The fifth sniper attack
Anastasia's viewpoint
The call had come in pretty much as expected, a little later than we'd feared but earlier than hoped. Natalie and I had been up early, got ready for work and then sat around talking, waiting for the call. We were about to hop in the car for the drive to work when despatch rang Nat, so we changed direction, arriving at an unremarkable single story house in a nice suburb, all neat lawns and flower beds with two hatchbacks in the driveway.
As we pulled up, I saw Maura and Jane getting out of their car ahead of us, with Chief Johnson arriving just behind us. A few other Crown Vics behind her announced the arrival of the rest of Major Crimes, though I could see Flynn already here, standing near the door talking to some uniforms.
We gathered around the Chief, who bade us a quiet welcome before leading us up to the front steps where Flynn was waiting.
"Morning Chief, got another bad one" The Chief nodded before reaching out and picking a set of gloves and shoe protectors from boxes sitting near the door, grabbing a set for herself before passing the boxes to Gabriel to pass around.
"Well, please don't keep us waiting Lieutenant, what are we looking at" Looking at Flynn, I thought I detected a reluctance in his face, I wondered what was so bad about this compared to the others, they'd all been pretty terrible. Out came the inevitable notebook as he relayed the details.
"Victim's name is Iris Park, age 27, a porn, excuse me, adult actress; she shares the house with another porno star, a Kathy Shorten. They perform under the names Tiffani Tang and Brooke Linn" Flynn looked up, but their stage names meant nothing to the Chief, or most of the rest of us for that matter, though I did see Sanchez's eyes widen at their names.
"Apparently they were in a relationship, because at approximately 6.54 this morning, while engaged in sexual intercourse, Ms Park was shot through the window of their bedroom, killing her instantly" I winced and I wasn't the only one. I felt Natalie's hand seek mine out and give it a desperate squeeze.
"Ms Shorten was physically unharmed but she's nearly catatonic now. The first officers on the scene responded to several neighbours' calls about a woman screaming inside the house. When they got here, they kicked the door in, to find Ms Shorten covered in her girlfriend's blood and brains, screaming in the bedroom, cradling the body" Natalie's hand convulsed on mine, painfully tight. I flicked over to her face but she was trying to keep it blank, though I could see the pain in her face.
I noticed everyone's face tighten in response to Flynn's matter of fact delivery, even if he wasn't as calm as he was trying to sound.
"Oh my lord" The Chief's voice, low and pained, said it all.
I held tight to Natalie's hand, noticing Maura's hand resting on Jane's arm. I shook my head; I couldn't imagine the woman's pain, losing her lover like that.
"The first units on the scene couldn't calm her, she was attacking anyone who came near her or the dead woman's body so the first EMTs to arrive had to sedate her to get her out of the room" He sighed. "It took three officers and two EMTs to hold her down long enough to give her the shot, she's now apparently catatonic, completely shut down, one for the shrinks now I guess" Brenda shook her head, before turning to us all and gesturing inside.
"Well, let's get to it people, we owe it to Ms Park and the other victims to do our best."
We traipsed in, giving our names to the officer inside the door. The house seemed neatly furnished, nothing fancy but clean and tidy. Nothing in here gave any indication of the occupant's profession, until we passed a large movie poster with two attractive women, one Asian with blonde highlights, the other a fake redhead, both facing away, dressed in lingerie, looking back over their shoulders at the camera. The movie title was 'Shameless Arousal' and featured the names Tiffani Tang and Brooke Linn. Perhaps it was the first movie they starred in together, maybe.
I noticed some drug paraphernalia on the living room coffee table, hardly surprising really, given our victim's professions. I understood that the industry involved a lot of that; god knows I'd want to be drugged off my face to fuck strangers on camera, no matter how good they looked.
I saw a hole in one wall and a corresponding hole in the opposite wall. The light interior walls hadn't stopped the bullet, passing straight through several rooms until it embedded itself into the bricks of the exterior wall.
Flynn led the way into the bedroom, where we stood for a moment, looking at the king sized bed up against one wall, that wall now dripping with blood and other material, as was the sheets and pillows, The body lay on the bed, up near the bed head, tumbled on itself, probably where it had been pried from the anguished grip of her heartbroken lover.
Almost as one, we looked out the shattered window facing the foot of the bed, looking at a hillside about three quarters of a mile away, the logical firing point given the trajectory of the holes left in the walls. Brenda looked at me, asking the unspoken question and I nodded.
