14
"Ms. Calemon..." Warren said as he looked over a file as he entered the room, "seems you've been busy." He approached Uncle Roy who was standing opposite of Calemon sitting at the interrogation table.
"I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know why I'm still here. I've done nothing wrong," she said as she sat there with her arms folded.
Warren and Uncle Roy looked at each other. Warren continued, "Well, we need to clarify a few things. Like why you're prints are on Laci Summer's missing necklace, why you bailed out Nick Peterson, how your wedding planner ended up in Laci Summer's hands, just a few items like that. Don't worry Nick Peterson and John Witman will be helping us..." Her brows shot up as he continued, "as a matter of fact, Mr. Witman is in right now with my superior giving his official statement. You see, this is how it works...whoever talks first, gets the deal with the D.A. and right now you have all of about a minute to start talking or Witman there is going to get everything and you will be left alone to carry the full weight of the crimes, and I can assure you, you don't want to have to face murder charges alone."
"Murder?" she almost shouted in panic, "What do you mean murder? He murdered someone?"
"Oh come on...you know exactly what he did because you told him to do it! How many, huh, how many more accomplices do you have out there?" Warren asked with his voice raised as Uncle Roy looked at him confused.
She started crying and shaking, "I don't know what you're talking about...I never told him to kill anyone, he was only supposed to scare them, that's all. He was supposed to scare them and I would ruin their stupid wedding day, that was it. I don't know about him killing anyone, I swear...I swear..." she broke down bawling.
Warren asked, "What about Nick Peterson...you were setting him up for it, weren't you?"
She cried harder, "Yes, yes, but that was it...no murders...just making it harder for her to take him away from me...that was all I was trying to do."
Warren and Uncle Roy saw they weren't going to get any more out of her right then so they left the room and met up with Hoyt and Matt. Hoyt asked, "Did you get anything?"
Warren answered, "A confession to sabotaging the wedding and telling Witman to scare them and framing Peterson, but nothing that links them to the serial killings. Which might make things much more difficult now." He said as he shook his head.
The other three men looked at each other puzzled and Matt spoke up, "Why would things be more difficult now?"
Warren looked up at them and it dawned on them they had not heard. He took a deep breath and told them, "There's been another murder, this time on the boardwalk by that bridge. A 19 year old girl was jogging when someone on a motorcycle came up behind her and hit her on the head with a heavy object. She fell, dead into the water. She was wearing a Laci and Blaze t-shirt that was given away as a promotion about a week ago."
All three men closed their eyes and Hoyt asked Matt, "So where do you want to start looking now?"
Matt rubbed his neck and said, "I don't know...what time is it?" He was exhausted.
Hoyt looked at his watch and said, "Almost 10...what a day...thought we could close this one out." He patted Matt on the back and told him, "Go home...We'll call if we learn anything more."
Matt and Roy nodded to each other and the two left in their separate cars.
C.J. leaned over the toilet to throw up again. She was feeling worse and worse and nothing she did seemed to help. In fact she had knocked over the tea she bought just trying to get to the bathroom as fast as possible. So much for that nice cup of chamomile tea she bought earlier. She didn't even get to drink a quarter of it and now she was losing what she had drank.
She laid down, holding her stomach and just praying the pain would go away soon and she could get some sleep. She had noticed the sun go down and wondered where Matt was. No one had called and she hoped he would be home soon.
She heard the door open and him make his way to the bedroom. The light was on in the bathroom so he didn't panic right away when he didn't see her in the bed. He decided to peek in and was about to tell her he was home when he saw her on the floor, curled up in a ball.
"C.J., C.J., honey what's the matter?" He asked as he knelt down, not quite sure if he should be helping her up as she was moving to do that or tell her to stay put while he called an ambulance.
She swallowed and reached up to him and said, "I'm sick...very, very sick." She was almost pulling on him as she really couldn't stand under her own steam.
He grabbed her around her waist to help her to a standing position before picking her up and carrying her to bed. He asked her, "Ok, how about I call Carol..." as he put her down and then picked up the phone.
C.J. stopped him, "No, Matt, its nothing really, I'm sure. Just a stomach virus. I just need to go to sleep." Matt looked unsure so she continued, "I really don't think its anything serious...but you should probably sleep in the other room, I'm sure this is really contagious, these always are. I don't want you to get sick."
