The Dream of The Broken Horses

7

7:00 p.m.

I'm sitting in a conference room at the Calista County Sheriff's Department just down the hall from Mace Bartel's office. The setting sun paints the opposite wall, covered by framed photos of former sheriffs, with sumptuous light. The result is a reddening of the images, a bloodying. An appropriate effect, I think, considering the material heaped on the conference table in front of me.

A two-foot-high stack of file folders constitutes the entire written record of the Flamingo Court killings investigation. Three additional boxes contain physical evidence taken from the crime scene. An Aladdin's Cave of treasure for the true crime connoisseur; for me, in a way I've yet fully to comprehend, these are ‘the family jewels.’

I spend an hour working to gain an overview. Mace, thorough police professional that he is, has attached a detailed index to the documents. The first one I examine is the write-up of interviews

conducted by a Detective Joe Burns with Dad.

My heart speeds up as I read: DR. THOMAS RUBIN

First interview, 8/24, phone:

Witness states he treated victim Fulraine for depression over past five months. Witness, citing doctor-patient confidentiality, states he's reluctant to supply information about therapy sessions. Witness states that much as he'd like to assist, he must refer matter to his personal attorney.

Second interview, 8/26, witness' office:

Witness states that having consulted attorney he is now prepared to answer questions about victim's psychotherapy in limited way. Witness states he was shocked by victim's death. Witness states he was ‘personally greatly saddened’ as he was ‘very fond’ of victim and felt ‘great empathy’ for her sons, who will now most likely go to live with their father who has been seeking custody.

Witness states he has no idea who might want to kill victim. Witness states it is common knowledge that victim was involved in long-term love affair with Mr. Jack Cody, and that in therapy she occasionally spoke of her fear Cody might lose control if he discovered she was having ‘a fling’ with co-victim Jessup. Witness states victim was not specific about this nor was it clear to him what she meant. Witness states victim's greatest fear centered around possibility her ex-husband would find out about her love life and use said information to gain custody of sons. Witness states that victim, having already lost one child to kidnappers, had long been obsessed by fears of losing other children as well.

Witness states he has no specific knowledge of victim's love-life habits and practices. Witness states his sessions with victim dealt with her ‘precarious emotional state, occasionally debilitating depression, and fear that bordered on terror aroused by a haunting recurrent dream.’ Witness refuses to divulge the contents of dream, again citing doctor-patient confidentiality. Witness adds that in any case, dream is not relevant to homicide investigation. Witness states that if he can think of anything helpful he will immediately pass said information on. Meantime he will review all notes on victim's sessions to make certain he has not forgotten anything relevant.

Witness states he wants it understood his refusal to provide details of victim's private thoughts and feelings is not meant to impede investigation but is ‘matter of principle that I as a physician am obligated to uphold.’

Third interview, 8/27, phone follow-up:

Witness states he has reviewed all therapy notes and has found nothing ‘germane to your investigation.’

Evaluation:

Witness has excellent reputation, seems sincere in his reluctance to breach confidential medical relationship with victim and is otherwise forthcoming in all respects.

Additional notes:

Investigator consulted with supervisor about whether victim's recurrent nightmare was relevant and whether witness's therapy notes should be subpoenaed. Supervisor agreed nightmare was not important and subpoenaing notes would probably result in long legal fight and would not yield useful information.

Respectfully submitted,

Joe Burns, Det.

A perfectly straightforward account of what seems to be a well-conducted police interview. The witness appears sincere and reliable. ‘Forthcoming in all respects.’ Yet I'm amazed at the superficiality of the information and the lack of probing follow-up questions. Surely a competent shrink would know a great deal about his patient's love-life practices, let alone her fears. And where are all the questions about Jessup? Why did she consider her affair with him merely a ‘fling’? Just what did she mean about Cody ‘losing control?’ And if the upcoming custody battle with her ex-spouse loomed so fearfully, why did she engage in conduct certain to assist his cause?

I pull out the folder containing interviews with Andrew Fulraine conducted by Mace Bartel. Mace's notes run more than twenty pages. His questioning strikes me as a lot sharper than Detective Burns':

Witness appeared greatly distraught. Witness wept when shown crime-scene photos of ex-spouse. Witness spoke of ex in respectful manner, expressing sorrow over her demise and effect it would have on sons who, he stated, loved their mother very much. Witness stated that if ex-wife had died in automobile accident or other ‘normal way,’ that would have been bad enough, but that being killed ‘like this’ will probably ‘stigmatize’ sons' memories of her forever.

Witness expressed great shock that ex had been having affair with one of sons' teachers. Witness stated: ‘That's terrible. She shouldn't have done that.’ Witness spoke harshly of Tom Jessup for ‘breaking the trust and faith we place in our children's teachers.’ Witness stated he had met Jessup and thought well of him for his interest in boys' schooling. Witness stated he had approved victim's hiring of Jessup as tutor, tennis and boxing coach.

Witness stated he knew ex had engaged in love affairs even when they were married and this behavior had been primary factor in their divorce. Witness stated he had loved ex, but could not bear to be cheated on this way. Witness stated that ex began to indulge in affairs shortly after their daughter's abduction. Witness stated he put up with it for a while, but reached point where ‘it simply became unbearable.’

Witness stated that though ex was decent enough mother and truly loved sons, he had reluctantly come to conclusion her promiscuity was harmful to sons and for said reason initiated action to gain custody.

