“Deal… okay, let’s talk about Monte’s weapons.”
“That I can tell you about. He’s got tons of them. Rifles, shotguns.”
“We’re primarily interested in handguns.”
“Those, too.”
“Which one did he use to shoot Des Backer?”
“I have no idea.”
“We recovered a.22-caliber slug from Des’s head. Does Monte have a.22?”
“That would be a smaller gun?”
“For the most part.”
“He has an entire box of small guns, Lieutenant. Keeps them all loaded, keeps the box on the floor of our bedroom closet. Right next to my shoes, I’ve had nightmares.”
“About…?”
“His temper, what if he goes crazy, it would be so easy for him to just-he also keeps one loaded in his nightstand. Sometimes I have literal nightmares-crazy dreams but they seem so real.”
“Tell me about them.”
“It’s the same dream, over and over. There’s a fire in the house and it spreads to the closet, the guns get ignited by the heat and start going crazy, shooting off randomly, there’s no escape. I wake up sweating, my heart’s pounding. One time I woke him up, wanting some comfort. He told me to shut the fuck up, go back to sleep.”
“Prince Charming.”
“I’ve gotten in so deep, Lieutenant. It’s like finding yourself in a hole with no way to climb out.”
“We’ll get you out-so Monte keeps a whole box of small loaded guns.”
“Yes, sir.”
“What about larger-caliber guns?”
“I’m sure. I’ve never taken a close look, don’t like firearms.”
“Don’t go to the range with Monte?”
“No, he goes by himself.”
“Reason I’m asking about a large-caliber gun is one was inserted in Doreen’s vagina. Before he strangled her.”
“Omigod, even for Monte that’s brutal.”
“Want another tissue, Lara?”
“Yes, please.”
“So… Monte never talked about what he did to Doreen. The big gun.”
“No, no, never.”
“What did he say about what happened up in that turret?”
“Nothing… he just came back home and told me he’d done it.”
“Done what?”
“Taken care of Des and Doreen-his words. ‘I took care of them.’ I was too terrified to talk about it.”
“You must’ve wondered why he’d do something like that.”
“Of course.”
“Did you come up with any theories?”
“There are no logical theories, Lieutenant. Nothing justifies murder.”
“Well, that’s true… what I’m getting at is, did you think about that old grudge? Lynx hairs? Could revenge have been Monte’s motive?”
“Doesn’t that seem out of proportion?”
“Like you said, murder always is. But did it occur to you?”
“Not really.”
“Not really… Okay, so we’re making good progress here, painting a picture. So to speak… there is a small problem, though, Lara. Nothing serious but you deserve to know.”
“Know what?”
“We’ve got Monte in custody and he tells a different story.”
“What does he claim?”
“That you planned the whole thing. That it was your grudge-Doreen and Des ratting you out on the lynx hairs and screwing up your medical career. That Doreen and Des split after they sold you out but you put it together because they were the only ones other than you and Monte who knew.”
“No, no way, it’s Monte’s grudge. I’d already changed my mind about medicine.”
“I’m just passing along what Monte’s saying, so you can give me something to work with… for example, he claims it wasn’t some chance meeting that got you together with Des and Doreen. They tracked you down, learned you were in L.A. from someone in Seattle, couldn’t find you under your own name but figured out you might be using your mom’s maiden name ’cause you’d done that before. You do have a Facebook page and Monte doesn’t.”
“I don’t know how they did it but it was Monte they contacted.”
“That Sunday in Venice.”
“Yes.”
“But maybe it wasn’t an accidental thing-Monte running into them.”
“Guess not.”
“Well, at least that matches with Monte’s story. Except he’s claiming you were there, arranged for him to meet up with them. Because you had experience with explosives as much as he did-all of you did-and Des and Doreen were trying to get hold of some help on a job.”
“I don’t know anything about any of that.”
“Monte also says the deal was for the four of you to split a hundred thousand.”
“No way.”
“You know about the fifty thousand Desi got paid. The half he was supposed to share but didn’t.”
“No, I don’t.”
“But you can figure out what I’m talking about.”
“Some kind of payoff?”
“For expertise and equipment-vegan Jell-O, for example.” Silence.
“You do know what that is?”
“I’ve heard of it. A long time ago.”
“Never used it.”
“No way!”
“Makes sense, why would you… I just need to sort out Monte’s story from yours, he’s the one with the violent streak, he’d obviously say anything to save his own skin.”
“The guns are his, I’ve never owned a gun.”
“I’m sure that’s true-”
“I can’t stand firearms. That’s why I’m C.I.’ing, not working in the ballistics lab.”
“Makes sense… let me check something… okay, here it is. Speaking of ballistics, here’s a report. We found Monte’s box exactly where you said it was, so I know you’ve been truthful about that and I appreciate it. Unlike Monte, who’s spinning a yarn about having no clue. Like we’re not going to find it.”
“He can be that way.”
“What way?”
“Mindless. Denying.”
“I’ll bet… anyway, we found the box and recovered the.22 that was used to shoot Des Backer. Unfortunately it’s your fingerprints that are on it, not Monte’s.”
Silence.
“Lara?”
“That makes absolutely no sense.”
“That’s what I told the lab, so they ran the prints again-yours are on file because when you got the job they printed you and we obtained Monte’s when we arrested him. His are all over the box. And some of the other guns. But not that one.”
“Oh, wow-I just figured it out. After Monte came back he gave me the gun to put away. I didn’t want to be an accessory, even after the fact, but you don’t defy him. He’d just murdered two people, for God’s sake.”
“So you stashed the gun.”
“Right back in the box. I’m sure you found it on top.”
“That’s exactly where we found it.”
“I wanted it to be obvious. So if someone ever searched, they’d see it.”
“You figured we’d search.”
“I was hoping. Unfortunately, I wasn’t thinking straight, didn’t glove up. Not that I could’ve gotten away with it, Monte was right there.”
“Monte stood there and ordered you to stash the gun.”
“He could’ve done it himself but he was into domination.”
“Ordering you around.”
“Constantly.”
“Must’ve been hard, Lara.”
“It was soul-eroding.”
“Same for carrying around the knowledge of what Monte did and not being able to tell anyone.”
“Everything I’ve done since the night he told me has been a form of self-defense, Lieutenant. When I met you, at the scene, I thought you might be someone who could help me but… taking that step… I should’ve done it sooner, I’m sorry. Thank God I finally did.”
“Let’s talk about that first time, Lara. How’d you come to work the Borodi scene?”
“I was up next. I’ve never been a big believer in coincidences but I’m starting to change my mind because lately my life’s full of them.”
“Like meeting up with Monte at the campsite.”
“Exactly. Like Monte bringing Des and Doreen into our lives. He must’ve been plotting revenge for years.”