Maura walked carefully around the bed, leaning over the body, before taking a step back, her professional façade crumbling for a moment. I'd seen her unbothered by all the deaths so far, what had changed? Brenda saw it too, we all did. Jane was next to her in an instant, murmuring to her, too low to be heard with her hand on Maura's shoulder.
Seeming to draw strength from Jane's touch, Maura looked up at the rest of us.
"I'm sorry Chief Johnson; I doubt there is much to be learned from an autopsy" Clearly perturbed, Brenda walked to stand beside Maura, as Jane stepped back.
"Why whatever is it Doctor?"
"The victim was of particularly small build, even for an Asian female Chief, as you can see, the impact of the bullet was… extreme" With gentle strength, Maura leaned in and carefully rolled the body onto her back.
I heard several of the team take sharp breaths as the extent of the injury became apparent, as Natalie spun away, her face buried in her hands while Buzz and David Gabriel looked like they were going to vomit. I had to swallow hard to fight the bile back myself.
The bullet's impact had splattered the victim's head, there was almost nothing left above the neck, just part of the back of the skull, with scalp and hair attached, leaving the body almost headless in the most gruesome manner.
We must have stood there for about five seconds, dealing with the horrific sight, before the Chief called us back to what we were here to do.
"Alright everyone, take a moment, then we process the scene, same as always. There are people counting on us to do this right"
I took a step over to Natalie and laid an arm around her shoulders, before she turned and buried her face into my neck, where I wrapped my arms around her as she trembled and shook.
Normally we're nowhere this open at work, but Natalie wasn't handling it well, so everyone else could go to hell.
Looking around I realised I needn't have worried, everyone else was trying to deal with it in their own way, the amount of blood, the damage, it was horrific, I knew I'd be having nightmares about this tonight, and I wouldn't be the only one. Jane was holding Maura; while Brenda had her head down, eyes closed as she dealt with the horrible images.
None of the guys were staring at us, they didn't seem to be the bigoted type; in fact Provenza caught my eye and gave a gentle nod and a sad smile, getting a soft nod from me in return. I saw David murmur something to the Chief, who nodded tightly, while Tao and Buzz turned away and looked at the wall. Sanchez muttered something to Jane and Maura, getting a nod in return from them both, in fact only Flynn seemed unaffected, but then he'd had more time to get used to it.
After a few seconds, Natalie nodded into my shoulder, before stepping back. Her whisper was too low to be heard by anyone else.
"Thank you Tsarina" I reached out and our hands touched again, the skin to skin contact important right now.
"Always love" A bustle down the corridor announced the arrival of Maura's team, so we stepped back out of the room to give her team room to remove the body, as everyone looked around and took stock.
I was glad I'd come his morning. Natalie mentioned that Maura had told her just having Jane along at the scene had helped her deal with the stress, after what had just happened, I needed to be here for her.
Maura's team were quick and the body was rapidly bagged and wheeled out on a gurney for transport to the morgue, allowing us to be able to make our way back to the bedroom, where Brenda had been standing watching Maura's team at work.
As we walked in I heard some voices drift in from outside, a couple of uniforms talking about the victim as they walked past the window.
"Porn star's eh? Gives new meaning to head job" His partner was equally crass.
"Well, dykes don't give head, but the rug munching must have been mind-blowing, it sure blew her mind"
"All over the wall you mean…"
Their laughter faded as they walked away from the open window.
My fists balled and I felt my jaw clench at their words, not for what they said about lesbians, I'd heard it all before, but the crassness of their words about the victim and her partner, now having to deal with what had happened before her eyes… God damn it.
"Ladies and gentlemen if you please" I turned to look at the Chief, catching a glimpse of the rage in Jane's eyes at what we'd all so clearly heard. In fact most of us looked disgusted. The Chief's face was a calm mask, though her eyes were cold.
"Lieutenant Provenza, would you take a number of Black and Whites and conduct a search of that hillside visible up there please"
"Lieutenant Tao, would you, Sergeant Gabriel and Detective Sanchez please process the house. I would appreciate it if you would assist them please Agent Romanov, as you're here you might as well help out." I nodded.
"Buzz, if you would record anything of interest, starting with the drug materials in the living room; that would be appreciated" She then turned to the remaining members of the team.
