Chapter 36 - An Abrupt Change of Course
Rachael demolished half a pizza, cold, as Lee nibbled halfheartedly on a sandwich Roger had brought from the mess hall.
Roger pulled Lee aside. "Something wrong, buddy?"
"I just have an odd feeling."
"About what?"
"I can't quite put my finger on it."
"Good or bad feeling?"
Lee shrugged. The phone interrupted them.
"Saul called. He said to turn on KGTV and wait."
Roger turned on the set. The three friends positioned themselves on the couch with Rachael in the center.
"Not my favorite soap opera," Roger remarked. A minute later, the three of them were on the couch speculating and encouraging bad behavior from characters about whom they knew nothing. As 1500 hours approached, they'd gotten positively silly to avert boredom. Near the end of the hour, local news broke into programming.
"KGTV has learned that investigators have solved Sunday's mysterious shooting death of a prominent socialite during her wedding. The alleged killer of Melanie Mattingly was the bride's cousin, Randall Mattingly. He reportedly confessed to a federal investigator and family members shortly before he committed suicide in front of them. An earlier confession by the groom's best friend, a female soldier who had been under medical care for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, has been completely refuted by this revelation. Tune in to the local news at five o'clock on this station for details on this breaking story."
Roger flung his hands around Rachael's neck. "You're free."
Lee hugged her afterward. "Better now?"
Rachael didn't react.
"Rach, what's going on? Why aren't you happier?"
"I'll be back in a bit." Rachael headed toward the bathroom.
Saul called moments later. "You heard?"
"Yes, it was kind of abrupt," Roger said. "Hold on, I'm putting you on speaker."
"It felt abrupt and I was there. Let's just say that Randall Mattingly was beginning to drown in circumstantial evidence. The crooks always think they are smarter than everyone, that they can cover every track. Then they foul up in the most ridiculous ways. All those phone records. Then he used the Land Rover to go to Oliver's place. Can you believe that Mattingly stopped on the way to Palomar Mountain to buy a gas container, which he had the attendant fill for him so he didn't get his hands dirty? The attendant remembered Randall Mattingly vividly because of that, especially because Randall was wearing driving gloves at the time!"
"Did he really tell you everything?"
"Oh, yes, once he was cornered, it was like a brag fest. Randall was proud of how he manipulated both Melanie Mattingly and Herbert Oliver. He recounted in detail how he set the whole thing in motion, first by persuading Melanie to take out the insurance policy and even getting Roger to pay for it. After all, a man in active service like Roger owed his family protection!"
"So I was the real target?" Roger asked as Rachael wandered back into the room.
"Yes, ideas began spinning in Randall's head when Melanie brought you to Santa Barbara meet her family. Roger, Randall had met you before."
"Damn. This was all my fault."
"Hardly. Randall Mattingly had been looking for ways to free Richard Mattingly from his daughter's leeching long before you came into the picture."
"Oh, that's better. I'm just a tool."
Lee and Rachael both laughed.
"What's going on there, Romper Room? I'm trying to tell you the whole story!"
"Sorry, Saul. It's just a bit of a release for everyone. We'll behave," Lee promised. "Go on."
"When Randall met up with Melanie to bring her the policy, he decided to warm up his relationship with his cousin. He took her to an expensive lunch, plied her with a drink or two, and slipped her some spending cash knowing that daddy had cut her off. Melanie responded by opening up a little to Randall about some concerns in her life. The day before meeting with Randall, she had taken delivery of Rachael's personal effects. She was still carrying them around with her because Rachael was expected to visit with Roger at the apartment after the delivery came. Melanie didn't know what to do with the stuff, especially the gun. She told Randall all about Rachael and Roger's line of work, as well as her concerns about Rachael's state of mind and continuing presence in Roger's life. Melanie said that Rachael scared the shit out of her. She was afraid for herself and the baby." Saul paused a moment. "I was waiting to hear the 'thud' that just occurred there, folks. I know it happened when I heard it."
