The Beast A DeckerLazarus Novel (17 page)

Oliver cleared his throat. “Well, it kinda is our problem.”

“Not in the immediate.” Marge exhaled. “Let’s get a CI over here. It’s time to let someone else experience the gross-out factor!”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

A
PACKAGE OF FROZEN
fingers: probably female, judging by the size, but Decker wasn’t sure of anything. With that discovery, the case had progressed from disgusting to grisly. Now SID had to go through each packet of meat with a critical eye, because who knew what could be mixed with the stew meat? Or what kind of meat had been cubed? The possibilities were endless and nauseating.

Decker’s main concern was keeping the evidence intact. When protein defrosted, it leaked water, making the skin loose and soggy, so that any prints taken were distorted. It was imperative that the whorls remain as true as possible. Once the fingers were inked, there was no guarantee that the prints would be in the AFIS. But if they had been attached to prostitutes, there was a good chance someone was in the system.

It was one in the morning. The crowd of onlookers had thinned, and most of the people on the street were associated either with the LAPD, the lab, or with the coroner’s office. Lights blinked and whirled in shades of reds and blues, casting a ghastly shadow on whatever was in the line of fire.

Marge walked up to Decker. “Go home, Rabbi. We’ll keep you updated.”

Oliver said, “When are you meeting with Paxton?”

“Tomorrow . . .” Decker blinked several times. “Actually, it’s today . . . at eight. I put Donaldson on surveillance just in case, so he’s not going anywhere.”

“Then go home, Pete. You got six hours to sleep. We’ll take care of whatever comes up.”

“I’m okay.” He turned to Marge. “Are you okay?”

“Depends on the definition of okayness.” She rubbed her arms. “Did SID give you an idea on how many fingers were involved?”

“No. How many did it look like to you?”

“This is just a guess . . . maybe two dozen.”

“And you?” He turned to Oliver.

“Same.”

Decker said, “I don’t want to be morbid, but at a glance”—
a very quick glance—
“it looked like all different kinds of fingers. I saw some pinkies, some middle fingers, some index fingers.”

“I noticed that,” Marge said.

Decker took a quick breath and let it out. “I’m hoping that maybe it’s a few people who had all their digits cut off, rather than twenty-four different people each with one missing digit.”

Oliver said, “So . . . what are we thinking. That Penny was a serial killer who fed body parts to his tiger?”

“I don’t know and I don’t feel like making a guess,” Decker said. “You have the list of all the tenants?”

Marge patted her bag. “We’ll deal with them in the sunlight.”

“You should go home, Margie. You need some sleep.”

“What I need is to forget that precise moment of opening the package.” Marge swallowed. “It’s not that dead people don’t bother me. Of course, they do. But there is something particularly horrible about seeing human remains when you’ve been looking at chicken. It’s just . . . ungodly.”

She was shivering. Decker said, “We’ll need to interview the neighbors again. Let’s all go home and regroup in the morning.”

“Won’t argue with that,” Oliver said. “I told the coroner’s office to call me if someone finds more body parts. I live the closest.”

“If you go in, I’ll go in,” Marge said. “Call me, okay?”

“Fine,” Oliver said.

“Then let’s pack it in.” With that, Decker walked away, his stomach in a knot as his brain sparked horrific visuals. It was going to take awhile before he indulged in meat.

RINA WAS CURLED
up on the couch, a blanket over her legs, reading a book. Gabe was in pajamas, lying over the love seat, his long legs dangling over the arm of the settee. They both looked up when Decker came through the door. “I can’t believe you’re both still up.”

“Waiting for my own tiger.” Rina put the book down and stood up. “Hungry?”

“I’ll take a yogurt. Sit. I’ll get it myself.”

He disappeared into the kitchen. Gabe said, “Is he okay?”

“Probably not.” Rina sighed. “He eats dairy whenever his stomach acts up. He must have found a body. I’ll be right back.”

“You know, it’s after one. I think I’ll go to bed.” He stood and stretched. “Give you guys a little privacy. Good luck and good night.” Gabe went into his makeshift room and carefully closed the door.

When Decker returned, Rina said, “Gabe went to sleep. What happened?”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about it. But I’ll be happy to talk to you. How was the evening?”

