A Darkness More Than Night

Chapter 24

Bosch could feel the coffee working in his blood. The second wind was coming. The headache was easing. He was ready. This would be how they planned it, how they had choreographed it. He leaned forward to the microphone and waited for the question.

“Detective Bosch,” Langwiser said from the lectern, “did there come a time when the name David Storey came up in your investigation?”

“Yes, almost immediately. We received information from Jane Gilley, who was Jody Krementz’s roommate, that on the last night of Jody’s life she had a date with David Storey.”

“Did there come a time when you questioned Mr. Storey about that last night?”

“Yes. Briefly.”

“Why briefly, Detective Bosch? This was a homicide.”

“That was Mr. Storey’s choosing. We attempted several times to interview him on that Friday that the body was discovered and the next day as well. He was difficult to locate. Finally, through his attorney, he agreed to be interviewed the next day, which was Sunday, on the condition that we come to him and conduct the interview in his office at Archway Studios. We reluctantly agreed to do it that way but did so in the spirit of cooperation and because we needed to talk to this man. At that point we were two days into the case and had not been able to talk to the last person known to have seen the victim alive. When we arrived at the office, Mr. Storey’s personal attorney, Jason Fleer, was there. We began interviewing Mr. Storey but in less than five minutes his attorney terminated the interview.”

“Was this conversation tape-recorded?”

“Yes, it was.”

Langwiser made the motion to play the recording and it was approved by Judge Houghton over Fowkkes’s objection. Fowkkes had asked the judge to simply allow jurors to read his already prepared transcripts of the short interview. But Langwiser objected to that, saying that she had not had time to check the transcripts for accuracy and that it was important for the jurors to hear David Storey’s tone and demeanor. With the wisdom of Solomon the judge ruled that the tape would be heard and that the transcripts would be handed out anyway as an aid to the jurors. He encouraged Bosch and the prosecution team to read along as well so they could check the transcript for accuracy.

BOSCH: My name is Detective Hieronymus Bosch of the Los Angeles Police Department. I am accompanied by my partners, Detectives Jerry Edgar and Kizmin Rider. The date is October 15, 2000. We are interviewing David Storey in his offices at Archway Studios in regard to case number zero-zero-eight-nine-seven. Mr. Storey is accompanied by his attorney, Jason Fleer. Mr. Storey, Mr. Fleer? Any questions before we begin?

FLEER: No questions.

BOSCH: Oh, and, obviously, we are recording this statement. Mr. Storey, did you know a woman named Jody Krementz? Also known as Donatella Speers.

STOREY: You know the answer to that.

FLEER: David…

STOREY: Yes, I knew her. I was with her last Thursday night. It does not mean I killed her.

FLEER: David, please. Answer only the questions they ask you.

STOREY: Whatever.

BOSCH: Can I continue?

FLEER: By all means. Please.

STOREY: Yes, by all means. Please.

BOSCH: You mentioned that you were with her on Thursday evening. This was a date?

STOREY: Why ask things you already know the answer to? Yes, it was a date, if you want to call it that.

BOSCH: What do you want to call it?

STOREY: Doesn’t matter.

(pause)

BOSCH: Could you give us a framework of time that you were with her?

STOREY: Picked her up at seven-thirty, dropped her off about midnight.

BOSCH: Did you enter her home when you came to pick her up?

STOREY: Matter of fact, I didn’t. I was running very late and called on my cell phone to tell her to come outside because I didn’t have time to come in. I think she wanted me to meet her roommate – another actress, no doubt – but I didn’t have the time.

BOSCH: So when you pulled up she was waiting outside.

STOREY: That’s what I said.

BOSCH: Seven-thirty until midnight. That is four and a half hours.

STOREY: You are good at math. I like that in a detective.

FLEER: David, let’s try to get this done.

STOREY: I am.

BOSCH: Could you tell us what you did during the time period you were with Jody Krementz?

STOREY: We covered the three Fs. Film, food and a fuck.

BOSCH: Excuse me?

STOREY: We went to the premiere of my movie, then we went to the reception and had something to eat, then I took her to my place and we had sex. Consensual sex, Detective. Believe it or not, people do it on dates all the time. And not just Hollywood people. It happens across this great country of ours. It’s what makes it great.

BOSCH: I understand. Did you take her home when you were finished?

