by M. Z. Kelly
“You said you’re his business manager. Is there...?” Leo took a breath. “Let me be frank. Were you and Mr. Novak involved?”
Welch’s laughter was high pitched and went on too long. When it ended, she said, “Brad and I were like brother and sister. It’s...it was my job to protect him...” She went from laughter to tears. “...and I failed him.”
After Leo gave her some time to regroup, he said, “What about anyone else who might have wanted to harm Mr. Novak?”
It took Novak’s manager almost a full minute to compose herself and respond. “Brad was pulling down thirty million a picture. Since his divorce, he hasn’t exactly been a saint. There were women, lots of women, and people who wanted a piece of him, but as for wanting to harm him...Ali’s the only one that comes to mind.”
Leo thanked her, took her contact information, and said we’d be in touch. As we walked to the trailer where the victim’s body was located, he said, “I’ve got a feeling we’re in for a lot of drama on this one.”
“I googled Novak while you were talking to his manager,” Olivia told Leo. “He’d been involved with dozens of women, some of them stars. It looks like there were some rumors about him and Welch being involved a couple of years ago. Novak also had an alcohol problem, did a stint in rehab.”
“Strike one for Welch,” I said. “I got a bad vibe off her.”
Olivia agreed with me, then said, “Imagine that. A Hollywood star who’s a womanizer and has an alcohol problem.”
Leo smiled and said to her, “If I didn’t know better, I might think you’re developing a cynical side.”
“The job, and people like Judy Welch, tends to do that.”
When we got outside the trailer where our victim’s body was located, we found Richard in a heated argument with Earl Mumford. I’d had several past encounters with the arrogant deputy coroner, none of them good.
“You’re going to wait right here until we complete our initial processing of the scene,” Richard said.
“I have a right to be present and do my examination,” Mumford said, folding his arms and staring down Leo’s partner. The deputy coroner was a chunky guy in his forties, with oily skin and even oilier hair.
Leo stepped forward, his muscular body towering over Mumford. “You’re not getting inside until we release the scene. End of story.”
“We’ll see about that.” Mumford took a step toward the trailer.
“Stop!” Leo called out.
Mumford did as he was ordered, and turned back to Leo. “You either let me examine the body, or I’m leaving, and telling my superiors that I was prevented from doing my job.”
Leo looked at Deacon Withers, who was standing guard at the trailer. “Please see that Mr. Mumford is escorted off the studio grounds and is not allowed access again.” He cut his eyes to the deputy coroner. “Have a nice day.”
After Mumford left, fuming about unprofessional conduct, Leo told us to go ahead and examine the scene while he called the coroner’s office to request another examiner.
We found our victim lying in bed in his cluttered trailer. Except for his ashen color and the needle in his arm, he looked like he could be asleep. Olivia and I agreed with what Officer Withers had said, that Novak’s death must have been almost instantaneous.
“The Gray Death,” Richard said, coming over to us. “I’ll bet he never knew what hit him.”
“Gray Death” was a term used for subjects that had overdosed as a result of heroin, mixed with powerful synthetic drugs, often fentanyl. I’d heard other stories where victims, like Novak, had succumbed to the drug’s effects immediately after injecting it. In some cases, the prescription drug, Narcan, if administered immediately, could reverse the overdose symptoms.
After examining the scene, I walked away, seeing there was a nearby table that had served as a bar, with several open bottles of hard liquor. There were also bottles of pills, and white powder in a baggie.
“Coke and Molly,” Richard said, coming over to me. “Looks like our vic was quite the party animal.”
Molly, also called Ecstasy, was the drug MDMA. It was sometimes called the “love drug” because it increased perception and sensation, especially during sex. I knew from prior cases that when the drug was bought on the street or the Internet, it often contained hallucinogens.
“His manager said he never used drugs because his brother died from an overdose,” I told Richard.
He sneered at me. “Looks like she had it all wrong.”
I walked away, deciding it was useless to talk to him.
Leo joined us a couple minutes later. “The coroner’s office is sending a replacement. SID just arrived.”
SID was the department’s Scientific Investigation Division, LAPD’s version of a crime scene unit.
Richard took a couple minutes, walking Leo through the scene and showing him the body and drugs. “My guess is our victim partied with the reporter all night, they used lots of drugs, and, at some point, he injected himself and checked out. I think we’ve got an OD, rather than a homicide.”
“What about his cell phone?” Leo asked.
“Don’t know.” Richard’s gaze moved around the room, apparently realizing that the actor’s phone wasn’t in the room. Maybe he was also having doubts about his scenario.
Leo said to Olivia and me, “Our people have the reporter Novak spent the night with detained in an office adjacent to the soundstage. Why don’t you two do a preliminary interview while we work with SID and wait for the coroner.”
“My bad?” Richard said.
Leo looked at him. “Come again?”
“Did I do something bad, so that I’m being excluded from the interview?”
“No. You’re my partner. We’re processing the crime scene.” He glanced at Olivia and me, rolling his eyes. “Let us know what the reporter says.”
