Page 24 of The Perfect Poise

“Not well,” Monica told her. “Izzie said that he started throwing stuff. He smashed a glass window in his penthouse condo with some ancient sculpture from the Middle East or something. She said she high-tailed it out of there because she was so scared—oh my god, you don’t think this was him, do you?”

“We have to follow every lead,” Ryan said, before making sure to add, “but there’s a big difference between getting angry and throwing some stuff and committing murder. Best not to jump to conclusions.”

“Just for the record,” Jessie asked casually, “when did Isabella break up with him?”

“About a week ago, I think” she said. “It hasn’t hit the tabloids yet, but Izzie was worried that once it did, that would hurt her chances with these designers.”

"Thanks so much, Monica," Jessie said, squeezing the woman's hand. "You've been really helpful. Now, you should let Jaz take you to get checked out. I just have one request.”

“Anything,” Monica said, her eyes welling up.

“Please don’t share what you’ve told us with anyone else until we give you the all clear. When it comes to investigations like this, the element of surprise can be very helpful. We don’t need any potential suspects getting a heads up that we’re coming.”

“I understand,” Monica said.

“Just as I’m sure Jaz does,” Ryan said, casting a wary eye at the EMT.

“My lips are sealed, man,” the guy said, brushing his long locks out of his eyes. “After hearing all this crap, I don’t want any part of that world.”

“Good man, Jaz,” Ryan said, patting him on the back before helping Jessie out of the ambulance.

Once the doors closed, he turned to Jessie.

“I assume we’re thinking the same thing,” he said.

“Yep, time to pay Marcus Blackwell a visit.”

“It’s not going to be easy to get in to see a guy like that right away,” Ryan warned.

“We’ll cross that bridge once we find him,” she replied. “Remember, whoever did this is probably taking a Silkwood shower right now to get all of Isabella Moreno’s blood off them. I don’t intend to give them any extra time. So let’s find this guy. And if he puts up a fuss when we do, there’ll be hell to pay.”

CHAPTER TWELVE

Jessie learned quickly that Ryan was right.

While finding Marcus Blackwell wasn’t a challenge, getting to him would be. Jamil had quickly determined that Blackwell was at his Century City office by checking street cameras nearby, one of which showed his red Ferrari pulling into the garage ten minutes earlier, at 12:41.

“Let’s do the math,” Ryan said as he sped to the location. “If he did commit this murder, he would have left the Beverly Gardens shopping complex parking garage right after the incident at 11:17. I doubt he drove his $500,000 Ferrari SF90 Stradale to and from the scene. It’s so recognizable that it would essentially be an admission of guilt. So let’s say he drives another car to one of his…how many homes does he have in the city, Jamil?”

“According to his property records, three,” answered the researcher, who was on speaker. “He’s got a condo that takes up the top floor of a residential tower in West Hollywood.”

“I assume that’s where the sculpture-throwing excitement occurred,” Jessie noted. “Sorry, go on, Jamil.”

“He’s also got a beach house in Malibu and a mansion in Beverly Hills,” Jamil continued. “If he did this, I’d put my money on him going to that last one to change. It’s only a five minute drive from the murder scene.”

“And from there to his office in Century City?” Ryan asked.

“At this time of day, it looks like it’s about fifteen minutes,” Jamil answered.

“So,” Ryan calculated, “he leaves the parking garage and gets home by 11:25 at the latest. He arrives at work at 12:41 after a fifteen-minute drive. That means leaving the mansion around 12:26. So he had essentially a full hour to clean himself up and deal with the car. That’s feels like enough time to me.”

“Maybe,” Jessie said, less certain. “I could see him removing any evidence from his body in that time, but the car might be harder to clean. If we can find out what he was driving, maybe we can get a warrant to search it.”

“Beth and I will work on that,” Jamil said.

“Great,” Ryan replied, “but before you do that, can you give us a rundown on Blackwell? I know of the guy, but I’ve never read his resume. And maybe you can give us the abridged version because we’re almost to his office.”

Jessie looked up to see the two giant, triangular towers that comprised the Century Plaza Towers. They would be at their base in less than a minute.

---