Witness stated he was not ‘strict moralistic kind of guy or religious nut.’ He simply wanted ‘very best for my boys.’ He has remarried and his new wife, Margaret, loves his kids as if they were her own. Witness stated he had explained to ex that he had no intention of denying her fair visiting rights and vacations with boys. On contrary, he wanted her to play significant parental role. But so far as day-to-day living went, he knew he could provide a more stable home environment.

I put down the document, then pick it up again. There's a major hole in Andrew Fulraine's statement. How could he not have known about Barbara's affair with Jessup? According to what Mace told me when we met out at The Elms, Andrew had a private detective watching her, collecting evidence to be used against her in their custody battle.

I read on:

Witness stated he was in New York City on business day of killings. Witness stated he was in his hotel suite when he received emergency call from wife. Witness stated that upon hearing news, he immediately phoned director of summer camp in Maine where sons were enrolled to arrange for sons to be escorted early next day to Logan Airport, Boston, where he would meet them and accompany them back to Calista. Witness stated he instructed camp director to tell sons there was a family emergency and their dad would explain it when they all met up following day.

Witness stated he took late evening shuttle to Boston, where he spent sleepless night at airport Hilton, ‘trying desperately to figure out some way to break this devastating news without causing my boys undue pain.’ Witness stated he decided sons were of sufficient maturity that it would be impossible to hide facts surrounding their mother's demise. Witness stated: ‘That morning, telling them what happened was the hardest thing I've ever had to do.’ Witness stated that ‘at first sons took news like brave little guys, but then they both broke down.’ Witness stated that older son, Mark, mentioned that over spring and early summer his mom had become ‘good friends’ with Mr. Jessup and that the four of them had gone out several times to restaurants and twice to Tremont Park.

Witness stated that sons said nothing indicating knowledge of amorous relationship between victims, and that subject has not since come up. When asked how, considering continuing media reports of ‘lovers’ and ‘love nest’ he has kept such information from boys, witness stated that though he assumed they saw news stories and heard details from friends, in his family this was not the sort of matter that gets discussed. Witness stated that when he proposed professional counseling to the boys, both declined. Witness stated that his greatest concern is short-term effects on boys as they ease back into school life.

Witness again broke down, stating that over last few days he has wondered if his family is somehow ‘cursed.’ Witness, sobbing, stated: ‘Five years ago our darling little girl was snatched. Now this. These nights I lie awake wondering what will happen to us next.’

At this point, due to witness's emotional state, investigator postponed conclusion of interview until following day.

Though I'm impressed by Mace's sensitivity, I'm underwhelmed by Andrew Fulraine's WASPy approach to life, his notion that his family certain intimate matters were best left unbroached. Of course Mark and Robin immediately found out their mother and Tom Jessup had been shotgunned to death while lying naked together in a motel room bed. And of course they found this greatly disturbing. How could they not? And of course they found this greatly disturbing. How could they not? Jessup had befriended them, been their trusted teacher, tutor, and coach. Now it turned out he'd also been their mother's lover and possibly the cause of her murder.

The humiliation must have been terrible for them. I remember how we watched them when school reopened that fall, surreptitiously tried to read their faces. Both Fulraine boys put up brave fronts, showing the stiff upper lip that was their heritage. But we, needing to see their pain, found it in their eyes – a glistening up, a turning away when our gazes became too bluff. They knew what we were looking for and expended much effort not to show it to us. But we saw it anyway, for in their hiding of it we discovered its revelation.

The next day, in his continuation of the interview, Mace attempted to corner Andrew Fulraine about his professed ignorance of his ex-wife's affairs:

Witness showed anger when asked why he had not previously revealed that he solicited and received reports from a private detective on his ex-wife's love affairs. Witness responded that now that ex was dead ‘the matter of our sons’ custody is moot.’ When told this was an inadequate response, witness stated he wished to consult attorney. He left room, returned fifteen minutes later, told investigator attorney was en route and he would decline to answer further questions until he arrived.

When witness's attorney, Howard Breckenridge, appeared, he and witness consulted privately. When interview resumed, witness stated he had engaged a private detective, Walter M. Maritz, to collect evidence regarding activities of ex in preparation for custody battle. Witness stated he was seeking evidence that would prove embarrassing to ex so she would yield on custody question rather than have said evidence introduced in open court.

Witness stated he had met Maritz, a former Calista Police Department detective, five years before when he and ex retained Jenkins Investigations to find his daughter's abductors. Maritz had been sympathetic and witness had been impressed by his competence. Maritz had since left Jenkins and opened his own agency.

Witness stated that since hiring Maritz he had received three reports, none of which named Jessup as ex's lover. At this point, attorney Breckenridge handed over copies of the reports.

When asked how this was possible since, within hours of killings, sheriff's Department investigators documented a five-month affair between victims including more than forty meetings at the Flamingo Court, witness responded with disgust that he could only conclude that Maritz had goofed off on the job. When asked why he had retained a man to tail his former wife whom she would recognize from the earlier investigation, witness stated that Maritz had satisfied him on that point by bringing in a second operative for close surveillance.

I put the interview down. Andrew Fulraine, it seems, was an odd combination of sensitive father, old-style WASP, and not-too-bright litigant. As for Walter M. Maritz, I search out his interview, eager to discover how he explained his investigatory incompetence.

Here too the interview was conducted by Mace:

Witness states that in late June he was retained by Mr. Andrew Fulraine to collect evidence of victim Fulraine's promiscuity and bad parenting. Witness states that, since he remembered liking Mrs. Fulraine, he had reservations about taking the job, but agreed to do so because he needed the work and the fee offered, $12,500, was ‘exceptionally good.’ Witness added ‘it's no secret I haven't been doing too well of late.’ In response to direct queries about career, witness admitted he'd been asked to resign from the Calista P.D. eight years previous for drinking on the job and this past January had been ‘fired for cause’ from operative position at Jenkins Investigations.