As we walked over to the soundstage, Olivia said, “What are your thoughts?”
“Richard’s a turd, and Leo’s not taking any of his shit.”
She laughed. “I meant about the scene.”
“If he was injected, someone set up things by leaving the coke and Molly to make it look like he partied all night. He or she then injected him and took his cell phone.”
“Meaning he had a major beef with someone who premeditated everything.”
I glanced around the lot. “I wonder if they have CCTV cameras covering the grounds.”
“Probably. We’ll need to get with security after we talk to the reporter.”
We found Gloria Haynes in a small office, where a uniformed officer was standing guard. After introductions, Olivia and I took seats across from her. The reporter looked to be in her twenties. She was petite, with blonde hair and dark eyes. Her makeup was streaked from crying. She gave me the impression of a frightened child as we began questioning her.
“Can you tell us about your relationship with Mr. Novak?” Olivia said.
Haynes took a moment and several breaths before answering. “We met at a party. It was a couple of months ago. We’ve been seeing one another off and on since then.”
“Tell us what happened last night.”
Her hands shook as she took a drink from a water bottle and tried to compose herself. “I got here around ten and met Brad at his trailer. We had some drinks and...and I spent the night.”
“What about drugs?” I asked. “Did you and Brad use drugs?”
“No. Brad had a thing about never using drugs.”
“What about the coke and Molly?”
“What?”
“Cocaine and Ecstasy were found on the table in his trailer.”
“I don’t know anything about that. It wasn’t there last night.”
“Did you use anything last night?” I asked.
“No, just alcohol, like I said.”
“Can you pull up the sleeves of your sweater?”
“What for?” she asked, even as she complied with my request.
I took a moment, examining her arms and findi
ng nothing in the way of needle marks. “Thanks.” As she rolled her sleeves back down, I said, “Would you be willing to take a drug test?”
She sniffed. “Yes, whatever you want.”
“What time did you leave Mr. Novak’s trailer?” Olivia said.
“I got up around six this morning so I could get my kids to school.”
We learned that she and her husband were separated, and she lived with her mother near Echo Park.
Olivia continued. “Then you came back here earlier this morning?”
“Yes. I got here a little before eight. Brad was...” Tears flooded her face. “I found him with the needle in his arm.”
After she composed herself, I said, “I need you to be honest with us, Gloria. Did you see a syringe or any sign of drugs before you left Brad last night?”
She wiped her tears with the back of her hand. “No, nothing. Like I said, Brad didn’t use drugs and neither did I.”
“Did anyone come by the trailer last night?”
“Not that I remember, but I was...I had a lot to drink.”
“You passed out.”
She nodded.
“Did Brad make or receive any phone calls last night?” Olivia asked.
“Yeah, he was always on the phone.”
“What kind of phone does he have?”
She pushed her stringy hair out of her eyes. “An iPhone.”
“Did you see it last night?”
She nodded.
“Do you know who he was talking to?”
She took a breath. “He got a call from his mother. They were pretty close, and talked almost every night.”
“What about other calls?”
“I’m not sure.”
“This is important,” I said. “Think. Who else might have called him?”
“Maybe his ex. She was always wanting money.”
“Was Brad having problems with anyone else?”
Haynes shrugged. “I don’t know. I think he was having some money issues.”
When she didn’t go on, I said, “Tell us about that.”
“All I know is that the last couple of times we got together, he got some calls, and I could tell he was angry about money.”
“Who called him?”
“I think a couple were from his manager.”
“Judy?”
She nodded. “And maybe someone else. I’m not sure who.”
We went back over Haynes’ story a couple times from different angles. I was satisfied she was telling the truth. She was a naive young woman who was star struck, in over her head with an actor who had alcohol and possibly money problems. We had some more checking to do on her background, but, on the surface, she appeared to have no motive to kill the actor.
Olivia agreed with my assessment, after we made arrangements for Haynes to be drug tested, and we walked back to the crime scene. “Welch never mentioned our victim’s money issues, other than his alimony problems, or that she was involved with him. I think we need to have round two with her, and this time throw some body blows.”
“My thoughts exactly, Sugar Ray.”
THIRTY-TWO
Olivia and I met up with Leo and Richard outside the victim’s trailer. After we updated them on what Gloria Haynes had told us, Leo asked one of the uniformed officers to locate Judy Welch again. Kathy Maitland, a supervisor with SID, came over and gave us their preliminary findings.
“We’re waiting for some protective equipment to arrive before continuing to process the scene,” Kathy said, brushing unruly thin hair out of her eyes. The crime scene supervisor was in her forties, but looked older. A thankless job and long hours were taking their toll. “If fentanyl is present, even unintended, incidental exposure can result in an overdose. Randolph’s also on his way, so it’s going to take some time to process everything.”
Randolph was Larry Randolph, a youthful deputy coroner I’d worked with in the past.
Leo said, “I don’t suppose you can even dust for prints until...”
We heard a woman’s voice as she came up behind us, interrupting Leo. “I hear you want to talk to me again.”