STOREY: Always the gentleman, I did.

BOSCH: Did you enter her house at this time?

STOREY: No. I was in my fucking bathrobe. I just drove up, she got out and went inside. I then drove back home. Whatever happened after that I don’t know. I am not involved in this in any way, shape or form. You people are -

FLEER: David, please.

STOREY: – completely full of shit if for one fucking moment you think -

FLEER: David, stop!

(pause)

FLEER: Detective Bosch, I think we need to stop this.

BOSCH: We’re in the middle of an interview here and -

FLEER: David, where are you going?

STOREY: Fuck these people. I’m going out for a smoke.

BOSCH: Mr. Storey has just left the office.

FLEER: I think at this point he is exercising his rights under the fifth amendment. This interview is over.

The tape went blank and Langwiser turned it off. Bosch looked at the jury. Several of them were looking at Storey. His arrogance had come through loud and clear on the tape. This was important because they would soon be asking the jury to believe that Storey had privately boasted to Bosch about the murder and how he would get away with it. Only an arrogant man would do that. The prosecution needed to prove Storey was not only a murderer, but an arrogant one at that.

“Okay, then,” Langwiser said. “Did Mr. Storey return to continue the interview?”

“No, he did not,” Bosch answered. “And we were asked to leave.”

“Did Mr. Storey’s denial of any involvement in the murder of Jody Krementz end your interest in him?”

“No, it did not. We had an obligation to investigate the case fully and that included either ruling him in or ruling him out as a suspect.”

“Was his behavior during the short interview cause for suspicion?”

“You mean his arrogance? No, he -”

Fowkkes jumped up with an objection.

“Your Honor, one man’s arrogance is another man’s confidence in his innocence. There is no -”

“You are right, Mr. Fowkkes,” Houghton said.

He sustained the objection, struck Bosch’s answer and turned to the jurors to tell them to ignore the remark.

“His behavior during the interview was not cause for suspicion,” Bosch began again. “His being the last known person to be with the victim was cause for our immediate attention and focus. His lack of cooperation was suspicious but at this point we were keeping an open mind about everything. My partners and I have a combined total of more than twenty-five years’ experience investigating homicides. We know that things are not always what they seem.”

“Where did the investigation go next?”

“We continued all avenues of investigation. One of those avenues was obviously Mr. Storey. Based on his statement that he and the victim had gone to his home on their date, my partners filed a search warrant application in Municipal Court and received approval to search David Storey’s home.”

Langwiser brought the search warrant forward to the judge and it was received into evidence. She took it back with her to the lectern. Bosch then testified that the search of the home on Mulholland Drive was conducted at 6 A.M. two days after the initial interview with Storey.

“The search warrant authorized you to seize any evidence of Jody Krementz’s murder, any evidence of her belongings and any evidence of her presence in that location, is that correct?”

“Correct.”

“Who conducted the search?”

“Myself, my partners and a two-man forensics team. We also had a photographer, for video and stills. A total of six.”

“How long did the search last?”

“Approximately seven hours.”

“Was the defendant present during the search?”

“For most of it. He had to leave at one point for a meeting with a movie actor he said he couldn’t postpone. He was gone approximately two hours. During that time his personal attorney, Mr. Fleer, remained in the house and monitored the search. We were never left alone in the house, if that is what you are asking.”

Langwiser flipped through the pages of the search warrant, coming to the end of it.

“Now, Detective, when you seize any items during a court-approved search, you are required by law to keep an inventory on the search warrant receipt, correct?”

“Yes.”

“This receipt is then filed with the court, correct?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell us then, why is this receipt blank?”

“We did not take any items from the house during the search.”

“You found nothing that indicated that Jody Krementz had been inside Mr. Storey’s house, as he had told you she had been?”

“Nothing.”

“This search took place how many days after the evening Mr. Storey told you he had taken Ms. Krementz to his house and engaged in sexual relations with her?”

“Five days from the night of the murder, two days from our interview with Mr. Storey.”

“You found nothing in support of Mr. Storey’s statement.”

“Nothing. The place was clean.”

Bosch knew she was trying to turn a negative into a positive, somehow trying to imply that the unsuccessful search was an indication of Storey’s guilt.

“Would you call this an unsuccessful search?”