Witness stated he and O'Neill trailed victim numerous times to Elms Club where she went two or three times a week to meet Jack Cody. Witness stated he and O'Neill interviewed several Elms Club employees, all of whom reported victim and Cody ‘always eat a quick lunch together then go upstairs and fuck.’ Witness stated he had compiled file on Cody so his client, Mr. Fulraine, would know the sort of man his ex was involved with.

Witness stated that client's other activities included afternoons spent at Delamere Country Club lunching with girlfriends and playing tennis, and twice a week visits to Maple Hill Hunt Club where she rode her horse. Witness reported that victim was regarded as excellent tennis player and equestrienne, and over the years had won numerous club trophies in both sports.

Witness stated on several occasions he and operative O'Neill observed victim Jessup arriving and departing target residence. Witness stated it was his understanding, based on interviews with target's servants, that Jessup went there to tutor and coach target's sons. Witness stated he was greatly surprised to learn victims were having affair and that they'd rendezvoused numerous times at Flamingo Court. In response to query as to how it was possible, since he was surveilling victim, he hadn't observed these meetings, witness admitted he'd slacked off on the job.

Witness stated: ‘It never occurred to me she was involved with two different men. Once I got a fix on her routine, I assumed she spent afternoons at one of her clubs, doing errands, or seeing her shrink.’ Witness stated he spent most afternoons drinking and watching baseball games on TV in one of several Irontown bars.

Confronted by the fact that if he'd been doing his job properly he would have been surveilling Flamingo Court day of killings and would most likely have observed killer's arrival and departure, witness stated he wished to terminate interview in order to consult attorney.

Four hours later, Mace resumed his interview with Maritz, this time in an interrogation room at the Calista County Sheriff's Department:

Witness's attorney, Justin Slotnik, stated that his client, Walter M. Maritz, was now prepared to make a statement in regard to his surveillance of Mrs. Barbara Fulraine, who had treated him in a friendly, respectful manner when he had investigated the Fulraine infant abduction. Mr. Fulraine, on the other hand, had been high-handed and arrogant. Witness stated: ‘Far as I was concerned, she was a lady and he was a prick.’ Witness stated he only agreed to accept surveillance assignment from Mr. Fulraine because he needed the money, and that shortly after he commenced surveillance, he phoned Mrs. Fulraine and set up meeting with her at Rusty's Pub in Joslin/Pitt shopping center. At this meeting, he informed victim he'd been hired by her ex to conduct surveillance in order to collect evidence that would prove her an unfit mother.

Witness stated he told her that as much as he needed money he didn't wish to do anything that would harm her. Witness further informed victim he'd invited her to the meeting to warn her of what was going on and to advise her not to do anything contrary to her interests because if she did and he observed said behavior, he would be obligated to report it to her ex.

Witness stated that victim thanked him for warning and offered to compensate him for his trouble. Witness stated he was reluctant to accept money from victim since this would create conflict of interest. Witness stated that as he and victim continued discussion it was clear to both that if witness withdrew from assignment, victim's ex would simply hire someone else to carry it out because he was intent on collecting negative information on victim's lifestyle.

Witness stated that at end of discussion, he and victim reached an understanding: Witness would only report personal information that was already common knowledge, namely that victim and Jack Cody were having an affair. According to witness, victim told him: I'm not married and neither is he, and I'm not a nun and he's not a priest. I'm entitled to have a love affair same as anybody else. So don’t worry about reporting it, It won't harm me a bit.

Witness stated that victim went on to say there were matters in her life that were none of anybody's business and she'd prefer to keep them that way. Witness stated victim offered to pay him an amount equal to fee he was receiving from her ex, in return for which he could be a little careless in his investigation. Witness recalled victim's exact words: "She said I should, you know, ‘fudge it a bit, since, after all, if you don't see me doing something you can't very well report it then, can you?’"

Witness stated out of respect and admiration for victim, he agreed to consider her proposition. Witness stated that he met victim at same location two days later at which time he proposed that victim hire him to look further into abduction case. Victim agreed and paid him $12.500 in cash.

Witness stated: ‘To cover my ass, I brought in Jerry O'Neill who's an even bigger drunk that I am.’ Witness cleared hiring of O'Neill with client who agreed to pay an additional $5,000 to cover O'Neill's wages. Witness stated: ‘I knew O'Neill would fuck up good, and that's just what I wanted. Meantime, I was going to clear twenty-five grand on the deal.’

Witness stated there were several important things he wished to add. First he wanted it understood he felt terrible about what happened to Mrs. Fulraine, ‘as I liked her and respected her very much.’ Witness stated that even if he'd been surveilling her day of killings, he doubted he could have prevented murders. Witness stated: ‘At best I might have seen something and been able to give you some leads on who did it, license plate numbers, stuff like that. But who knows? I could just as easily have been asleep. Nothing more boring that sitting in your car in a motel parking lot with nothing but a goddamn bag of stale chips while folks are making whoopee upstairs.’