“Your grandsons asked for you. ‘Where’s papa?’”

Decker smiled. “How are they?”

“They are huge! They are not only off the charts for two-year olds, they’re off the charts for
three-
year-olds. Cindy’s starting to train them, not because she cares all that much but because they’re starting to outgrow diapers. If she doesn’t do it soon, she’ll have to use Depends. They loved my food by the way.”

“Who doesn’t?”

“True enough. Sit down. I’ll get some tea for both of us.”

“I’m going to shower first.”

“Fine. I’ll bring it into the bedroom. You want another yogurt?”

“Sure.”

As Rina had done so many times in the past, she prepared a tray for him. Usually she made toast, but being as it was Shabbat, she took two slices of homemade challah bread and slathered it with butter. Then she put the yogurt in a bowl and added fresh fruit. The tea was herbal, the hot water from a preheated urn. She brought the food in just as he slid into bed. The room was dark, the sole illumination coming from the open bathroom door.

“Here you go,” Rina told him.

“Thank you. This is perfect.” He ate a slice of bread in silence. “I have to go back at eight in the morning. I’ve got an interview that can’t wait.”

Rina checked the clock. “Then you should go to sleep.”

“If I can sleep.”

“I’ll sing you a lullaby.” She patted his knee. “Or I can talk and bore you to sleep.”

“You never bore me.” Decker dug into the yogurt and fruit. “So my grandsons are football players.”

“Maybe basketball. Akiva is actually taller, but the kid has some heft. Aaron is all height.”

“How’s Cindy?”

“She’s back in the field again. She likes being in the action.”

Decker nodded. “As I recall, I was once like that.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, young man. You’re still an adrenaline junkie.”

“Not anymore.” He started on the second piece of bread. “Seriously. I think about quitting LAPD all the time.”

“That would be bad.”

“Maybe bad for you, not for me.”

“Peter, you can’t
potchke
with your Porsche twenty-four/seven.”

“I didn’t say retire, I said I’m thinking about quitting LAPD. I’m tired of all the
ugliness,
Rina. And today was particularly ugly.”

She placed her hand on his arm. “So if you aren’t thinking about retiring, but you are thinking about quitting, do you have something in mind?”

“This and that.” He finished up the bread and pushed the tray away. “I probably shouldn’t be thinking of these things when I’m this exhausted.”

“There’s truth in your feelings, even if you are exhausted. But do get some sleep.”

“I love you. Thanks for dinner.” He paused. “What was dinner for the masses?”

“Chicken and corned beef.”

“Any leftovers?”

“Of course. Do you want to try something?”

“Maybe tomorrow.” He took a deep breath and let it out. “Certainly not today.”

“Shall we call it a night?” Without waiting for an answer, she got up, removed the tray from the bed, and closed the bathroom door. She leaned over and kissed him.

He gave her one back. Then she gave him a kiss to his kiss. And then one thing led to another and hopefully a night of ugliness had turned into a night of beauty.

Peter was her best friend. Better than a best friend: the original FWB.

PAXTON HAD A
definite fixation with green sweaters. This time it was hunter green over jeans and sneakers. He wore glasses, but red eyes were peeking out behind the lenses. His head was bald on top: the remaining hair was brown mixed with gray.

Decker seated him in one of the interview rooms, his chair crowding Paxton against the wall. “Coffee? Water?”

Paxton thought about it, but then shook his head no.

Decker had already had two cups of caffeinated sludge. It was eight in the morning and he needed all the help he could get. He took out a notepad. Even though interviews were now videotaped,
he always needed reminders of what he thought was important. “Thanks for coming in.”

“Did I have a choice?” the apartment manager said.

“No one’s coercing you to stay here, Mr. Paxton.”

“If I don’t talk to you, it looks bad for me.” When Decker didn’t answer, the apartment manager said, “I’m in a no-win position.”

“How about if I ask you a few questions and then we take it from there?”

“I want you to know that I had no idea what Mr. Penny was doing—either with the tiger or anything else. Certainly not with something . . . like what you found.”

“Were you ever in any of his apartments?”

“Just Mr. Penny’s apartment. I never saw a tiger.”