"Thud!" Roger and Lee said together.
"Giant freaking thud," Rachael added.
"So of course it was Randall to the rescue. He offered to take the gun from Melanie for safekeeping and she was only too happy to get rid of it. Randall's wheels really began to spin then. After a few days' thought, he called Melanie to drop a bombshell of his own. He told her that he was quite certain that the baby wasn't Roger's. He doesn't want to hurt Melanie, but if Melanie won't tell him about the baby's real father, he will tell her parents the truth about Roger, quote 'all of it.' Randall assured her that it was only so he could protect the family from any threat, not to hurt Melanie. Melanie was understandably upset, but told him about Oliver anyway. She had some concerns about him too, and she really wanted it to work with Roger. Randall found it quite amusing that Melanie believed she could really change Roger's nature."
"Poor Mel," Lee said. "As if she didn't have enough on her plate already."
"I'm sorry! I might have meant to make her run away, but I never threatened to physically harm her."
"You were freaking scary at times, Rach! You didn't have to make actual threats for her to feel threatened," Roger scolded.
"I'd take it back now if I could. Well, most of it." Rachael got up and stalked out towards the bathroom.
"Do you all want to hear the rest?" Saul interrupted. "Randall approached Oliver to feel him out. When it was clear to Randall that Oliver was still hung up on Melanie, it was just a matter of discovering how far Oliver would go to get her back and what might push his buttons.
It was during a visit to a shooting range with Oliver that Randall learned all he needed to know to come up with a plan. First, Randall was an excellent shot. Second, Oliver had - as you discovered earlier - a rabid hatred and fear of homosexuals.
A few days afterward, Randall met up with Oliver and explained to him that Melanie's upcoming marriage to Roger would be a sham. Melanie really wanted to be with Oliver. Melanie was marrying Roger for money only and had taken a big insurance policy out on his life."
"Anybody who knew Mel knew she couldn't kill a bug, let alone a person!" Roger interrupted.
"That's exactly what Randall counted on Oliver knowing. Oliver ranted that he didn't see what good an insurance policy would do them. Randall then began to pour it on thick. He told Oliver what kind of work Roger does. He could die in the line of duty any day. Oliver smartly noted that he apparently survived doing it for a long time already. Randall them hemmed and hawed about a secret that he wasn't sure he wanted to share with Oliver. Mel wanted Oliver to know, but Randall was afraid that Oliver wouldn't be able to control himself if he did. Randall demanded assurances before he revealed to Oliver that Roger is gay. Oliver cursed and ranted some, but he still didn't show the hand that Randall was looking for, so Randall took things to another level.
He told Oliver that Melanie was marrying Roger knowing he is gay and knowing that he would die soon because he has AIDS. Randall explained it was just a matter of time before Oliver and Melanie could be together and with plenty of money too. That was what Mel wanted more than anything and why Randall was sent to talk to Oliver. Randall has just one concern, one that Mel was a little worried about also. What if something were to happen to Melanie and the baby before Roger died naturally? Randall points out that there have been plenty of cases of accidental transmission of AIDS, after all.
That pushes Oliver over the edge. The words 'I'll kill the bastard before he can hurt my baby and Mel' followed quickly. Randall told Oliver that if he meant it, he had an idea of what to do. He just needed to talk it over with Melanie first, because if Oliver acted without Melanie's approval, Oliver could end up with nothing.
Randall let Oliver stew for twenty-four hours before he got back to him. He told him that Melanie was on board, but has asked two things of Oliver. First, to please make it as quick and painless as you can. She didn't want Roger to suffer."
"Oh lucky me," Roger interjected.
"Second, under no circumstance is Oliver to talk to Melanie directly or they risk discovery. After all, Roger is in the intelligence business."
"I sure wasn't acting like it," Roger castigated himself.
"Well, you may have been blind to some things, but on the whole, I'd have to say you got screwed merely by acting honorably and expecting the same of others," Saul said.
