Page 19 of The Perfect Crime

They moved past him and into the house.No one was in the foyer, so they walked down the hallway.Sure enough, it opened into an expansive living room with giant windows that had views of the entire city nightscape.But that wasn’t what grabbed Jessie’s attention.Next to a large couch, she saw a woman lying on her back on the carpet.

Normally she would have held off to study the victim, but it was too late.She’d already seen the vomit lying next to the woman’s head and that her right wrist was zip tied to the base of a nearby coffee table.Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut as if trying to shut out the pain, just as James Whitaker’s had been.

In the middle of the room, right across from the couch, was a lone dining room chair.Jessie suspected it had been placed there by the intruder and that Marcus Vega had been forced to sit in it.As further proof, she saw four zip ties, all now cut, strewn across the carpet, along with a kitchen rag that she suspected had been used as a gag.

Neither the crime scene unit nor the medical examiner had arrived yet, but there were multiple officers standing nearby.One of them, a muscular back man in his forties with tightly shorn hair, saw them and moved in their direction.

“Can I help you?”he asked.

"I hope so," Ryan said, flashing his badge."I'm Detective Hernandez of the Homicide Special Section.This is Jessie Hunt.Are you Sergeant Warnes?"

“I am,” he confirmed.“I didn’t realize detectives had been assigned yet.I’ve only been here fifteen minutes myself.”

“They probably haven’t,” Ryan told him, “but if they have, we’ll be sending them home.This is our case.”

“I thought you guys handled celebrity deaths and serial killers, that sort of thing,” Warnes said.

“We do,” Jessie told him, “and we think this might fall in that second category.You might have heard about that home invasion murder in West Adams last night?”

“In passing,” Warnes said, “but I don’t really know the details.”

"Well, it sounds like they're very similar to what we've got here, assuming the neighbor's statement to the dispatcher holds up," Jessie told him."Assailant dressed all in black.One spouse was murdered while the other was tied up and forced to watch.We obviously need to learn more, but if the pattern holds, we likely have a serial killer on our hands.Is the husband still here, or was he taken to the hospital?"

"No, he's here," Warnes said, "He's back in the main bedroom but I don't think he's going to be of much use to you, at least not yet.When the first officers arrived, he was in shock, barely able to speak.When he found his voice, he started screaming incoherently, even lunged at one of my guys.They had to restrain him.When the EMTs got here, he was still thrashing about, so they gave him a sedative.They just brought the stretcher back there and were getting set to take him to the hospital.You might have to wait until the meds wear off to get anything out of him.”

Jessie sighed in frustration.

“There is the neighbor who found them though,” Warnes volunteered.“His name is Victor Maltin.He’s sitting out back on the deck.Maybe he can offer you more than the basic statement he gave us.”

“That would be great,” Ryan said, “Can you take us to him?”

Warnes guided them past Elena Vega’s limp body and through the kitchen to the door that opened onto the deck.Even under the circumstances, Jessie couldn’t help but appreciate the beauty of the place.The deck was the size of an extra living room and overlooked a canyon.She could see the lights from dozens of homes down below.

Victor Matlin was sitting uncomfortably on one of the chaise lounges.When they stepped outside, he looked up at them.He was wearing jeans and a Pepperdine sweatshirt.Jessie guessed that he was in his early forties.

“Can you tell us what happened, Mr.Maltin?”Ryan asked as they walked over.

“Yeah,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief as he spoke.“I was taking out the trash when I saw someone sneaking down the Vega’s driveway, away from the house.They were dressed in all black and had on a ski mask.”

“Could you discern any features?”Ryan asked.

“Nothing other than that it was a guy,” Maltin said.“He looked to be on the bigger side.”

“What did you do when you saw him?”Jessie asked.

"I called 911 right away, but while I was waiting for someone to answer, I went over to their house.I knocked and rang the bell repeatedly, but there was no answer.Then the 911 operator came on.I told her the situation.She said to wait at my place until officers arrived, but I was worried.I checked the front door, and it was unlocked, so I went in.I called out to Marcus and Elena but there was no answer.I was really suspicious because their car was in the driveway.They always park it in the garage.So I walked into the living room and found—what you saw in there.I checked for a pulse on Elena but couldn't find one.Then I got a knife from the kitchen and cut Marcus loose."

“Did he say anything?”Jessie asked.

"Yeah," Maltin said."He told me that the intruder had snuck in after they got home.I guess Elena was feeling really sick, and he had to carry her in.But then this guy—he said it was a guy too—tied him up and made him watch while Elena got sicker and sicker.The guy told him that he'd poisoned her.Marcus said that the guy made him watch Elena die."

“Did the guy say when or where he poisoned her?”Ryan asked.

“We didn’t get that far,” Maltin said.“After Marcus told me how he had to watch his wife die, he just kind of shut down.I couldn’t get another word out of him.I took him back to his bedroom and told him to lie down, that I would meet the cops when they got here.I haven’t seen him since.”

Just then, Sergeant Warnes motioned for them to join him by the deck door.“My people are saying the EMTs are taking Vega to the ambulance now.He’s semi-conscious but non-responsive.Do you want me to have them hold off?”

Ryan looked at Jessie, who shook her head.

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