the house.
Had they looked the other way, they would have seen the red flashing lights of the two fire appliances halfway down the street.
Chapter 47
In the movies, or on television, when a scene is taking place in a burning building, you will see a chair on fire, maybe a couch. Curtains will be burning, maybe stairs. The protagonists will parry against each other, neatly skirting the burning items. Visibility will be excellent.
The reality is very different. Visibility is poor, almost zero. Most people who die in house fires rarely get the chance to burn to death: the smoke gets them long before the flames do. Once ignited, the flames will quickly consume wooden furniture, shelves, chairs. More and more heat is generated. The temperature just below the ceiling rises to 400 degrees Fahrenheit, which is hot enough to kill. This intense heat comes with very thick smoke which will rise to waist level. This smoke would be made up of arsenic, of lead, and of irritants such as nitrogen oxide, hydrogen chloride, and ammonia.
Fire can spread in two ways: by direct contact or by auto-ignition, which i
s the temperature at which objects will spontaneously combust without being touched by the fire. The type of wood used in house construction and furniture will auto-ignite at between 600 and 750 degrees.
When Leroy and Quinn entered the house, the fire had clearly been burning for some time, and there was not much time left before flashover. They both held handkerchiefs over their mouths and ran up the stairs, where they knew Johansson was trapped. The stairs were carpeted, and smoke was rising from the carpet. They did not have long.
At the top of the stairs, they had to make a one-eighty to get to the room at the front of the house where he was. Both jumped as a burning cabinet fell off the wall, breaking up and smashing whatever glass items were inside. The fire from there ignited the carpet.
The heat was becoming unbearable. Synthetic materials found in furniture, carpets, and bedding generate enormous heat, soon reaching five hundred degrees. The blaze must have started downstairs: now it had penetrated the walls and ceiling and was travelling through the shafts between the walls and between the floors.
The door to the room where Johansson was sheltering was already on fire and was hanging burning from its hinges. Through the smoke, they could see his figure moving anxiously from one foot to the other. Leroy lashed out with his foot and kicked the door off its hinges. Part of the door frame collapsed on the floor, also in flames.
All three men were coughing by now. Leroy beckoned to Johansson. ‘Come on,’ he cried through heavy coughing, ‘we don’t have long. The whole place is gonna go up!’
Johannson was frozen to the spot. Quinn grabbed him by the arm and both he and Leroy manhandled him out of the room and to the top of the stairs.
The carpet on the stairs was now beginning to ignite. The three men half ran, half slid down the stairs. As they got to the bottom, Leroy realised something.
‘What about the maid?’ he asked Johansson. ‘Is she here?’
Johansson stared blankly into Leroy’s eyes.
‘The maid, Godammit! The housekeeper! The little Mexican woman! Is she here?’
Johansson’s mouth opened and shut a few times, but no sound came out.
‘Get him out of here,’ Leroy said to Quinn. ‘I’ll quickly check out back.’ Quinn opened his mouth to protest, but Leroy pushed him and Johansson towards the door. ‘Go; I’ll just be a few seconds.’