She could barely keep her eyes open and he climbed in bed irregardless and took her in his arms after getting undressed. Whether or not she would notice, he wasn't sure until he began rubbing her back and arms and felt her relax and drift off.
The rest of the night, neither one got much sleep. About every 30 minutes, C.J. would have to run to the bathroom. Matt would join her and pull her hair back for her, hand her a damp rag and then help her back to bed. At about 5:30 or so she stopped vomiting and slept heavy.
Matt rubbed his eyes and looked over at the alarm clock. It read 8:05am and the sun was up. He looked back over at C.J. who was sleeping peacefully it seemed and put his hand on her forehead. She didn't feel hot really and thought that maybe she was right and all she had was a stomach virus. He kissed the back of her head as he slowly got up and went to shower and change.
After gathering his clothes from the closet and putting them on the bed, he noticed her paper cup on the floor where it looked like tea had been spilt. He picked it up and put it back on the nightstand but as he did, he caught a strange smell. He looked at it as he sat it down and thought to himself, 'Why did she go out to get herbal tea when Uncle Roy bought her half the display at the store?' He thought about that as he took his shower.
After getting dressed and checking on C.J. again, he went downstairs and looked in the cabinet where he put the tea. It was all gone. Now Matt was even more confused. He thought to himself, 'Did Uncle Roy move it all when he made her that cup? And if so, why and where did he put it?' He searched around a few more cabinets but came up empty handed.
He scratched his head and went over to the little window by the phone. For some reason, the window was open. He looked around for a second and then went outside and looked around but saw nothing. Then he came back in and shook his head before going back upstairs.
C.J. had rolled over and as Matt came in the bedroom, her eyes fluttered open. He sat down on the bed as he put his watch on and told her, "Now you just take it easy today and rest...I think the worst of your virus is over but you really need to relax...Are you hungry?"
She shook her head and laid back as she said, "No, not right now. I'll eat later. I'm so tired." She closed her eyes again and Matt tucked the blankets around her. He kissed her forehead and told her, "I'll be back soon. I want to check in with Hoyt and see if they have any new information on our case. It looks like we've wrapped up part of it..." He started to tell her about Calemon and Witman confessing to the harassment when he noticed she had fallen asleep again. He kissed her forehead and quietly picked up the rest of his things and headed out after locking the doors and setting the alarm.
Hoyt and Warren were already in and Matt found them easily enough in Hoyt's office. The men were discussing the case rather loudly. Matt heard Hoyt first, "I know that doesn't make sense! None of this makes sense!"
Both Hoyt and Warren took a deep breath as Matt walked in. He said, "Don't let me stop you two."
They looked at each other and Warren filled Matt in, "We can't find a connection between the harassment and the murders and now...well...now we have another statement from the killer. It was delivered like the first one to Romanes' station." He handed Matt a photocopy of a note left by the killer where he used magazine letters to write like a ransom note.
Matt read the note, You can't stop me, I'm a killing machine Better tell the kiddos the holiday is over! He handed it back, but something about it struck him as familiar.
Warren saw that puzzled look on Matt's face and asked, "What is it?"
Matt took a deep breath, "I don't know. Seems like I've heard this before or at least the tone somewhere, but I don't know where."
Warren then said, "Well I wish you did have an insight or some kind of link. We can only link Calemon and Witman to the harassment, not the serial killings. In fact the only common denominator with the serial killer is C.J."
Matt's brows went up immediately, "What do you mean, the only common denominator is C.J.?"
Hoyt and Matt both looked at Warren who told them, "C.J. found the first victim, she was jogging in the same park our next two victims were found in, she was waiting at an intersection and saw the third killing, and then there was the murder yesterday with the motorcyclist on the boardwalk...C.J. was walking to buy a cup of hot tea or coffee when she saw it happen. She dove into the water and pulled the victim out...Didn't she tell you?"
Matt blinked multiple times, "No, she didn't, she was too sick to do anything last night..." He closed his eyes, "Probably from jumping into the water with strep throat." He shook his head. He said, "I don't like this, I don't like this one bit."
He almost threw open the door and Hoyt hollered out, "You gonna tell us where you're going?"