"I wonder if Randall encouraged Oliver to write to Johnson?" Lee asked.
"He didn't say and I didn't want to get too far off track by asking."
"What I still don't understand is how Melanie ended up dead instead of Roger? And how do you explain Oliver tampering with Roger's brake line? It doesn't make sense to me," Lee said.
"Randall's original idea was to wait until after the wedding to kill Roger. He wanted to plan everything out in impeccable detail. Unfortunately, Oliver got a little cocky waiting for Randall's plan, so he came up with one of his own. Oliver knew Mel well enough to know she'd walk before riding in Roger's sedan. The night before the wedding, Oliver proudly called Randall and told him that he'd taken care of everything quietly by piercing Roger's brake line. He'd be dead the next time he drove his car on the freeway.
With two minutes of thought, Randall figured out that the chances of killing Roger that way were remote at best. He felt they needed to move fast, because frankly he was concerned with what evidence Oliver might have left behind. So Randall quickly worked out a plan to shoot Roger at the wedding and frame Rachael for it. Melanie had put the general idea in his head when she gave him the gun. To quote Melanie, 'I can just see that nut job taking a shot at me on my wedding day.'"
Rachael emerged from the bathroom at that point. "Hey, I resemble that remark!"
"A little too true for comfort," Saul said. "Anyway, Randall knew the set up of the grounds from the rehearsal earlier in the week. That gave him a leg up in planning the murder. The difficult part was figuring out a distraction to pin it on Rachael. He and Oliver jointly concocted the backfiring van scheme. Oliver borrowed video gear, and set up a tripod just outside the potted yews so nothing looked untoward if anyone spotted him there. He didn't move into position until the ceremony was well underway to avoid being noticed. Even if he had been noticed, it probably wouldn't have mattered. He could pass for a guest in the tux and no one pays much attention to the photographers after a bit."
"Except Mel's friend Mimi thought she'd seen him, not that the testimony of a coke head was likely to mean much if it came to that," Lee said.
"Come on! You still haven't explained why it was Mel who got shot instead of me?"
"Yes, well you know the saying. 'The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.' Melanie did spot Oliver before the wedding began. She told Oliver to leave, she didn't want him there, and that he would ruin everything. Oliver assumed someone must be listening in and that she was acting. He whispered to her. 'It's okay, baby. We'll be together soon. We'll have lots of dough. It'll be great.' Melanie shook her head. 'Roger's more of a man than you ever were, in and out of the sack. Get out of here.'"
"Excuse me?" Rachael turned to Roger.
Roger stalled. "There was a night when Rosser came to town. I came back home drunk as a skunk. I have a hazy recollection of Melanie crawling into bed next to me, trying her best to get me interested. She took it as a personal mission. I have no recollection of her succeeding, however."
"Truth wouldn't stop her from claiming victory, one way or another," Rachael said.
"Given that Randall pumped Oliver's head full of fears about Roger having AIDS, you can imagine Oliver's reaction to the idea that Melanie had slept with both Roger and him."
"So he shot Melanie instead of me, because of what she said. Jesus. That's just sick."
"Yes, well, but for the gun jamming, there might have been a second shot that took you out, Roger. Forensics just added that little detail to the report this afternoon. Sand in the firing mechanism."
"Sand in freaking everything over there," Rachael complained.
"Let me guess the next part," Lee said. "Randall was upset at Oliver for deviating from the plan, upset enough to kill him."
"Yes, although Randall intended to kill Oliver in any case. After Oliver changed the target, Randall worried that Oliver would come unhinged. Randall knew he had to hurry. Randall called Oliver around midnight. Oliver explained what had happened. As Randall expected, Oliver was distraught and probably strung out too. Randall couldn't predict what Oliver might do next even with Rachael having confessed. So right after the call, Randall hurried out to the La Fortuna Hotel garage where he is captured on time-stamped video leaving in the Land Rover. Then Randall stopped for gas on the way, even getting the attendant to fill a gas can strapped to the back of the car too, a can that wasn't on the car when it returned to the garage later. Careless moves, yes, the gas can and the arson, but even then Randall professed that he wasn't too worried."