Witness stated he wanted it on the record that he did not meet with victim in order to extort money, that payment was entirely her idea. Witness stated: ‘I never solicited a bribe.’ Witness stated that of course he was happy to accept money since ‘I live pretty close to the edge these days,’ but that money was not his primary motivation. Witness stated: ‘All I wanted to do was help the lady who'd been through a hell of a lot and didn't deserve to lose her kids.’ Witness stated that when he accepted cash at second meeting, he told victim: ‘I owe you plenty for this, and I intend to work my ass off going back over ground we covered when we tried to find out what happened to your little girl. Who knows? Maybe something will turn up after all these years.’ Witness stated that when he said this, tears formed in victim's eyes. Witness stated: ‘She took my hand and squeezed it and said, “I thank you with all my heart.”’

Witness stated it was always his intention to honor pledge to victim and he still intends to do so. Witness stated: ‘Soon as the custody case was finished I was going back to work on the Fulraine infant abduction. That's what she paid me for. That was our deal. So, see, I didn't take her money to screw Mr. Fulraine. I took it to do an additional job for her. Meantime, I gave her a warning and offered to do my best to see she wasn't screwed by her ex along the way.’ Witness stated he still intends to carry out assignment on his own time, ‘because she paid me to do it and when something terrible happens like this, no one should be allowed to get away with it.’

Amazing! I put the papers down. The webs of interlocking agendas is growing dense and I've only just started reading through the documents.

Time to take a break. I step out into the corridor, refresh myself at the water cooler. The Sheriff's Department is quiet this time of night. Down the hall the pebbled glass in Mace's office door is still lit up.

Returning to the conference room, I decide to examine some of the physical evidence. I pull on a pair of latex gloves, open the first big carton… and am horrified! It contains the bedding from room 201 – blanket, sheets, pillow slips – discolored, bullet-rent, encrusted with rust-colored stains, which I take for residue of the victims' spilled blood and guts, even possibly of their sex.

I reel back from the table. One thing to imagine the scene, quite another to be confronted by its effluvia.

I close the first carton, open the second. This one contains the victims' clothing and personal possessions recovered from the crime scene: a woman's white tennis shirt, long khaki shorts, underwear, and sandals; a pair of men's jeans and blue denim work shirt, underwear, socks and sneakers; assorted men's and women's rings, watches, wallets, and keys. Just seeing this stuff makes me feel strange. Suddenly the victims are all too close. In my imagination, I realize, I've endowed them with mythic stature. Now, looking at these humble garments, they seem smaller and ever so vulnerable.

I open a third box, find it filled with numerous glassine envelopes identified by neat handwritten labels. Some contain fingerprints lifted from room 201: exterior and interior doorknobs, phone receiver and dial, water glasses, faucets, bureau drawer handles, even the handle of the toilet. Others contain samples of hairs, fibers, various sweepings, scrapings and swabs, four red, ejected empty shotgun shells, and, most distressing, numerous shotgun pellets recovered from the room. There is a treasure trove of forensic evidence here – DNA samples, possible identifiers such as shoe and weapon material – all carefully preserved for presentation in a court of law, still available for analysis by forensic technologies that at the time of the murders did not exist.

I examine the crime scene photographs. Like everything else in the case file, I find them meticulously keyed in Mace's hand to numbers inscribed on the lower right corners: (1) VICTIMS VIEWED

FROM FOOT OF BED; (2) VICTIMS VIEWED FROM NORTH WALL; (3) VICTIMS VIEWED FROM BATHROOM DOORWAY… the list goes on.

The pictures are brutal. It's the harsh colors that makes them so, and their total lack of artistry. It's clear no effort was expended on lighting or composition. These are straight-on, flash-lit police photographs that rob the victims of anything heroic. I barely recognize the neat and undistinguished motel room where I executed by moody drawings. The room, depicted in these photographs, appears smaller, more confining, and totally befouled. I sense the photographer's distaste, his wish to quickly do his job and get out. In one shot I note a reflection in the mirror above the bureau of young, eager Mace Bartel holding a handkerchief to his nose, watching with disgust.

Enough! I prefer my own drawings, my imagined romantic renderings of the scene. When I drew the slain lovers, I wrapped them in gloom; in these pictures, their bodies are etched by a pitiless strobe.

I turn back to the file folders, start reading through eyewitness statements. There isn't much of substance.

Motel office clerk Johnny Powell thought the shots were backfire noises. By the time he turned to look, all he saw was the back of a man in a black raincoat running toward the street.

A Mr. Jeff Slade, vendor of kewpie dolls and other amusement park prizes and giveaways, was returning to his room on foot after a taxing negotiation with the managers at Tremont Park, when he saw a man rush from the Flamingo Court into the adjoining parking lot. He didn't think much about it until a few seconds later when, entering the courtyard, he saw a number of people wearing dazed expressions standing on the motel balconies. Perhaps, Mr. Slade surmised, it was on account of his military training that he turned just as a dark car pulled rapidly out of the lot. He identified the car as a late-model Olds and caught a quick glance of the driver. The product of this sighting accompanies the interview report, a crude Identi-Kit portrait that resembles a classic square-faced cartoon thug. At the bottom, the interviewing officer notes that he doubts the reliability of Slade's account as two other persons independently identified the suspect as a four-year-old Chevrolet.

A Mr. and Mrs. Albert Cranston from Buffalo reported a fleeing black-hatted, black-raincoated man, as did a Miss Bonnie Lanette, known to local police as a prostitute who worked the grounds of the amusement park and frequently brought her johns to the Flamingo for fun and games.

Two small children were interviewed, a boy and a girl who'd been frolicking in the pool at the time. Neither could offer anything beyond the fact that a man had run down the exterior stairs then out toward the parking area just after the shots.

