Chapter 32 - Synthesis and Sneakiness
"Richard Mattingly disavows knowing Ollie at all. He's having someone copy phone records for every extension, including his, and will courier them to us. He's even volunteered to have his secretary go through to look for Ollie's number and advise us if she spots anything before we get the records here."
"I assume they are sending a complete list of the company's extensions with it?"
"I'm not an amateur, Lee."
"Sorry, I'm punchy."
"Any luck with the studios?"
"I'm waiting for call backs. What did Mr. Mattingly know about the insurance policy?"
"Not a thing, he claimed. However, he did know the agent who wrote it. It's the agency that Mattingly uses personally and for the company's executive life policies."
"Would Mel have known this person?"
"Mattingly didn't think so. I've left the agent a message, so hopefully we'll know more soon."
Lee reached to grab a ringing phone, hopeful it was one of the studios. "For you. Sounds Scottish."
"Ducky! I'll take this outside."
Lee and Roger exchanged puzzled glances. They stared at each other and around the room waiting for phone calls that didn't come for nearly twenty minutes until Saul returned.
"Good news?"
"No, not yet, but by the end of the day we may know more than we want to."
"What the devil does that mean?" Lee asked.
"About what?" Roger simultaneously inquired.
A ringing phone prevented Saul from answering. Lee took the call.
"Super. . . . . Interesting. . . . . Can you fax me the records? . . . His application and whatever information might help me find people who worked with him. . . . Probabilities will suffice if you can't give details. Thanks. You're an angel."
"Sweet talked one?" Roger asked.
"Ollie Smith did some work at Universal in the last few years, on a piece work basis. He got booted off his last job there for dealing drugs."
"Like that's considered a problem at the studios?" Roger quipped.
"In plain sight, it can be. Ollie apparently was not sufficiently subtle and he met with a small piece of misfortune: being on the set with a star who is a recovered addict. They threw Ollie off the set and barred him from the studio permanently."
"So who's the lucky one who gets to interview the star?" Roger asked.
"No one. He's back in rehab in Europe."
"Lee, if you are feeling up to it, why don't you drive to L.A. now and call me when you get there. I'll let you know who might be worth talking to from what comes in and see if there are other interviews in the area you might do."
"Why do I get the feeling I'm being shuffled off to Buffalo?"
"I've got too much to do to leave and since Roger may be a target still, I'd rather it be you."
"Hey pal, if I were you I'd check your brakes before you get too far! Maybe look under the hood too," Roger jibed.
"You two are up to something," Lee accused as he headed out the door.
Eight hours and many phone calls back and forth later, Lee returned from visiting three studios where Ollie had worked. He caught up with Saul and Roger in the Officer's mess. "Ollie was something short of a prince. He dealt cocaine and marijuana. He claimed to be an expert at all kinds of endeavors but failed to distinguish himself at any, including stunt work. He was a dreamer with no great talents."
"That's all?"
"He worked stunt support crew on at least two movies which involved the premise of cutting brake lines on a car to kill someone. Apparently he was also very comfortable around firearms. He bragged that he was an expert shot, and he kept trying to correct actors' positioning and aiming. The efforts weren't appreciated by the directors, however. It hardly matters with fake guns or blanks as ammo."
"Ollie wasn't lying about being a marksman," Saul added. "He did a stint in the Navy as an enlisted man. About the only thing he did do well was shoot. He was discharged 'under other than honorable conditions.' Drugs apparently. He lied about his service record on his application to several studios. That said, we still have nothing concrete to tie him to Melanie's murder."
"Not directly, no, but we do have reason to believe that he was at the wedding now. He failed to report to work for the last two days and a camera man on the set was upset because Ollie had borrowed an expensive videocamera from he that he didn't return."
"Okay, that's something to go on. We need to find a picture of Ollie to show to the photographer and wedding guests to see if we can get a positive identification at the scene, one better than drug-addled Mimi's recollection."
"Great, so we have a dead man who could have done it, probably did do it, but we have nothing to prove it," Lee complained.
"I'll admit that right now the case against him is as circumstantial as the one against Commander MacAdam. The important thing is that facts are beginning to break open."
"The phone calls?"
"To a point. There were return calls from Mattingly Industries to Mr. Oliver, but they were only from conference rooms, no one's personal extension."
"Damn."
"Yes, but Mr. Mattingly also called his wife and had her courier their last few months' itemized phone bills as well. He wanted to show us that he didn't know Oliver and save us the trouble of a subpoena."
"Except it turns out that there were calls to Oliver's number from the home phone," Roger smiled.
"Maybe when Mel was visiting?"
"No, the dates don't match up to her calendar."
"Then who? I mean, why would the Mattinglys volunteer those records under the circumstances?"
"Inevitability?" Saul suggested. "The calls weren't just a few seconds, but several minutes long."
"Her cousin Randall! He told me he's been staying with the Mattinglys to save money."
"Correct. We were saving this for when you got back, Lee. The agent who wrote the policy on my life was referred to Mel by Randall. There were two phone calls from Randall's extension at work to Mel this month. Interesting, yes?"
"Yes, and curious too. Randall presented himself to me as very distant from Melanie. How'd he put it? . . . He said he avoided her, that she wasn't about to listen to her 'annoying younger cousin.'"
"You know, there was an entry in Mel's calendar from a few weeks back. Lunch with R. It's possible it was Randall," Roger said.
"Maybe we have a conspiracy between Randall Mattingly and this Ollie character?" Saul said. "What could their common interest be?"
"I don't see one other than they both might have had gripes with Mel. Ollie might have been upset that Melanie was going to pass off his baby as Roger's. Randall resented Mel leaching her father dry while Randall worked hard for the money and the company was struggling," Lee said.
