Page 37 of The Perfect People

A former gymnast, Shaw was athletic and wiry, which had come in handy when she’d helped subdue the killer Jessie had been tracking when she was last in this neck of the woods. Back then she had been the newest cop in the department, not even experienced enough to stand guard at crime scenes. But perhaps because of her assistance in that case, she now carried herself with a clear confidence that she’d lacked just a year ago.

“Ms. Hunt,” she said with a smile, pushing her short brown hair out of her eyes, “it’s good to see you again.”

“You too,” Jessie said. “It looks like you’re moving up in the world. Are you in charge of this crime scene?”

“Yes ma’am, temporarily,” she said. “There was a fatal accident at the corner of Marine and Sepulveda that required multiple units, so Sergeant Breem asked me to hold down the fort here until you arrived.”

“Well, it looks like you’ve got everything under control,” Jessie said. “You can update us in a minute but first, let me introduce you to Detective Susannah Valentine from HSS. I’m partnering with her on…whatever this is.”

“Nice to meet, you, Detective,” Shaw said, extending her hand.

“Likewise,” Susannah replied, shaking it.

“Susannah,” Jessie explained, “Officer Shaw here was just a rookie last summer when she noticed suspicious activity in a home here on the Strand. Her assistance led to the apprehension of the suspect we were looking for. Not only that, but she also actually helped me physically take him down. If not for her, it might have gone very differently that night.”

“Impressive,” Susannah said, and it sounded like she meant it, before dispensing with the pleasantries. “So what have we got here?”

Shaw nodded, understanding that compliment time was over.

“Our victim, Nicole Boyce, started out as a model in her teens before becoming a pro surfer,” she began. “She’s a local legend around here. I actually went to her surf camp when I was a kid. She was throwing one of the many Labor Day weekend parties last night. It ran until about four a.m. this morning.”

“You guys let parties run that late?” Susannah asked, surprised.

“Normally, we’d shut them down earlier than that,” Shaw acknowledged, “but like I said, Nicole is a local legend, so the rules are a little different for her. Anyway, she was supposed to meet some friends to go surfing this morning around six but didn’t show up. They figured she was just hung over, so they let it slide, but they stopped by after they were done to tease her about being a wuss. They were going to wake her up and drag her out of bed. That’s when they found her on the floor in the bathroom.”

“They just came into the house unannounced?” Jessie wondered.

“Yeah,” Shaw said. “She and her crew are pretty chill. You can tell from looking around the house that they lead a pretty relaxed lifestyle. There’s sand on all the furniture. No one locks their doors. They don’t have any security systems or video cameras. Friends come and go whenever they want. It wouldn’t have been weird for them to just jump in bed with her. They’ve all known each other since they were pre-teens.”

“Okay,” Jessie said. “Are the crime scene folks up there right now?”

“Yes,” Shaw said. “And Pugh from the medical examiner’s office too. He’s waiting for you, but I already heard him say that he thinks she was only killed in the last three to five hours, which makes sense, considering that I have witnesses who said she was seeing people off when the party ended at four.”

Jessie looked at the time on her phone. It was still only 8:37 a.m. Had the killer lain in wait in Nicole Boyce’s bathroom for hours until her last guest left, only to strangle her when she finally retired for what was left of the night?

“There’s something else,” Shaw said hesitantly.

“What is it?” Jessie asked. She could tell the young officer was nervous, worried that she’d made a mistake of some kind.

“I hope you won’t be upset with me or think that I’ve overstepped my bounds,” she said, her words starting to tumble out, “but I was just waiting around here, and I didn’t want to waste what seemed like a good use of my time.”

“Officer Shaw,” Susannah ordered firmly. “What the hell did you do?”

“A few of Nicole’s friends came by a little earlier,” she explained. “They were very upset and mentioned that they were at the party last night. They were reluctant to give formal statements on camera, but I got them to agree to speak to me. I was writing down my notes from our conversation when you came in. Would you like to hear what they said?”

“Yes, please,” Jessie said quickly before her partner could chastise Shaw for not being more forceful in demanding video statements. The officer was about to begin when a voice called down to them from the second floor.

“Are the HSS people here yet?”

It was deputy medical examiner Carl Pugh.

“We are,” Jessie yelled back up to him.

“You want to see the body before we remove it?” he asked with a hint of testiness.

“We’ll be right up,” Jessie said, before returning her attention to Shaw. “Please continue.”

“Okay,” the officer said as they started up the stairs, “they told me that they were all hanging out at the party, just talking with Nicole, when this guy came up behind her. He was dressed in a black leather jumpsuit. One of them said he looked like Elvis Presley in his later years, but with a mustache. He had long dark hair that fell into his eyes, which they couldn’t see anyway because he was wearing sunglasses. He was wearing black gloves. And he was very tan.”

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