Page 20 of The Perfect Revenge
Jessie studied the place as Susannah wriggled into a parking spot just off the Pacific Coast Highway.From the front, it looked more like a cottage than a home.But Jessie knew that could be misleading.Many of these beach homes had modest fronts but were expansive upon entering.
An officer was waiting for them when they walked up to the front door.They gave their names, and he immediately took them inside, leading them into a massive room with a view of the ocean and the sun hovering low over the horizon.The officer led them over to a craggy-faced guy in a button-down shirt and jeans.His sports jacket was worn, but he didn't seem the type to care.
"Detective Roy Balmorra," he said, shaking hands with both of them."Thanks for coming on such short notice."
“Not a problem.Thanks for the call,” Susannah told him.“What made you think this was up our alley?”
"It was happenstance, actually.I had lunch today with a buddy who works as a detective at West L.A.Station.He mentioned that some of their guys were working with HSS on a case that involved a rich woman found dead with no injuries.He said they found that she was injected in the neck with some kind of poison.I forgot about it, but when I got here, I couldn't find any injuries on our victim.On a hunch, I peeked at her neck, and sure enough, there seemed to be a puncture wound.When our medical examiner came to the same conclusion, I called your station and spoke to Detective Hernandez."
"Well, we appreciate you reaching out," Jessie said."Before we check out the body, do you want to fill us in on what you know so far?"
"Sure," Balmorra said, leading them through the living room and into the adjacent kitchen."The victim is Margaret Caldwell.She went by Maggie, according to her mother, who found her.Maggie was supposed to be going on a first date tonight and asked her mother to babysit her three-year-old son, Devon.When Eleanor—the mother—couldn't reach her and it was approaching the time of the date, she came out here anyway.After checking on the boy, who was watching a movie in his room, she proceeded to the main bedroom and found her daughter on the floor beside the bed.That’s when she called 911.”
“Where is Eleanor now?”Susannah asked.
“She’s being treated for shock by the EMTs.She was doing okay, all things considered, when we initially arrived.She was able to answer our questions.But when she saw the medical examiner come through in the white coat and with the gurney, she kind of lost it.”
“What about the boy, Devon?”Jessie asked.
"He's at the next-door neighbor's right now.The families are friendly and they have a young daughter.He's unaware of the situation so far."
“Were you able to get anything out of him?”Susannah asked.
“Nothing very useful.He said his mom told him she was getting ready to go out and put on a movie for him to watch.He was still watching when Eleanor arrived, so he seems to have missed whatever happened entirely.”
“What was Eleanor able to tell you before she fell apart?”Jessie asked.“Did she know anything about Maggie’s date?Or give you any background on her personal life?”
"A little," Balmorra said."She had the date's name as a safety precaution and gave it to us.We called the number, and the guy was actually waiting at the restaurant.He said he was about to leave because he'd been sitting there for half an hour and couldn't get hold of her.He thought she had stood him up."
“Where’s the restaurant?”Susannah asked, clearly wondering the same thing as Jessie—could he have killed Maggie, then gone to the dinner to establish an alibi?
"It's in Venice.We were going to check his geolocation data, but I told our people to hold off.I figured you'd want to do that yourselves if you took over."
“Thanks,” Jessie said.“Anything else Eleanor tell you that you found particularly valuable?”
“She said Maggie used to work in marketing at one of the studios but took a sabbatical after the divorce.Speaking of that, apparently, it was pretty acrimonious.The ex-husband's name is Teddy Borowitz.He’s an exec with a crypto company.According to the mom, he cheated with the Pilates instructor they both used.Maggie was so upset that she changed back to her maiden name—Caldwell.The divorce was finalized about a year ago.He moved to the Bay Area with the instructor, who is now his fiancée.Maggie got the house in the settlement.”
“Do we know if Teddy is in the Bay Area right now?”Jessie wondered.“Could he be down here on a business trip?”
Even as she asked the question, Jessie thought the ex-husband angle was a stretch.It was beginning to look like these murders were the work of one person.Unless they could find a way to tie Borowitz to Veronica Sterling, it would be hard to justify him as a suspect.Then again, whoever was killing these woman was clearly planning ahead.Excluding the ex too early was always a mistake.
"We called him before we realized this might be a case for you.Partly to question him, but also so he can take custody of the little boy.He said he'd catch the next plane out and gave us the flight information.We were going to have someone meet him at the gate to confirm that he actually flew down.We can still do that or hand it off to your people if you prefer."
Jessie was impressed with how thorough Balmorra’s team had been so far.She looked over at Susannah to get her thoughts.
“You guys go ahead,” the detective said. “You sound like you’ve got it covered.You mentioned that the medical examiner confirmed your suspicion about Maggie being injected.Any other revelations?”
“Just to be clear, he wasn’t ready to officially draw that conclusion yet, but he said the puncture wound and bruising around the area was consistent with a forceful intravenous injection.He was going to expedite the bloodwork to see if there was poison in her system and if it matched what was found in your Brentwood victim.”
“Do we know the security situation in the house?”Jessie asked.
"Eleanor says they have an alarm system but that when she came in, it wasn't on.No cameras, unfortunately."
“Can we see the victim now or she already bagged up?”Susannah asked.
"The M.E.and crime scene folks are done, but I told them to leave everything 'as is' until you could take a look.Follow me."
He led them back along a marble-floored hallway to an open door at the end.Jessie knew immediately where the body was because of the small crowd by the other side of the bed.She walked over and they all stepped back silently, as seemed to always happen in these situations.