All four of the ejected shotgun shells had been wiped clean of fingerprints, suggesting a well-thought out professional hit. It was also conjectured that since the shooter had worn a long coat and wide brim hat, he was also probably wearing gloves.

Mr. Andrew Fulraine, through his attorneys, offered a $50,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the shooter. Later this offer was raised to $75,000 and still later to $100,000. Investigators passed on word of this offer, huge for the time, in the hope of prying information from snitches. In fact, according to an advisory from the FBI, only two men in the entire Midwest were suspected of specializing in hitman work, neither of whom had recently been sighted in the Calista area.

A search of public trash barrels, private garbage cans, and construction debris, Dumpsters within a quarter-mile radius of the Flamingo yielded no sign of weapon, hat, coat, or gloves. A thorough but fruitless search was made of trash-collection points within Tremont Park on the theory that the car seen leaving the motel parking lot might not have been an escape vehicle driven by the shooter. Rather, according to this alternative theory, the shooter had left the scene on foot, then merged into the crowds that thronged the amusement park that hot, humid afternoon.

Fliers were printed up and placed beneath the doors of all rooms at the Flamingo, also posted on telephone poles and lampposts surrounding the motel, soliciting information abut anyone seen hovering suspiciously in the vicinity of the motel as far back as a week before the killings.

Six people responded to this solicitation. None was able to provide any information beyond the fact that they'd seen a man (described by some as ‘tall and thin,’ by others as ‘medium height and stocky’) either strolling by the motel at a suspiciously slow speed.

A thirty-two-year-old black man named Ralph ‘Snooky’ Vaughan, former employee of the Flamingo fired three months before for petty pilfering of soap, toilet tissue, and other room disposables, was interviewed by Detective Joe Burns for six hours. Vaughan had a criminal record for minor crimes going back to his early teenage years. A search of his room in a Gunktown rooming house produced a black raincoat and black fedora-style hat. Vaughan swore he'd been nowhere near the Flamingo Court since the day he was fired and had been engaged in a game of pick-up basketball on a housing project court the afternoon of the shootings. Nine witnesses verified his alibi. When his coat proved negative for powder burns, he was released.

Seven of Barbara Fulraine's former lovers were interviewed, culled from a list provided by her ex. Of the seven, five were married. All begged investigators not to leak their names.

Charles Maw was associate director of the Calista Repertory Theater Company. He stated that he had been a longtime friend of Barbara Fulraine, that they'd been lovers prior to her marriage, and had resumed their affair approximately six months after the Fulraine child was snatched.

Maw stated he had acted as intermediary in a bizarre encounter in connection with the earlier crime. According to his account, about a year and a half after the snatching, Mrs. Fulraine, desperate to find her daughter, was actively consulting gypsy fortune-tellers around town. One, a card reader who worked out of a storefront at Danvers and 36^th, told her that her child was dead and promised to provide information on the whereabouts of the body in exchange for $15,000 cash, $5,000 to be paid up front, the balance upon delivery of the girl's corpse.

A late night meeting was arranged. Charles Maw, acting for Mrs. Fulraine, placed the $10,000 final payment in a locker at the Central Bus Terminal, then followed a chain of complicated instructions that led him, in the style of a treasure hunt, from a public phone booth to a message secreted in the men's room of a Gunktown bar to another message hidden beneath a rock on the east bank of the Calista River. Finally, he was picked up by a van with blacked-out windows, driven around town for a while, then into a garage at an unknown location.

Here a man and two women, faces encased in stockings, pointed to a cardboard carton that, they said, contained the preserved remains of the Fulraine child. When Maw opened the carton, he found what he took to be the body of an infant, but the lighting was so dim, the odor so horrific, the corpse so wrinkled and distorted, he could not possibly identify it as Belle Fulraine. Nevertheless, intimidated by the people surrounding him, he handed over the key to the locker, at which point the three jumped into the van and sped off, leaving him alone with the pungent leathery remains.

When Maw picked up the carton and stumbled out of the garage, he found himself not two hundred yards from smelters with smokestacks bearing the words FULRAINE STEEL.

It had been a swindle, of course. The little body was that of a black male infant, preserved, according to experts, in a manner employed by Haitian voodoo practitioners. By the time police were brought in, the $10,000 was gone and the storefront card reader had disappeared. The incident marked the end of Charles Maw's affair with Barbara Fulraine and left him with badly shattered nerves.

It's a strange story and it fills me with pity. It hurts to think of Barbara stooping so low, then being taken in by such a transparent scam. That she was running around consulting with scummy fortune-tellers tells me how very desperate she must have been. As for Maw, he strikes me as a fool. What kind of friend was he not to have warned her off these con artists?"

The six other interviewed former lovers were a junior executive at Fulraine Steel; a star third baseman with the Calista Forgers; a cellist who played with the Calista Symphony; an orthopedic surgeon from the Lucinda Taft Medical Center; a professor of theology at Calista State University; and a mechanic who worked at British Motors in Van Buren Heights where he took care of Mrs. Fulraine's Jaguar coupe.

All spoke of her with affection and respect, not one expressing the slightest degree of ill will. The mechanic described her as ‘a gracious person’ whom it had been his ‘great privilege’ to know. The theologian said, ‘She was quite the finest woman I've ever known.’ The cellist said that making love with her was ‘akin to reveling in the music of the spheres.’ Charles Maw, the only one to make negative comments, described her as ‘a user who left many husks behind… and I count myself among them.’ But even he claimed he harbored no animus toward her. ‘With Barbara I had some of the most memorable and pleasureful experiences of my life.’