Judy Welch stopped a few feet away from us with her arms crossed, obviously angry.
“Let’s go back in the trailer where we met before,” Leo said, coming over to her. “We just have a few follow-up questions.”
After Welch had settled back inside the trailer, Leo nodded at Olivia and me, a signal that he wanted us to do the follow-up interview. Richard stood back, watching as the interview began, probably doing a slow burn over Leo not letting him handle things.
“Let’s start by talking about your relationship with Mr. Novak,” Olivia began.
“I’ve already told you...”
It was my partner’s turn to interrupt. “A lie.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about you starting to tell us the truth. I’m also talking about you and your client having been involved in the past. Now, unless you want to take this to the next level, I suggest you start telling us what was really going on.”
Welch stared defiantly at Olivia before her composure melted. Her eyes misted over as she choked, “It was over a year ago. We...we were both vulnerable from breakups. It only lasted a few months when...” She broke down, sobbing. “…Brad met someone else.” She chuckled through her tears. “Maybe I should say lots of someones.”
“And that made you jealous, didn’t it?”
She stared at Olivia through a gooey mess of makeup and tears. “I won’t deny it. I...I thought I was in love, but...I realized Brad had other issues.”
“As in being involved with other women,” I said.
She nodded. “And men.”
“He was bisexual?”
She wiped her tears. “I think, in some ways, he liked men more than women.”
“Who was he involved with?”
She sighed. “He had an off and on thing with Garfield, among others.”
“Who?”
“Garfield Boyer, his business manager.” She chuckled again. “He dumped me for a guy. Can you believe that?”
“And that made you angry.”
Welch raised her voice. “Of course I was angry, but I certainly didn’t kill Brad.” There were more tears. “In some ways, I still loved him.”
Olivia glanced at me, looked back at Welch. “Was Brad having financial problems?”
She laughed. “You could say that. From what Garfield told me, he was drowning in debt.”
“Why didn’t you tell us any of this before?”
She wiped her tears on the sleeve of her blouse. “I guess...maybe I just wanted to protect Brad, even though he’s gone. You know how the tabloids are if they get ahold of things.”
“Let’s talk about last night,” I said. “It’s our understanding that you called Brad.”
“How did you know that?”
“We’re the ones asking the questions.”
It took Welch a moment to answer, making me wonder if we were getting the truth. “I just called him about some production issues with the movie. It had to do with scheduling interviews, that sort of thing.”
“And how was his demeanor?”
“He seemed fine...maybe a little drunk, but that wasn’t unusual.”
“But you knew he was with Gloria, and that made you angry.”
She sighed. “Yes, maybe a little. The reporter’s scum. Brad could do a lot better.”
“As in being with you?”
“Of course, but...as I’ve already told you, we’re history.”
We went at her for the better part of an hour, not getting much else that was helpful. After we finished up with her, and she left, I told the others, “She was obviously still in love with our victim.”
Richard agreed. “And jealous of his relationship with the reporter.”
“Not sure if that’s enough to make her want to kill him,” Leo said. “Let’s see if we can get ahold of this Garfield character,
then divide up duties.” He looked and Olivia and me. “Richard and I will take the business manager and production staff, while you two can follow up with the director, security, and aliens.”
Olivia smiled at me. “I think this is a first. We get to interrogate extra-terrestrials.”
“Let’s go,” I said. “I’ve got my lightsaber ready.”
THIRTY-THREE
Olivia and I decided to talk to the studio’s security personnel before dealing with the aliens. As we walked through the backlot, I saw Cynthia McFadden behind the security tape. The reporter, a friend of mine, waved to me. I told Olivia that I’d catch up with her in a couple minutes if she could arrange for us to meet with the head of security.
“Looks like you’re having a busy day,” Cynthia said, after I walked over and we exchanged greetings.
“’Fraid so.” I lifted the security tape and asked her to join me to get away from the other reporters and spectators. We went over to an employee outdoor lounge, where we took seats.
“I’m not going to ask you anything more than I already know,” Cynthia said, after we’d settled in.
My friend was slender, with dark hair and flawless skin. She could have been a model in another life.
“Maybe you should tell me what you know,” I said. “I might learn something.”
“Some sources here at the studio are saying that Brad Novak died of a drug overdose sometime early this morning. A reporter he was involved with found the body. Everybody thinks it was something more than an overdose, otherwise Homicide wouldn’t be here.”
I smiled. “Off the record, I’d say your sources are pretty accurate. If we get anything else I can pass along, I’ll let you know.”
“I’ve also heard rumors about Novak having kinky sex parties and affairs. Your standard Hollywood stuff for actors.”
“Anyone in particular you’ve heard about?”
“Still waiting on some sources to come through. If I hear anything worthwhile, I’ll let you know.”
“I appreciate that.”
“I heard you recently spent some time working the Angel case,” she said, changing the subject.
“It’s been a busy few days.”
“Rumor has it your suspect has been working with his mother, who ran a school for unwanted children back east.”