"Lieutenant Flynn, Detective Rizzoli, before you start checking on the neighbours, I have a special task for you both if you would be so kind" I looked over, wondering what it was, I wasn't the only one. Her voice hardened.
"I would be grateful if you could convey in the clearest possible terms my deep official displeasure and my intense personal disgust regarding the comments made by those two officers" She looked both of them in the eye. "Please see to it personally"
Andy and Jane exchanged guarded but feral grins before Andy spoke.
"Chief, it'd be my, our, pleasure" I saw one or two nods from the rest of the team as they left.
"Alright everyone, let's get to it"
As Brenda and Maura stood talking quietly in the doorway, Julio and I started in the bedroom, while David and Michael moved in to take a closer look at the living room.
As he started on the bedside table, I opened the closet, finding a really diverse range of clothing, ranging from practical jeans and tops to things that covered less skin than my underwear, plus a collection of footwear that probably rivals Maura's, I'd never seen that many five inch heels in one place before, mostly boots and patent leather pumps, probably what they wore while working I guessed.
As I worked my way through the cupboard I heard a few snippets float in through the window, Jane in particular was in fine form.
"…everyone already knows you're a complete fucking disaster; why in God's name do you feel the need to advertise the fact…"
Flynn wasn't to be outdone though.
"…poor fucking excuse for an emotionally competent human being…"
I looked up to see Sanchez smirking, then caught Brenda's eye, she was smiling at Maura in a way that probably wasn't justified by the topic they were discussing.
"…recommend you for a bout of sensitivity training, but that'd require you to have some shred of human empathy to start with, you couldn't even fake it on your best day…"
Maura was trying to hide a smile and failing miserably.
"…are you naturally this fucked up or do you actually have to work at it…"
I smiled at Maura as the dressing down continued.
"…maybe a transfer to Harbour Division, fishing five day old floaters out of the water might give you time to learn a little fucking empathy, but then again, in your case maybe not…"
The voices started to recede as they moved away from the house.
"… if this is your idea of how to deal with victim's, then maybe a permanent transfer to records might be in order, paperwork doesn't care that you're a crass idiot…"
I looked across at Brenda and smiled.
"I'd call that mission accomplished Chief" Brenda went to say something when she was interrupted by Sanchez.
"Oh. My. God" We looked over to see him holding a really quite decent sized strap-on by the furthest extremity of one of the straps, the dildo hanging swinging below. "It was under the bed, um, it's a…" His voice died away. Of course Maura couldn't let that pass.
"It's a phallus-shaped stimulator equipped with straps, allowing it to be worn by the user, normally, but not exclusively, a female. Commonly called a strap-on, the earliest confirmed uses were in ancient Greece buts its use was widespread, with some suggestions that their origins go back even further, using phalluses made of wood, ivory or stone, probably with leather or even cloth straps"
Sanchez looked less than happy to be enlightened as Brenda tried desperately to hide a wicked smile at his predicament. His next words actually didn't help him much.
"Yeah, it's what lesbians use to get off" Maura however was on a roll, cheerfully oblivious to Julio's increasing discomfort.
"While yes, the traditional usage is between two females, many males allow themselves to be penetrated by women wearing them, allowing them to experience the act of penetration without the social stigma of homosexual activity. Apparently, according to recent studies into human sexuality, the practice is becoming more popular" Julio looked faintly green while Brenda couldn't resist.
"I think the lesson is don't ask questions you don't want answers to Julio" He nodded slowly, holding it out at arm's length, looking at it in some concern.
"Are they always that big?" he muttered.
Unfortunately Natalie chose just that time to walk back into the room, a preoccupied look on her face, just in time to hear his last comment.
"That's really not that large, they can apparently come in much larger sizes" She raised one eyebrow at him. "Why, feeling a little…threatened are we?" He looked offended.
"No, of course not" Demonstrating impeccable timing Maura stepped back into the conversation.
"Studies show that the average male penis in the United States is approximately 5 inches, whereas the average phallus sold in America is 7 to 8 inches in length. Perhaps Detective Sanchez speaks for the male population in expressing some concern, as it would appear that the average male isn't quite measuring up to the…challenge"
I thought of saying something, but was too busy trying desperately not to laugh at the expression on his face. Sanchez turned towards the group at the door, holding the strap-on at arm's length as it swung by the straps, almost as if he was offering it for inspection. Natalie couldn't let it pass.