Gossip columnist Waldo Channing was interviewed by Mace Bartel. His comments, unlike those of the former lovers, were not respectful at all:

Witness stated he was close friend and confidant of victim for many years. Witness stated victim was ‘splendid, exciting person of great passion and sensuality’ and ‘I was privy to all her secrets. There was nothing that happened in her life she did not reveal to me, knowing I would always hold her confidences.’

Witness stated that contrary to opinion commonly held in victim's circle, victim was not promiscuous. Witness stated, ‘She did not engage in serial affairs. She was a one-guy-at-a-time-type gal.’ Witness stated he and victim were in love, but ‘a physical affair between us was not to be. Our affair was far more sublime than that, what the French call “une affaire de coeur.”’

Witness stated he is certain victim Fulraine was not romantically involved with victim Jessup. Witness stated, ‘If she were she would certainly have told me about it. So, you see, it's simply impossible. There has to be another explanation.’ When told that investigators had proof that victims met numerous times at the Flamingo Court, witness became angry. ‘Impossible! Can't be true!’ When assured that it was, witness broke out in a sweat. Witness then asked for a glass of water and time-out ‘to collect my thoughts.’

When interview resumed, witness stated, ‘if you ask me, there was something fishy going on between Barbara and that shrink she was seeing.’ Asked to explain what he meant, witness stated, ‘That's my impression. I just don't trust the man. I think he's a total opportunist. Anyhow, I very much doubt she revealed to him the same intimate details of her life she shared with me. I'm sure she never shared those secrets with anyone else.’

Witness stated that now that victim is deceased, he feels free to reveal some of her confidences. Witness stated victim despised Jack Cody. Witness stated, ‘She thought him common, which of course he was. She told me the only reason she continued to see him was that they were into the same kind of sexual kinks and that made sex with him a lot of fun. She never believed for one instant that he could turn up her missing daughter, but still she pretended she did. She told me, “He thinks he's using me, Waldo, but really I'm using him.” She told me she was not afraid of Cody, that “he puts on a tough front, but he'd just a big pussy underneath.”’

Witness stated victim believed her husband had homosexual inclinations and that she'd had him followed by a private detective in hope she could turn up sufficient proof to embarrass him so he'd back down on his custody claim. Witness stated victim told him the private eye she hired never came up with anything. Witness stated victim told him, “I think Andrew's just too uptight to indulge himself like that around here.”

Witness stated, ‘Barbara had all sorts of evil schemes up her sleeve. She could be pretty malicious at times, which is why we got along so famously. She had no use for the hypocrites who run Calista society, especially her former in-laws. In fact, she held the Fulraines in utter contempt.

Witness stated that victim told him her shrink was secretly in love with her. Witness stated that victim told him, “I can tell by the way he looks at me, he wants to get into my pants.” Witness stated victim told him she often tried to arouse shrink with tales about her sexual depravity. Witness stated victim was contemptuous of shrink and only continued to see him ‘because it amused her to see how crazy and lovesick she could make him.’

Witness stated, ‘Barbara was a great actress. She could convince anyone of anything. If she'd gone on the stage, she'd have been a tremendous star.’ Witness stated, ‘People thought she was this self-confident, cool beauty. In fact she was terribly insecure about herself, didn't even think she was particularly attractive. One time when I was with her, she looked at herself in the mirror then ran her hands down the side of her face. “Soon it'll be all over for me, Waldo,” she told me. “I'll become an old bag and no one will lust after me anymore.”’

Witness stated victim feared old age. “It's like a shipwreck,” she told me. “You get bashed and battered against the rocks, pieces of you break off, then finally you slip into the drink.”’

Witness stated victim was a manipulator who played up to other women she viewed as her rivals. Witness stated victim actually loathed these women but ‘she beguiled them with her false concern and friendly smile.’ Witness stated victim ‘was the sort of woman who, if she discovered one of her rivals was in love with a man, she'd go after that man, seduce him, just to hurt and vanquish the rival.’ Witness stated victim told him tales about her affairs and then mocked the way her former lovers acted when she broke off with them. Witness stated victim enjoyed ‘sending them scurrying back to their wives knowing that having been with her, tasted her delights, they'd never be content with their little “wifie-poos” again.’

Witness stated that if it were true that victim Fulraine had been carrying on an affair with victim Jessup, ‘it must have been one of those inconsequential ventures with which she amused herself, and I'm certain the only reason she didn't tell me about it was she was saving up the story till she'd engineered an amusing denouement.’

Witness stated he had no idea who might have wanted to harm victim or have her killed. Witness stated, ‘She probably had a zillion enemies, so your guess is as good as mine.’

Evaluation:

Witness started out praising victim. However, once witness was assured victim had been involved with Jessup, he became so angry she hadn't confided in him about affair that he attempted to use remainder of the interview to destroy her character and reputation. There is absolutely no evidence that victim's psychiatrist had anything but a professional relationship with her, not that victim hired a private investigator to find proof that her husband was homosexual. For these reasons, and because witness's remarks contradict information conveyed by other interviewees, investigator deems this witness unreliable.

Whew! Impossible not to concur with Mace's evaluation. Waldo Channing's portrait of Barbara is at odds with everything I know of her, the ravings of a man consumed by spite.