“No. Success doesn’t enter into it. We were looking for evidence that would corroborate his statement as well as any evidence of possible foul play relating to Ms. Krementz. We found nothing in the house indicative of this. But sometimes it is not what you find, it’s what you don’t.”

“Can you explain that to the jury?”

“Well, it is true we didn’t take any evidence from the house. But we found something missing that would later become important to us.”

“And what was that?”

“A book. A missing book.”

“How did you know it was missing if it wasn’t there?”

“In the living room of the house there was a large built-in bookcase. Each shelf was full of books. On one shelf there was a space – a slot – where a book had been but was now gone. We could not find what book that might be. There were no books sitting out loose in the house. At the time it was just a small thing. Someone had obviously taken a book from the shelf and not replaced it. It was just kind of curious to us that we could not figure out where or what it was.”

Langwiser offered two still photographs of the bookcase taken during the search as exhibits. Houghton accepted them over a routine objection from Fowkkes. The photos showed the bookcase in its entirety and a close-up of the second shelf with the open space between a book called The Fifth Horizon and a biography of the film director John Ford called Print the Legend.

“Now, Detective,” Langwiser said, “you said that at the time you did not know if this missing book had any importance or bearing on the case, correct?”

“That is right.”

“Did you eventually determine what book had been taken from the shelf?”

“Yes, we did.”

Langwiser paused. Bosch knew what she was going to do. The dance had been choreographed. He thought of her as a good storyteller. She knew how to string it along, keep people hooked in, take them to the edge of the cliff and then pull them back.

“Well, let’s take things in order,” she said. “We’ll come back to the book. Now did you have occasion to talk to Mr. Storey on the day of the search?”

“He mostly kept to himself and was on the phone most of the time. But we spoke when we first knocked on the door and announced the search. And then at the end of the day when I told him we were leaving and that we were not taking anything with us.”

“Did you wake him up when you came at six in the morning?”

“Yes, we did.”

“Was he alone in the house?”

“Yes.”

“Did he invite you in?”

“Not at first. He objected to the search. I told him -”

“Excuse me, Detective, we might make this easier if we show it. You said there was a videographer with you. Was he running the camera when you knocked at six in the morning?”

“Yes, he was.”

Langwiser then made the appropriate motions to introduce the search video. It was accepted under objection from the defense. A large television was rolled into the courtroom and placed at center in front of the jury box. Bosch was asked to identify the tape. The lights in the courtroom were dimmed and it was played.

The tape began with a focus on Bosch and the others outside the red front door of a house. He identified himself and the address and the case number. He spoke quietly. He then turned and knocked sharply on the door. He announced it was the police and knocked sharply again. They waited. Bosch knocked on the door every fifteen seconds until it was finally opened about two minutes after the first pounding. David Storey looked out through the opening, his hair disheveled, his eyes showing exhaustion.

“What?” he asked.

“We have a search warrant here, Mr. Storey,” Bosch said. “It allows us to conduct a search of these premises.”

“You have to be fucking kidding.”

“No, we’re not, sir. Could you step back and let us in? The sooner we’re in the sooner we’re out.”

“I’m calling my lawyer.”

Storey closed and locked the door. Bosch immediately stepped up and put his face close to the jamb. He called out loudly.

“Mr. Storey, you have ten minutes. If this door is not opened by six-fifteen then we’re going to take it down. We have a court-ordered search warrant and we will execute it.”

He turned back to the camera and made the cut signal across his throat.

The video jumped to another focus on the door. The time readout in the bottom corner now showed it was 6:13 A.M. The door opened and Storey stepped back and signaled the search team in. His hair looked as though it had been combed with his hands. He was wearing black jeans and a black T-shirt. He was in bare feet.

“Do what you have to do and get out. My lawyer’s coming and he’s going to watch you people. You break one fucking thing in this house and I’m going to sue the shit out of you. This is a David Serrurier house. You so much as put a scratch on one of the walls and it’ll be your jobs. All of you.”

“We’ll be careful, Mr. Storey,” Bosch said as he walked in.

The cameraman was the last to enter the house. Storey looked into the lens as if seeing it for the first time.

“And get that shit off of me.”

He made a motion and the camera angle shot upward to the ceiling. It remained there while the voices of the videographer and Storey continued off camera.

“Hey! Don’t touch the camera!”

“Then get it out of my face!”

