The Peake Sisters
Chapter 9: The SearchesGray and Baxter went to visit Michael Peake and re-discuss his alibi and do a search of his residence. He was home alone much to Gray's disappointment, and not in a very cooperative mood.
Detective Baxter spoke gently trying not to agitate him further, "This is procedure, we will be talking to everyone in the family".
"Listen, I talked to you once and told you everything that I know. You should be out there talking with his little princesses instead of wasting time here with me."
"Who are you referring to Mr. Peake?" asked Detective Baxter.
"Mercedes and Meredith, of course", he responded, spitting out the names, "they were always his favorites."
"If you have reason to believe they or one of them killed your father, we'd like to know Mr. Peake." Detective Gray tried to choose his words carefully, "We want to find your father's killer also."
"Then do a search of their house, not mine."
"Standard procedure, we'll be searching the residences of all your sisters, Mr. Peake."
A uniformed officer entered the home and motioned for Detective Baxter to join him. "We found something you'll want to look at", he said after they stepped outside the room. "There were several boxes of motorcycle gear and leather clothing; however, in one box there was a long strawberry blonde curly wig wrapped in a bag."
Baxter leaned through the doorway and got her partner's attention, "Dan, could you step out here a minute?" After inspecting the wig, they had an officer radio the information to Starsky and Hutch who were at the sister's residence. They then approached Michael Peake about coming down to the station for further questioning, if they were going to arrest him, then they wanted him downtown where he could be handled easier.
"Are you arresting me?"
"No, Mr. Peake, we'd just like to continue our questioning downtown at the station this afternoon."
Meanwhile, a similar scenario was unfolding for Starsky and Hutch as they served the search warrant on the other daughter Theresa.
"Ah… Mrs. Foster, could you tell us again where you were Saturday?"
She frowned, "I've been over this with the other cops, but ok, I was here, we have a pool out back and I was swimming and lying in the sun all afternoon".
Starsky looked at her, picturing her in a bikini lying by the pool, she definitely had a tan, but that didn't mean she got it Saturday. "Was your mother home as well?
"Mother went out to lunch and shopping with her friends."
"Was there anyone else here that saw you, or did you talk with anyone on the phone?"
"Well, I called an old boyfriend to let him know I was getting divorced," then she threw her head back and laughed, "even invited him over for a swim, but he said he was busy," she leveled her gaze back on Starsky, "his loss."
"Uh-huh, do you remember what time that was? And could we get his name?"
"Is it important?"
"Well, we can check the phone records and it would help confirm that you were here at the time of the phone call."
"What the hell, you may even know him, he's a cop too." she said as she walked over and poured herself a drink, "Either of you care for a drink?"
"No maam, we're on duty." Hutch answered.
"Is it presumptuous of me to ask whether you are searching Mercedes and Meredith's house as well? While you're wasting your time here, the real killer could be getting away, you know?"
"Yes, we will be searching their homes as well. Is there any information you care to share with us regarding your step-sisters?"
"No, just wanted to make sure you were searching their house as well."
"What did you say your old boyfriend's name was you called Saturday afternoon?" Starsky pressed, he was getting the feeling she was being evasive.
"I hadn't said yet. but since you must know, it's Mitch Bernet." she said locking eyes with Starsky and watching for a reaction.
Neither man allowed their face to show they knew Mitch, instead Starsky wrote the name in his notepad and he repeated the name out loud back to her for confirmation then asked for the number she had called.
It was at that point a uniformed officer motioned to them and asked them to come upstairs with him. Theresa Peake was living with her parents since she was in the process of a divorce and while searching her room the officer found a long strawberry blonde curly wig wrapped in a bag on the top shelf of her bedroom's closet.
As they were coming back downstairs with the intent of arresting Theresa Peake another uniformed officer relayed the information of the other wig found at the son's residence. "Detective Baxter said they were asking the son to come downtown for further questioning, but wanted you two to meet them at the other daughter's residence before going back to Metro."
Hutch told the officer to communicate back with Detective Baxter about their wig and that the officers would wait with the daughter to bring her into Metro for further questioning as well. Hutch exchanged a look with Starsky.
"I got that same feeling." Starsky responded quietly.
The two sisters sat on the couch in their living room speaking with Detectives Baxter and Gray when Starsky and Hutch arrived. Another uniformed team had been dispatched to the home to assist in the search. The partners weren't sure why Baxter had wanted them present, so they stood back and observed.
Mercedes sat quietly as she had done Saturday, listening and answering the questions put to them. Meredith seemed more nervous, and her eyes were beginning to fill with tears and her voice cracking as she answered their questions. When she saw Starsky enter the room she moved as if she was going to get up but Detective Baxter brought her attention back with another question. Meredith answered the question, but kept her eyes glued on Starsky.
Starsky stood there, eyes locked with hers until he couldn't take it any longer. He broke her gaze, nudged his partner, and walked out of the room, with Hutch at his heels. When they were outside he turned to his partner, "She looks so lost and scared. We have to do something to help her."
"We are buddy; we'll find the killer and the person who's trying to set her up." Hutch reassured him.
Their attention was diverted to the officer searching Mercedes' car trunk as he pulled out a bag and held up a long strawberry blonde curly wig. They had just taken a step toward the car when another officer yelled 'found something' from just inside the garage. The second officer had searched Meredith's motorcycle and found a long strawberry blonde curly wig in a side luggage trunk.
Starsky and Hutch looked at each other in disbelief. Hutch went back into the house and brought Jane back out to show her what had been found.
She stood there looking at the wigs and uttered, "What the hell is going on, Hutch?"
"I don't know Jane, but we'll figure this out. Someone is trying to misdirect us with a wig for each sibling."
Starsky met his partners gaze and said, "Making this a planned and premeditated murder."
The detectives returned to the house and Jane informed her partner of the wigs. Detective Gray turned and started to ask a question, "Miss Peake…" but stopped when both girls turned toward him, "I believe we are going to have to continue our questioning of you and your sister downtown. Would you be available around four o'clock this afternoon?"
Mercedes face showed concern when she looked back at the detectives, "Why, what is going on? What aren't you telling us?"
"I just believe we need to move downtown to continue our discussion. The officers will stay here with you and bring you downtown later this afternoon."
Meredith looked over at Starsky, "Are you arresting us? We didn't kill daddy."
Mercedes put her hand on her sister's arm, "Easy sis, they're just doing their job. They're trying to figure out who killed dad, if there's anything we know we have to cooperate to help them find the person that did this."
Meredith sat down on the couch, "But Mercedes, they're taking us downtown." She looked at her sister, "Dave said that's what they do, it helps to have the person under control when they arrest them. Then all their equipment is downtown for pictures and prints."
Starsky cleared his throat then stepped over to Meredith and knelt down in front of her. "Yes, that's what we do for the bad guys, but Meredith, all Detective Baxter and Detective Gray want to do is talk. There are a lot of unanswered questions, and we have the recording equipment downtown. We'll record your answers and those of your other sister and your brother, and anyone else connected with this case, then we can replay them and compare them. It'll help us piece together what happened so we can find the person who shot your dad."
Detective Baxter watched Meredith as Starsky spoke to her, and got a bad feeling in her gut. This young woman knew how to turn the waterworks on, and it looked as though the curly haired detective was completely buying her act. She looked over just at the moment Hutch was giving Mercedes a reassuring smile. She thought to herself, of course they'd believe these two women; they're emotionally and sexually involved with them.