"Yeah, but didn't Mimi say that Ollie and Mel were on good terms as recently as a few weeks ago? Mel might even have hired Ollie to video the wedding," Roger said.
"Maybe, maybe not. Maybe she didn't even know he was there. He was on the periphery behind giant potted plants," Lee said. "Look, I was probably twenty feet or less from the tripod but I never consciously noticed it. I certainly never saw it being used. I'd hazard a guess that Ollie didn't even move into position until after the ceremony started, when no one would be looking in that direction."
"We're circling around the question, gentlemen. What would her cousin Randall possibly get out of a deal with Ollie to kill Melanie?" Saul asked.
"Randall's setting himself up to succeed Richard Mattingly in the business, assuming the business survives the current crisis," Lee said.
"If I may observe something, gentlemen, we have finally circled around to a potential intersection of motives. Passion for Oliver. Money for Randall Mattingly," Saul stated.
"What money?"
"Okay, this involves some supposition on my part. Ollie is the shooter. He's rigged Roger's car, expecting that will result in his death soon. He kills Mel as part of a deal with Randall to split the insurance proceeds on Roger in the near future."
"That doesn't make any sense. The contingent beneficiary on Mel's policy was her dad," Roger said.
"True, but he's going to plow it right into the business. That gets the business through the current crisis. Maybe Richard was next in line to die?"
"Sounds a little far-fetched," Roger said.
"Maybe there's also a policy on Mel that we don't know of yet," Saul said. "What we do know for certain is that there was contact between Oliver and Randall. Why? It's cause for continued digging. Reasonable doubt is all we need to get Rachael off the hook."
"No!" Lee pounded the desk. "Rachael won't let it go to trial."
"How can you be so certain?"
"Lee's right about that."
"We'll keep her under suicide watch."
"That'd require a straitjacket. Besides, you can't do that to her, confine her like that, not after what she's been through!" Roger argued.
"I'd have to agree with the gentlemen, Saul," a man entering through the door said.
"Lee Crane, Roger Cresson, is Dr. Donald Mallard. He's a medical examiner with N.C.I.S.. He happened to be in L.A. for a conference and was kind enough to ditch it to do a friend a favor."
"No offense, but I don't see how an M.E. can help," Lee said.
"No, of course not. I've only recently become an M.E.. I was a practicing physician on the front lines until recently. Afghanistan. Fascinating geopolitical history that area . . ."
"Sorry to interrupt Ducky, but time is of the essence."
"Ducky? Oh, Mallard, right," Roger connected.
"Dr. Mallard, you said you agreed with us about confining Rachael?" Lee asked.
"Well, let's be clear, a straitjacket or anything similar would be a mistake. Supervision, however, remains essential."
"What did you learn?" Saul asked.
"This so-called doctor has been conditioning her using a dangerous combination of psychotropic drugs. Unfortunately, withdrawal from these must be carefully graduated."
"I meant more along the lines of whether Commander MacAdam killed Melanie Mattingly, knowingly or otherwise," Saul said.
"Knowingly, I don't think so. That said, her clarity of mind has been - I shall avoid medical jargon for your benefit - interfered with. Her memories of recent activity are untrustworthy. You could not put her on the witness stand."
"So an insanity plea is an option?" Saul asked.
"Not a good one, I think. I believe that even after she is removed from all but the antidepressant medication, you will still find her driven to suicide if she is kept closely confined."
"What about getting her away from this doctor?" Lee asked.
"It is a fait accompli. Dr. Paulino will not see Commander MacAdam again in the near future."
"How can you be certain?"
"She has been removed from the infirmary."
"Where is she?"
"She is currently with a friend of yours, Lieutenant McDowell."
"He's got his hands full," Lee smiled.
"Commander MacAdam is resting comfortably now and shall remain so for a few more hours."
"What happens after that?"
"I have secured Dr. Paulino's detailed notes. I have cursorily studied them and shall peruse them further this evening so I can recommend a course of treatment. In the meantime, I would prescribe that she be kept close to those she trusts and those who trust her."
"Where is she?"
"She is in officer's quarters, yours Commander Crane."
"Why?"
"Nothing else was available?" Saul shrugged insincerely.
"Roger and I could bunk up."
"No, I would leave the rooming arrangements as is," Dr. Mallard said. "She indicated she feels safe with you, Commander Crane. That's important for her now."
"Why not me?"
"She feels she poses a danger to you, Commander Cresson. That makes her not feel safe with you."
"Oh, I guess that makes sense, sort of."
"Now that we've cleared up that adolescent pissing contest, you two can call it a night. Ducky and I need to catch up."
"One moment, please. Commander MacAdam had a session with Dr. Paulino before we secured her. She was instructed to satisfy a craving. I suggest you gentlemen indulge her as best you can so that she remains willingly in your custody."
"What happens if we don't?"
"I have no magic tricks to break the conditioning and as I said earlier, she must be removed from the drugs at a measured pace or she may face both physical and psychic harm."
"You've left instructions on medicating her in the interim?" Lee asked.
"Not yet. That is why you will need to be vigilant for mood changes, whilst I sacrifice several hours of slumber ascertaining the appropriate methodology of withdrawal."
"Thank you, Dr. Mallard."
"My pleasure. I was spared having to listen to yet another of Doctor Assam's tedious lectures on blebbing, an interesting subject but certainly not for the sixty minutes that he will inevitably take speaking down to the room as if only he can comprehend his topic. For that, I should thank all of you. I also should inform you that I spoke to the county coroner a few minutes ago. Your Mr. Oliver suffered blunt trauma before the fire that consumed his flesh."
"We've had a team out there today looking for clues. Maybe we'll have something helpful tomorrow," Saul said.
"Hard to imagine what anyone could find in that mess."
"Oh, you'd be surprised, Lee. Roger's car may yield some as yet too."