At the precinct
Ella paged through podcasts their missing college student had made and the information she had used to prepare for them. She and her co-host had made heavy use of online entries made at the time by a group of amateurs referred to as Web Sleuths, picking apart the wild leaps of logic that they used to tie things together. "This is why police don't like amateur sleuths, isn't it?" she asked Dan, who was working his way through a background check of the Bradley family. "They really don't have a clue about how to investigate anything but it didn't stop them from making some pretty wild accusations. Annalise and Mr. McIntyre really ripped them apart in their podcasts."
Dan shrugged. "Not all tips from the public are necessarily bad though I have to admit – from what I heard of that group they probably were worse than the podcasts made them out to be. But Dr. Harris telling us that Annalise and McIntyre were working these things together makes this case much more complicated. I have to wonder what McIntyre's interest in the Cecil was - or was it an interest in Annalise?" He eyed his screen with a frown. "His boss's family is making for interesting reading too."
"How so?" she asked, inching her chair over slightly. "Do they have a link to the Cecil?"
"Not that I have found yet. Bradley's father and grandfather were famous for having made a fortunes in investments leaving the family more than a little well off. Bradley's parents died in the late 1990's in a car crash leaving just Bradley and his sister to inherit." He frowned at the screen again and pecked at the keyboard. "That's interesting."
"What?" Ella asked, squinting at the display.
"I said I couldn't find a link between Don Bradley and the Cecil but there is a slight one between someone else in the family. Bradley's sister Adele married a guy she met in school – an exchange student named Manuel Herrera. His family owned a small recording studio in Mexico and after graduation he and his wife returned there to manage it. Seems Manuel was something of a musician himself and was able to attract talent to the studio because of it. Adele's had a son prior to this marriage – product of some unknown relationship. Not Herrera's problem but the new husband was willing to take on raise him as though he was which was why her parents were okay with her marrying someone from another social class. Things didn't turn out all that great in the long run. She and the kid ended up moving to her parent's property in Rome when Manuel died in a gang-related shooting at his studio."
"That's sad but why is that interesting?" Elle said.
"One of the people mentioned as attending Herrera's funeral was a Pablo Vergara, listed as a "friend of the family" in this article." Dan looked speculatively over at the documents Ella had been leafing through. "Why does that name sound familiar?"
"Because that's who those web sleuths tried to pin the Elisa Lam death on!" Ella exclaimed. "The Death metal guitarist who supposedly sang about drowning someone just like Elisa Lam. So Bradley's nephew knew one of the suspects in that old case!"
"Except it wasn't a murder, Ella. The girl committed suicide." Dan leaned back in his chair, running the information through his head. "Adele Bradley knew someone related to the Elisa Lam case. Maybe that's what started McIntyre on his hunt for information about the reputation of the Cecil. Didn't Chloe say something about our vic's wife being in the same sorority as Bradley's wife? Bet that's how he found out about his boss's sister's link to that spooky old place."
"So where is the sister now?" Ella asked, her curiosity peeked.
Dan read through more of the information popping up on the screen then shook his head. "Dead end – literally. She died in Rome last year. Suicide after her son was accused of taking part in some sort of botched exorcism with one of his seminary instructors. No solid evidence that he was actually involved in the event so the kid was released with a warning. After his mother's death he seems to have dropped off the radar." He looked over at the external hard-drive Ella had been working with. "Anything on the information on that drive about Bradley or any of his family members?"
"They are pretty careful not to mention sources for their speculations" Ella admitted. "Probably worried about getting sued. But they do mention their "associate" who was helping with the hands-on research. Someone they said knew a lot about the Cecil and the supernatural stories told about it." Ella looked up at the detective with a frown. "Maybe it WAS Bradley's nephew they were talking to but why would he take such an interest in the history of a spookily old hotel in Los Angeles when he was studying to be a priest in Rome?"
"Kid was helping with an exorcism. He was probably already primed to believe all that supernatural stuff. And if he knew this Death Rocker from his step-father's studio – maybe he thought the guy deserved justice for what was done to him. Sounds like the kind of source this sort of story could make use of. Though why he would kill the person involved in exposing the stories behind what happened in the Cecil is still a mystery to me. And what, if anything, does he know about what happened to Annalise? We need to talk to Chloe."
"I can track her cellphone. If we know what cell tower it's pinging off of we can narrow down whether she's still at the Cecil or moved on."
Dan rolled his eyes. "Or we can just call her and leave a message."