"Thank you Julio, but no thanks. We have one of our own" I nearly choked, as much at her deadpan delivery as what she said. Maura smiled sweetly.
"As do we, but thank you for the thought Detective" Smiling, Brenda raised an eyebrow.
"Thank you Detective Sanchez, but I won't be needing it either so you can log that as evidence please"
Face quite red, he quickly dropped it on top of the bedside table, before making a show of checking through the dresser.
I looked over at the girls at the door, all of whom were sharing a satisfied set of smiles at Julio's expense, as it took our mind off the horrific scene around us. Finally Natalie spoke.
"Chief, the media's arrived and they're setting up for live crosses, so if you let me know what time you're leaving, I'll time a media conference for the same time across the street so you don't have to run the gauntlet"
"Oh for heaven's sake, is it really all that bad?" She nodded sadly.
"Afraid so Chief, I count seven local news crews, CNN and Fox, plus a bunch of newspapers and radio stations. There's enough there to make it difficult to get through. You might want to get your car moved away down the street so you don't get surrounded as you leave" Brenda looked stunned.
"You're joking aren't you Natalie?"
"Chief, we have a serial killer targeting beautiful women in LA. That alone is blood in the water to the media, especially given all the female celebrities who live here. Its tailor-made tabloid fodder you realise. 'Brad and Ange flee Hollywood to escape sniper terror'; 'Kim tells of her sniper horror', that sort of thing, the headlines practically write themselves" Brenda looked like she was going to argue the toss but Nat kept going.
"On top of that, there's the lascivious nature of this morning's attack, two lesbian adult actresses, one killed while they're having sex and dying in her lovers arms, that's enough on its own to send the media into overdrive when they find out and they will, someone's bound to talk" Natalie paused for a moment.
"In fact I wanted to ask you to put a guard on Ms Shorten, before some vulture gets to her, shoves a camera in her face and asks her how she feels about being drenched in her lover's blood when her head exploded while they made love" I swallowed, feeling the bile rise in my throat again at her words. "And some of them would do it, just to get a reaction on camera" Brenda looked horrified.
"I'll get some uniforms on her right away" Natalie nodded her thanks, before ploughing on.
"Then there's the fact that it's you leading the case Chief"
"What's that got to do with it?"
"You're the highest ranked woman in the LAPD, so you stand out from everyone else. You have an interesting track record here in LA which the media already know about and you're a beautiful woman, footage of you makes good vision on the evening news, which just stokes the public and media's interest even more"
"But that shouldn't have anything to do with it, I'm just trying to do my job is all" Brenda's was getting pissed. Natalie sighed, as we all watched. "Can't you just distract them and let me get on with finding the killer"
Natalie grimaced, obviously realising that Brenda wasn't getting the point and tried again.
"Brenda, you're in the town that spawned the OJ and Michael Jackson trials. They were media frenzies and that's what this one's turning into, I've tried desperately to keep it at bay, I'm still trying but it's getting out of hand. I'm good but I'm not a miracle worker. It's about to get a lot worse too"
"How can it get worse?"
"The media, with limited amounts to go on and looking to fill air time, will start looking at you, your past history and your unsolved cases. If we're not careful your handling of this will become the story, with every retired cop talking head appearing on chat shows to tell them that you're not handling the case right and that these women are dying because of your incompetence" The blood started draining from Brenda's face as the words hit home.
"From there it's a short step to digging into your past, your separation, the issues that Goldman raised, the accusations you faced in Atlanta and your time in the CIA. All of those counter-intelligence interrogations, your work in the Middle East, the Army of Allah case, all of them will get an airing, in the most unflattering light possible"
Brenda looked ashen as she stared at Natalie.
"How do you know about those…?"
"That's not important right now, but if I could find out about it, then they can too. And they will, unless we can change the story"
"Change it, how"
"We need to find the killer, so we can turn the media on them, cause unless you do, they'll turn on you" Brenda's mouth twisted in annoyance and sheer bad temper.
"And how exactly do you propose we do that?" Natalie's shoulders slumped, she'd got Brenda to realise how bad the situation was but she couldn't fix it.
"Brenda, I'm damned if I know. I wish I did. All I'm saying is, if we can't find something, anything to divert them, then despite my best efforts, the media outside? They'll turn from a crowd to a mob; and the person they'll want to lynch, well it might be you"