Matt looked back but kept walking as he said, "Home, I'm not leaving her alone until this guy is caught." He got almost out to his car when it hit him and he whispered, "...a killing machine, no a murder machine..." He then ran back inside.
Hoyt and Warren were both surprised to see Matt coming running back in, "Its Roy Turner, he's the serial killer."
They both looked at him and Hoyt asked, "What? Roy Turner? He was convicted of theft right and lying? Why do you think he's our serial killer?"
Matt answered, "He's been stalking C.J. I know it..." He then explained the whole history behind Roy Turner and C.J. including the initial trial, investigation, and parole hearings. Then he told them, "He sent her flowers when he got out and he's been hanging around the office. Hoyt, he called himself the 'Murder Machine' that time. He's doing it for real this time."
He walked over to the large board with crime scene photos of all the victims but then stopped suddenly and turned back to them, "It all makes sense...his health would make it impossible for him to overpower any of these victims. Look at how they all died...the first one was knocked out before electrocuted. Now he has the strength to pick the woman up but not subdue her, that would be where he would need to use the chloroform. Then the two next victims were poisoned, again, he wouldn't need to overpower anyone. The third one was hit by a car and the last by someone on a motorcycle. Don't you see, he hasn't needed to overpower anyone."
Warren then added, "And it matches his with his previous case, the psychology of it all...Yes, Lt. Hoyt I have been listening to those psychologists...Turner tried to gain fame by riding on the work of someone else, in that case before it was the murder of 4 innocent kids. This time someone was harassing these two DJs and that was made public with the first threat...he probably heard it in prison and then saw that as his opportunity." He then speculated, "He's put C.J. into this though...Houston, how long was C.J. going to those spas before last week?"
Matt answered, "She had been going to them a couple of times a week for a couple of months now, but never the same one twice."
Warren then asked, "She had to make an appointment though, right?" Matt nodded his head and Warren kept going, "It would be easy enough to call around and find out where she was going. She told me she jogs in that park all the time, Turner could have seen her doing that. He also could have followed her in a car that day when he hit that boy...the only thing that is off here is the murder yesterday on the boardwalk...she told me she didn't know she was going out at all until right before it happened when she discovered she was out of tea or coffee or something."
Matt ran his hand through his hair, "The tea...We weren't out of tea, Uncle Roy bought half the store yesterday..." he caught himself. He couldn't find it this morning either and initially when saw the window open he thought, 'well maybe someone stole it, but that would be stupid for someone to break in to steal tea'. However, if someone wanted C.J. to get up and leave, it wasn't stupid.
"He's been in the beach house." He looked at the two men, "He took out all the tea and that meant C.J. would leave if she really wanted it. If he's been watching her as close as I think he has, he would know she'd do that...That means he can get in and right now she's so sick..." as that realization hit him, he ran out again to his car and sped off.
He was speeding to get back and trying to reach her by phone at the same time. She wasn't picking up and that just sent him into greater panic. "Please, C.J., please, pick up the phone and tell me you're alright..."
C.J. slowly stirred as she heard the phone ring. She felt a little better, at least the stomach virus was gone, but her throat had moved way beyond sore now. She reached the phone just as it stopped ringing. Sighing, she drug herself out of bed and went into the bathroom, splashing water on her face. When she looked up, she saw Roy Turner behind her.
"Why hello there pretty thing, how are you feeling this morning?" Turner said as he tried to pin her to the sink.
C.J. wasn't going to panic here, she knew she could take him down if she needed to. She asked him, "What are you doing here...you're trespassing."
He laughed, "Oh I'm going to do more than just trespass..." he reached up to feel her hair and she turned her head away from him. He got angry and said, "This will serve you right for what you did to me. And when I'm done, the media will be all over it. They'll want exclusive interviews, book deals...people will come from all over to get look at the Monster of L.A." He said that as he breathed right into her face.
What C.J.'s body lacked in strength, her mind more than made up for in alertness. She knew his medical condition and hit him in all the right places with two well chosen self defense moves. As she pushed him away from her she ran out of the bathroom, bedroom and down the stairs. But as she hit the bottom, she got dizzy and fell. The next thing she knew Turner was coming down the stairs with a large pocket knife. He told her, "You'll be sorry you did that..."