“Okay. How many times were you in the apartment?”

“Maybe three times. No tiger.”

“What about the other apartments? Let’s start with the snake apartment. Ever inside?”

“No.”

“How about the insects and fish?”

“No.”

“Never once?”

“Never. Why would I go inside? No one ever complained. The rent was always paid on time. There was no reason for me to barge in on someone’s privacy.”

“But you knew that Penny had rented those apartments.”

“Okay.” Paxton fiddled with his glasses. “I’ll tell you what I did know and you can do whatever you want with the information.” A pause. “Penny offered to pay me a surcharge over that amount if I would mind my own business . . . which I do anyway. I asked him why he felt the need to pay me a surcharge. He told me that he didn’t want anyone—including myself—having keys to the apartments. I told him no. I told him I needed to get in and out of every apartment in the building in case of emergencies. He relented. He gave me a key . . . keys. All of them. And I made sure they worked. And you saw for yourself that the keys worked.”

“Yes, they did.” Decker waited.

Paxton exhaled. “I refused the surcharge. So I’m not the sleaze you think I am.”

“You came in, you’re answering my questions, you’re being honest . . . don’t see anything sleazy there.”

Paxton squirmed, ill at ease with any kind of praise. “I didn’t see Penny for quite a while after he initially rented the extra units. Then when it was Christmastime—this was about seven years ago—he gave me cash. When I asked him what for, he said he wanted to reward me for being cooperative. I told him it wasn’t necessary, but he insisted. I probably should have given the money back. But it was the holiday season. I figured why couldn’t I accept a Christmas gift from whoever wanted to give me one. At least half the apartments gives me a Christmas bonus.”

“Okay.” Decker paused. “How large of a bonus did Mr. Penny give you?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.” A pause. Paxton threw up his hands. “Large.”

Decker continued to wait.

Paxton coughed a few times. “Two grand . . . in cash. It’s his money to do with what he wants. I was doing everything by the books. Never stole a dime from the owners. If Penny wants to tip me for service, that’s his business.” He coughed again.

“Would you like some water?”

“Yes.”

Decker poured him water from a pitcher, and Paxton drank up greedily. “What brought you into his apartment on those three occasions?”

“Now that I’m thinking about it, it was more like five times.”

“Tell me about them.”

“Couple times I went to pick up the Christmas bonus.” He picked up his water glass. It was empty, so Decker filled it. “Once he called me into his place to talk about renting the apartments on either side. Another time was to sign contracts. Once there was a complaint of noise.” He held up an index finger. “One time!”

“Masey Roberts said she called you around six times after hearing noises and you told her it was all in her head.”

The gnome bit his lip. “I don’t remember.”

“You don’t remember.”

“No, I don’t remember!”

Decker kept his cool. “So what do you remember?”

“A neighbor complained about noises.” The apartment manager turned red. “Loud growls and grunts. Being logical, I thought it was sex.”

“He’s eighty-nine.”

“You never heard of Viagra?”

“What did you do about it?”

“I left a note in Penny’s mailbox. I didn’t tell him what I thought the noise was. Just that it was noisy enough for someone to hear, so please keep it down.”

“Did he answer your note?”

“No . . . but I never got any more complaints.”

“Which neighbor complained?”

“The one next door to the downstairs apartment.”

“The apartment that’s now vacant?”

“Yes.”

“When did he vacate that apartment?”

“I told you. About a month ago.”

“And he had cleaned it up before he gave you back the key?”

“It was perfect. I almost didn’t bother to clean it. But I did for sanitary reasons.”

“Would you mind if I had someone professional take a look at it?”

“Professional?”

“Someone from the Scientific Investigative Division.”

“Is that like CSI?”

“Yes.”

“You think something bad happened there?”

“I don’t know. That’s why I’d like to look it over. Do I have your permission to perform any test that we might want to do?”

“This sounds bad.”

“It’ll make a minimum of impact.”

“Yes, yes. Go ahead.”

“You thought that Mr. Penny was having sex in the apartment. Any reason for that thought other than the noise?”

“A couple of times . . . well, more than a couple of times over twenty years, I saw women with massage tables going in and out of his apartment—his and the one downstairs that he rented.”