“Okay. Fine. Just don’t touch the camera.”

The screen went blank and the lights of the courtroom came back up. Langwiser continued the questioning.

“Detective Bosch, did you or members of the search team have further… conversation with Mr. Storey after that?”

“Not during the search. Once his lawyer got there Mr. Storey stayed in his office. When we searched his office he moved into the bedroom. When he was leaving for his appointment I questioned him briefly about that and he left. That was about it as far as it went during the search and while we were inside the house.”

“What about at the end of the day – seven hours later – when the search was completed, did you speak to the defendant again?”

“Yes, I spoke to him briefly at the front door. We were packed up and ready to leave. The lawyer had left. I was in my car with my partners. We were backing out when I realized I had forgotten about giving Mr. Storey a copy of the search warrant. It’s required by law. So I went back to his door and knocked on it.”

“Did Mr. Storey answer the door himself?”

“Yes, he answered after about four hard knocks. I gave him the receipt and told him it was required.”

“Did he say anything to you?”

Fowkkes stood up and objected for the record but the issue had already been disposed of in pretrial motions and rulings. The judge noted the objection for the record and overruled it for the record. Langwiser asked the question again.

“Can I refer to my notes?”

“Please.”

Bosch turned to the notes he had taken in the car right after the conversation.

“First, he said, ‘You didn’t find a goddamn thing, did you?’ And I told him he was right, that we weren’t taking anything with us. He then said, ‘Because there was nothing to take.’ I nodded and was turning to leave when he spoke again. He said, ‘Hey, Bosch.’ I turned back and he leaned toward me and said, ‘You’ll never find what you are looking for.’ I said, ‘Oh really, what is it that I am looking for?’ He didn’t respond. He just looked at me and smiled.”

After a pause, Langwiser asked, “Was that the end of it?”

“No. I sensed at that point that I might be able to bait him into saying more. I said to him, ‘You did it, didn’t you?’ He continued to smile and then he slowly nodded. And he said, ‘And I’ll get away with it.’ He said, ‘I’m a – ’”

“Bullshit! You’re a fucking liar!”

It was Storey. He had stood up and was pointing at Bosch. Fowkkes had his hand on him and was trying to pull him back into his place. A deputy sheriff, who had been positioned at a desk to the rear of the defense table was up and moving toward Storey from behind.

“The defendant will sit DOWN!” the judge boomed from the bench at the same moment he brought the gavel down.

“He’s fucking lying!”

“Deputy, sit him down!”

The deputy moved in, put both hands on Storey’s shoulders from behind and roughly pulled him back down into his seat. The judge pointed another deputy toward the jury.

“Remove the jury.”

While the jurors were quickly hustled into the deliberation room, Storey continued to struggle with the deputy and Fowkkes. As soon as the jurors were gone he seemed to relax his efforts and then calmed. Bosch looked over at the reporters, trying to see if any of them had noted how Storey’s demonstration ended as soon as the jurors were out of sight.

“Mr. Storey!” the judge yelled from a standing position. “That behavior and language is not acceptable in this courtroom. Mr. Fowkkes, if you can’t control your client, my people will. One more outburst and I will have him gagged and chained to that chair. Am I clear on this?”

“Absolutely, Your Honor. I apolo -”

“That is a zero tolerance rule. Any outburst from here on out and he’ll be shackled. I don’t care who he is or who his friends are.”

“Yes, Your Honor. We understand.”

“I am taking five minutes and then we’ll start again.” The judge abruptly left the bench, his feet resounding loudly as he quickly took the three steps down. He disappeared through a door to the rear hallway that led to his chambers.

Bosch looked over at Langwiser and her eyes betrayed her delight at what had just happened. To Bosch it was a trade-off. On one hand the jurors saw the defendant acting angry and out of control – possibly exhibiting the same rage that had led to murder. But on the other hand, he was registering his objection to what was happening to him in the courtroom. And that could register an empathic response from the jurors. Storey had to reach only one of them in order to walk.

Before the trial Langwiser had predicted that they would draw Storey into an outburst. Bosch had thought she was wrong. He thought Storey was too cool and calculating. Unless, of course, the outburst was a calculated move. Storey was a man who directed dramatic scenes and characters for a living. Bosch knew he should have seen that a time might come when he would be unwittingly used as a supporting actor in one of those scenes.