In Bradley's house
Chloe peered into the cool, dark study, mentally sizing up her suspects. Bradley was not a messy drunk but he was obviously hammered, swaying slightly as he moved across the room to his desk. His wife Bertha, back ramrod straight and frown tight with disapproval dropped into a chair with a grunt. Chloe noticed the older woman had selected the one chair in the room designed to keep her in soft, more flattering light. "I'm sorry to drop in without warning but we've got some more questions to ask about our murder victim John McIntyre"
Lucifer pulled out a seat for himself, angling into a position where he could see (and be seen) by both the Bradley's at once. The couple were presenting themselves as perfectly composed yet there was a subtle scent of fear floating over both of them."Yes – your Mr. McIntyre was quite a busy man before he died."
Bradley smiled, eyes slightly blurred from the bourbon he had been consuming. "I should hope he was a busy man. Company didn't pay him to sit around and be idle."
"Actually – what we found didn't have anything to do with your company" Chloe replied, eyes fixed on the man behind the desk. "It has to do with an altercation McIntyre had with a man we now know is your nephew Gabriel and a young woman named Annalise Gibson."
Bradley leaned back in his chair slight, still unsteady in his seat. "Gabriel? My sister Adele's boy? Thought he was still in Rome trying to make up for his mommy's sins." The man's voice turned cruel as he spoke, eyes glittering with animosity. "Adele always was a whack-job and her son ended up very much like her."
"When was the last time you spoke to Gabriel?" Chloe asked, cutting a look at her partner. Lucifer had also leaned back in his chair, hiding his feature effectively in the shadows of the darkened room. Only his eyes, glittering and only slightly red, gave him away.
Bertha shrugged. "He was supposed to spend some months with us but he never appeared. Maybe he changed his mind."
"You were close?" Lucifer asked quietly, watching the middle-aged couple squirm in their seats.
"No – but he needed to leave Rome for a bit. Seems there was some sort of issue at the Seminary he was studying at – something to do with one of his mentors getting shot by the police because of some damn fool exorcism stunt. Since we were his only family I agreed he could come here but as my wife said we've not seen him."
Lucifer looked up at the ceiling, hearing a slight creaking over his head as though someone was walking in the room above him. "Interesting" he mused, tapping his fingers on his knee quietly.
Chloe could feel a coldness creeping up her spine as she formulated her next set of questions. "Did Gabriel know anything about the Cecil hotel?"
"Not that I'm aware" Bradley replied dismissively. "As I said – we're not close. His mother was rather the odd duck when it came to religion. Even claimed when the boy was born that his father was the Devil himself. I mean, really! She was quite mad. My parents were glad to be rid of her and her brat."
Chloe looked over at Lucifer with a frown. "Mr. Bradley, we know your nephew is in Los Angeles. We have a video of him in an argument with our victim and a young woman who is now missing. If you know anything about where he might be found…"
Bradley stood up suddenly. "If I knew anything about him being involved with McIntyre I can assure you my lawyers would be talking to you and not me. Now if you'll excuse me, I'll have to ask you to leave. I have a company to run and I can't do that and deal with the police." He walked quickly to the door and motioned for them to precede him. Bertha, still seated, a blank expression on her face, didn't bother to look up.
Outside, Lucifer stepped up to the car and turned suddenly, eyes sweeping up. "See that?" he asked quietly, motioning to a window. "Curtain moved. I think we can safely saw that little nephew Gabe is probably upstairs, waiting to see what Uncle Bradley does about our sudden interest in him."
"I wonder what that kid knows about his relations that they aren't willing to give him up." Chloe looked back at the Devil with a frown. "Funny thing. Bradley's nephew being in Rome and knowing someone involved in an exorcism. I wonder if his mentor..."
"Would it matter?" Lucifer sniffed.
Chloe took a deep breath, preparing herself for her next question. "So – Bradley's sister's claim that her son was the devil's child?"
Lucifer sighed. "I'm as old as time, Detective. You don't honestly expect me to remember every woman I've had relations with? It's possible I MAY have slept with this woman but it obviously didn't make much of an impression if I did."
"I would think having a son would be memorable – even for you."
Lucifer smiled thinly. "It would be if it were true. But I find that most people who claim their child is the son or daughter of the Devil are referring to their behavior and not their bloodline. In this case – as is true with most of man-kind's antics – the "Devil Made Me Do It' is just an excuse for their own bad behavior."
Chloe sighed, making a note to herself to ask Amenadiel later. "Let's get back to the precinct and see if I can convince the captain to authorize some units to keep an eye on the Bradley home. If Gabriel is here like you suspect then he has to come out sometime." She climbed back into her car with Lucifer and slowly moved off in silence.
Gabriel watched as the Devil and his pet human drove away, a thin smile on his face. Behind him, the door to the guest room was flung open as Bradley stormed into the room. "The police were here – they think you know something about the death of John McIntyre! What have you done!"
"Nothing that shouldn't have been done ages before" the young man replied, turning to face his enraged relation. "You'll see – it will all be for the best."