What upsets me most, of course, are his comments about Dad – that he was an opportunist and that there was something between him and Barbara. Here again I feel the sharp edge of Waldo's malice, a nearly insane jealousy of anyone beside himself who had access to Barbara's confidences. Unable to make love to her yet spellbound by her glamour, he had to believe he was her only confidant. That a mere psychiatrist, not even a member of their ‘Happy Few,’ might have access to secrets she denied to him seems to have sent Waldo into paroxysms of rage.

It's also difficult for me to believe Barbara spent three hours a week on Dad's analytic couch merely because it ‘amused her to see how crazy and lovesick she could make him.’ Between her two affairs she had sufficient diversions in her life… and as anyone who's been in analysis knows, the process is a good deal more painful than amusing.

Continuing to read through the case file, I come upon a folder devoted to Jack Cody: interviews with his friends and Elms Club staff and those who supported his alibi – the judge who was his luncheon companion at the Downtown Athletic Club the day of the killings, as well as the waiters and barman who served them as they ate and drank.

Mace interviewed Jurgen Hoff, maitre d'hotel at The Elms:

Witness states he's been employed by Cody since the opening of The Elms eleven years ago. Witness state before that he worked for two years as maitre d' at a restaurant in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and before that held enlisted rank in French Foreign Legion, serving in Algerian war, where he was wounded and awarded several medals. Witness states he was born in Germany, obtained French citizenship due to military service, and is now a naturalized U.S. citizen. Witness states he considers Cody a friend, adding ‘I'm extremely loyal to my friends.’ Witness states that despite this friendship he will answer all questions truthfully. Witness states Cody was devoted to victim and would never do anything to harm her. Witness states Cody always looked forward to victim's visits and ‘he was almost like a little boy when she was around he was so excited by her.’ Witness states of victim, ‘I found Madame Fulraine charming. She was also cool and haughty, not my type. But Mr. Cody liked women like that so they got along just fine.’

Witness states, ‘In my eleven years with Mr. Cody, I never once saw him lose control. He can get very angry, certainly, and you will feel his anger when he turns it upon you, not a boiling rage that makes you sweat, but an ice-cold anger that chills you to the bone.’

Witness states he is familiar with story that Cody disfigured Marceline Forestiere, an entertainer he was going with, when he discovered Miss Forestiere was sleeping with club backup musician, Randy Wayne. Witness states this story is totally false. Witness states he knew Miss Forestiere. a Canadian citizen, very well, that they always spoke French together, and that after she was disfigured she told him Randy Wayne was the one who'd cut her face. Witness states Cody was so incensed by what Wayne did to her he asked some gangster friends to ‘punish’ Wayne for his transgression. Witness states he doesn't know what happened, but he heard Cody's friends got carried away and since Wayne's body was recovered a little later ‘maybe they went too far.’

Witness states that even though Cody was betrayed by Forestiere, he sent her to Los Angeles to be treated by a famous plastic surgeon and ended up paying thousands of dollars for operations so she could sing in public once again. Witness states, ‘I tell you this so you know the kind of man we are talking about, a man who, yes, shows a hard face to the world, but who has a big, soft heart beneath.’

Asked by interviewer if Cody, discovering he was being two-timed by victim, might have asked these same friends to ‘punish’ his girlfriend's lover and maybe the friends again ‘went too far,’ witness states, ‘I don not believe that could have happened.’

Witness states Cody is a very smart man who always learns from his mistakes and that after what his friends did to Randy Wayne he would never again have entrusted them with such a mission. Witness states, ‘What they did caused Mr. Cody a lot of trouble, and Mr. Cody doesn't like trouble. Many people still think he cut up Marci. I happen to know he didn't. But you must understand Mr. Cody is not the type to go around telling people “I didn't do this” or “I didn't do that.” He is not the type who denies. Rather he's the kind who demonstrates his character to the world by his actions and demeanor. People can think what they like. Mr. Cody doesn't care. He knows who he is and who he is not, and those, such as myself, who know him well know he would never have allowed anyone to hurt Madame Fulraine, a woman he loved, no matter whether she fucked every busboy, guard, and gardener at The Elms.’

Evaluation: Witness, by his own admission, is extremely loyal to Cody, who was primary sponsor of his U.S. citizenship. Witness's statements about Marceline Forestiere are strictly hearsay. Witness's statements about Cody's character and what he is and is not capable of are simply impressions of a loyal employee and for this reason cannot be viewed as credible.

No wonder Mace dismisses Jurgen Hoff's impressions: In his interview, Jurgen, with great fervor, knocks down Mace's theory of the crime. If the Flamingo Court killings were in fact a hit ordered by Cody, a hit against Tom Jessup that went terribly wrong when the shooter, finding Jessup in bed with Barbara, executed them both, then it's clear the only hope Mace has of making such a case is to identify, arrest, and then ‘flip’ the shooter.

The folder on Tom Jessup is pitifully thin, commensurate with his lowly status. To the media, the Flamingo Court killings were about Barbara Fulraine: SOCIALITE GUNNED TO DEATH IN LOVE NEST. Although the cops viewed the victims equally, Barbara became the focus of their investigation. Still they made a decent effort to learn more about Jessup, even going so far as to track down his college sweetheart, Susan Pettibone, in New York. Joe Burns interviewed her by phone:

Witness states she is twenty-eight years old, unmarried, a broker at Merrill Lynch. Witness states she met victim in college, they dated for a year, then lived together for two years in an off-campus apartment. Witness describes victim as ‘highly sensitive and one of the sweetest guys I've ever known.’ Witness states, ‘In the time I knew him, I doubt Tom had an enemy in the world.’