"No, of course not. Rachael had already confessed to Mel's murder and her own gun was the murder weapon. When the police eventually would find Oliver's body, who would connect it to Melanie's murder?" Roger asked.
"No one, at least no time soon, is what Randall figured. Yes, he wished there were no phone records to tie him to Oliver, but on the whole, he was still confident. He could explain away the calls and any meetings as dealing with Oliver trying to harass Melanie, and Randall trying to handle the matter to protect the family. Besides, Oliver dealt drugs. He figured the whole thing would be written off quickly by the cops."
"It might have happened just that way, Saul, if not for you," Lee said.
"I had fine help who all believed the same thing that I did."
"That the nut job didn't do it?" Rachael said.
"What a waste. Mel, the baby, Oliver, Randall, all dead," Roger said sadly. "For what?"
"Uh, yes, about that, Roger. Melanie appears on the rolls of Mattingly Industries as an officer, a nominal position of course, but nevertheless real enough. Randall had also arranged for the company to buy a policy worth two million dollars on Melanie's life."
"Okay, but none of the proceeds from any of the policies would have gone directly to Randall. I don't see what he really stood to gain," Roger said.
"The company is a small, family held business. It's Randall's heritage and, in his mind, was his birthright. That and he is, was, the Treasurer and Chief Financial Officer. Chances are his hands would have gotten to the money. That said, I don't think he ever intended anything untoward regarding Richard. He idolized him. He wanted to work by his side and take the company reigns over in due course. He wanted to protect it from Melanie. Randall really had deluded himself that he was doing this not only for himself but for Richard.
When it really fell apart for Randall wasn't when I confronted him with all the circumstantial evidence. It was when Richard failed to show his appreciation for what Randall had done. You could see Randall deflate as Richard grew increasingly upset at him. By the end, Richard was yelling distraughtly at Randall. 'You killed my baby! My joy! My life! I could never forgive you. I hope you burn in hell.' Let me tell you that he meant it. No one could doubt it. That was when Randall opened his desk drawer, pulled out a gun and didn't hesitate before shooting himself in the head."
"I suppose that wasn't the worst result possible," Roger said.
"I'd have preferred he'd done it in private."
"Nasty business to watch," Lee stated and glared at Rachael for having threatened to do that in front of him earlier. "When will you be back here?"
"Late, maybe 9:00."
"Maybe we can grab some dinner out to . . . to . . . I can't exactly say celebrate, but to commend our good work," Lee said.
"I'm not sure I could eat given today, but a drink, for certain. I'll swing by your quarters after I get back and changed."
"Great. Thanks for all your hard work," Lee said.
"Same to you guys too."
Both Roger and Lee glared at Rachael. She'd said nothing, no words of thanks.
"What?"
"You might thank the man."
"Thank you man."
Saul hung up without further word. The friends were silent for several minutes.
"If we are going out, I'd like some real clothes instead of Daisy Duke shorts and a luau shirt."
"I suppose we could get you a uniform."
"Yes, could you make it one that says I've just been let off the hook for murder so watch me drink myself silly?"
"I don't think you should drink with all the medicine you're taking."
"Spoilsport."
"I'll run into town and see if I can do better."
"Why can't I go?"
Lee and Roger looked at each other for answers.
"Let's wait until Saul's back just so we can be certain what your legal status is."
"I'm not certain what it was before."
"Me either, Rach. Sorry." Roger knew better than to wait and pulled out. Lee followed him just outside the door. "Keep a close eye on her, Lee."
"I had the same thought. That feeling I had. Things just went our way, but I don't feel completely settled about it."
"It was rather a clunker. Maybe it's because we weren't there for the ending?"
"Maybe, although I'm glad I missed it. Hmmm. Looks like Rachael's personal master-at-arms hasn't been called off yet." Lee scratched his chin wondering.