Witness states she and victim kept in close touch even after they decided to go separate ways. Witness states victim phoned her approximately once a week, usually on Sunday afternoons. Witness states victim was ‘terribly lonely’ in Calista and had not managed to make any close friends since taking job at Hayes School. Witness states victim told her he liked teaching at Hayes and generally liked the kids, though he thought “some were really spoiled brats.” Witness states victim told her he would probably not stay at Hayes after second year, unless his social life improved.

Witness states victim informed her sometime in May that he'd ‘finally met somebody.’ Witness states victim sounded happier than he had in over a year. Witness states that when she pressed him, he told her, “it's an impossible love, there's probably no future in it, but still I'm enjoying every minute.”

Witness states sometime in June, victim told her he no longer felt his love was so ‘impossible.’ Witness states victim told her, “We love each other, we're really well suited, and the sex is, well, just great!” Witness states she found this last comment annoying ‘because actually the sex between us hadn't been all that terrific, at least during the last year or so we were together.’

Witness states that when Hayes broke for the summer in late June, victim told her he was seeing his new love nearly every day, and ‘it keeps getting better and better. Neither of us can believe how great it is.’

Witness states that when she asked victim to describe the woman, he told her she was gorgeous, divorced, had kids, and was trying to extricate herself from another relationship, ‘so we have to be careful, as this other guy is, you know, kind of a hood.’ Witness states victim told her his lover ‘has problems, but she's seeing a shrink, trying to work them out.’ Witness states victim told her he was ‘optimistic’ about relationship, and that if everything went as he hoped ‘my situation will change in ways you can't imagine.’

Witness states she received a call from victim in mid-August. ‘I was surprised to hear from him since it was a weekday night. He sounded pretty upset.’ Witness states victim told her he called “because I wanted to hear your voice.” Witness states victim did not offer specific reason for his agitated state, but did say ‘problems had arisen in his love affair and “I hope we can work them out.” Witness states victim asked her if she'd consider visiting him for a few days. Witness states victim told her, “I'd like you to meet Barbara then give me your honest opinion.” Witness states this was first time victim mentioned his lover by name.

Witness states, ‘I remember when I put down the phone I felt really disturbed, like something was wrong out there and Tom was too embarrassed to tell me what was happening.’ Witness states she brooded over the matter, then last Sunday she phoned victim late at night.

Witness states, ‘I woke him up. I think for a moment he thought I was Barbara, because he mumbled something weird like, “God! Did you really do it?” or “Did he really do it?” Then the victim realized that it was witness calling, he apologized, told witness “things are looking better now” and “of course I'd love to see you, but I don't think you should come out now. It's too hot and humid here in summer.”

Witness states, ‘That was our last conversation. Two days ago his cousin called from Michigan and told me he'd been killed.’

Evaluation: Witness is helpful and sincere. Unfortunately, her information on causes of victim's agitation is too sketchy to be of use.

At 6:00 A.M., having read through the bulk of the case file, I take a few key documents to the photocopy room across the hall. Feeding the pages by rote into the machine, I fall into a kind of daze.

I'm exhausted, I realize, and not just on account of lack of sleep. It's the intensity of my expedition into the past that's worn me out. The fatigue is similar to what I feel after a long eyewitness interview – vague, drained, detached, having not yet reentered my own reality after stepping out of someone else's nightmare.

Mace pops in just as I'm finishing.

"Kinda red-eyed, aren't you?" He grins. "I figured it'd take you the night."

His eyes are clear, his cheeks freshly shaved. "So what'd you think?" he asks, accompanying me downstairs.

"The Identi-Kit composite was pretty amusing. Otherwise I think you guys did a thorough job."

"We hit most every angle. But like any case, there're still hundreds of loose ends. And much as I've studied the file, I still don't have a clear picture of the victims. What they were up to, particularly her. What was she doing with that guy? Was it just physical or was there something else at work?"

"I guess you should have gotten more out of the shrink."

He laughs. "That whip photograph. I've been kicking myself over that, like why I didn't turn it up. Your father had it, didn't he?"

I nod. "My mom died this spring. She had a folder of stuff that belonged to him. The photo was there. It's what got me started on this again."

"Anything else I should know about?"

"Yeah, an unfinished draft of a case study Dad was writing about Mrs. Fulraine."

Mace touches his goatee. "I think doctor-patient confidentiality has pretty much expired by now, don't you?"

"I'll make a copy for you."

"Thanks, David. I appreciate that."

At the main door, he extends his hand. "Let's have dinner this week. You can give me the copy and we can talk the whole thing through."

After we set a date, he claps me on the shoulder. "And please bring along the whip photograph. I'm eager to see that too."

I pull up at The Townsend a little before 7 A.M.. The network TV crews are loading their equipment into vans. Pam, I figure, is probably in the rooftop gym finishing up her workout. Too weary to search her out, I go up to my room, order coffee from room service, then shave and shower.

I'm standing under the hot spray, reveling in the sensual, stingy aquatic drilling of my flesh, when it hits me: Just ten days before the killings Tom Jessup phoned Susan Pettibone and, apparently agitated, told her problems had arisen in his love affair. What sort of problems? What could Tom have meant? And what did he mean when, on the Sunday before he was killed, mistaking Susan's voice for Barbara's when she phoned him late at night, he muttered, “did you really do it?” or “Did he really do it?” or words to that effect?

Something important there, I think – something Mace should have picked up on and probed. For if there was trouble in the affair, perhaps that same trouble was at the root of the killings. If that was the case, then, it seems, Tom Jessup had an inkling of the coming storm.