Wonderland (28 page)

THIRTY-SIX

M
other’s guilt was a very real thing. Ava had asked to sleep over again at Katya’s house, and Vanessa had said yes automatically without even thinking about it. John-John was sleeping over at a friend’s house again, too, officially making her the worst parent in the world. When this was all over, she was switching to day shifts, turning her phone off in the evenings, and spending some serious time with her kids, doing whatever
they
wanted to do.

But until then, it was back to work.

Earl Schultz was currently attending the gala fund-raiser for Seaside Hospital he’d been stressing about for the past while, where he was no doubt rubbing elbows with Mayor Greenberg, the city entire council, Carl Weiss and Melanie Stratton-Weiss, three retired Seahawks players, and the rest of Seaside’s elite. Bianca Bishop and Oscar Trejo had probably intended to go as well, but with both of them in separate interview rooms at Seaside PD, neither were going anywhere anytime soon. Vanessa’s invitation must have gotten lost in the mail, though she wouldn’t have attended even if she had been invited. Tickets were five hundred a plate.

Bianca Bishop had called for an attorney, but her lawyer was currently attending the gala as well and could not be reached. Oscar had also called a lawyer, who, according to Donnie, was the only criminal defense attorney within fifty miles of Seaside available on such short notice. Apparently Oscar had been reluctant to hire her, but felt he had no choice.

“Oz was pretty upset you didn’t talk to him first, Deputy,” Donnie said as they stood outside the interview rooms. “He seemed to take it personally that you didn’t give him the heads up, acted like you guys had become friends.”

“We’re not friends.”

“Listen, do you want me to sit in on the interrogations?” Donnie asked. “Because I’d be happy to if you need someone to play good cop/bad cop with. But Bianca’s not going to talk until her lawyer gets here, and I get the feeling Oz might open up to you more if I wasn’t there. But obviously, it’s your call. I’ll do whatever you tell me.”

Vanessa glanced at the young detective, and for the first time noticed how tired he looked. Despite his upbeat demeanor, he had circles under his eyes and three days’ worth of stubble on his face. Christ, she’d been working him to the bone since she arrived in Seaside, and he’d never once complained. She knew she got tunnel vision when she was working, but this was bordering on ridiculous. Everybody fell victim to Vanessa when she was on a mission—first her kids, then Jerry, and now Donnie, the only real friend she had in Seaside.

“Go home,” she said. “Get some sleep. You’re right, Oscar might talk more if it’s just me. And Bianca’s not going anywhere.”

“You sure?”

“That’s an order. Glenn Hovey all squared away for the night?”

“He’s in county, yeah. Bail hearing’s tomorrow.”

“Good. Tomorrow we get to charge him with the murder of Jack Shaw as well.” She updated him quickly. “The bodies just keep piling up, don’t they? Now get out of here.”

He left with a tired smile, saying to call him if there was anything she needed.

As she headed toward the first interview room, she sent Ava a text.
Just a reminder to let me know when you get to Katya’s.
You know the drill. Love you.

She waited. Nothing. And then the text message—normally encased in a blue-colored bubble signifying the text had gone through—turned green. This meant that either Ava’s phone was off—and it was never allowed to be off when Ava wasn’t with her mom, a condition of having a phone in the first place—or she was somewhere with no cell signal or Wi-Fi.

Vanessa frowned. If she didn’t hear back from Ava after she finished questioning Oscar, maybe she’d have one of the officers drive by Katya’s house to make sure the girls were all right.

Oscar and his lawyer were waiting in the interview room when she entered. She’d seen the lawyer’s name on the sign-in sheet, but nothing could have prepared her for Jane Cartwright.

Tall, six three in ballet flats, Oscar’s lawyer was built like a champion swimmer. Somewhere in her forties, she was sheathed in a long cream-colored summer dress, a pink cardigan draped over her well-defined shoulders. Pale blond hair framed a square-jawed face made softer by expertly applied makeup. Jane Cartwright stretched out a hand, and glossy pink lips parted into a smile as they shook hands. Her grip was gentle, but her fingers were twice the size of Vanessa’s.

“Jane Cartwright,” the lawyer said in a husky voice. On the phone it would be very difficult to tell right off the bat which gender was speaking. “Nice to meet you, Deputy Chief Castro.”

“Nice to meet you, too.” Vanessa made an effort not to show how caught off guard she was. She tried to catch Oscar’s eye, but he refused to make eye contact with her.

“I would have thought Seaside’s new deputy would have been at the gala tonight,” Jane said. “Everyone else seems to be.”

“I wasn’t invited,” Vanessa said.

“Neither was I.”

They exchanged a smile.

“So what are the charges, Deputy?” The lawyer folded her large hands on the table. “My client wasn’t clear on that.”

“He isn’t being charged with anything,” Vanessa said. “I have some questions, is all.”

“So it’s a fact-finding mission,” Jane said. “Regarding what, exactly?”

“Homeless Harry and the Wonder Wheel Kid.”

The lawyer let out a laugh that sounded like a bark. Her hands flew to her mouth. “I’m sorry,” she said. “It’s just . . . that sounded like a movie title. You know, like
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
? Homeless Harry and the Wonder Wheel Kid, where the moral of the story is, ‘Be nice to everyone, kids, even if they’re different than you.’ Sorry, it’s not funny, but . . .” She covered another laugh. “Sorry, I can’t help it.”

Vanessa laughed, too. She couldn’t help it, either. Jane Cartwright’s giggles were infectious.

Oscar, however, failed to see the humor and glared at his lawyer. “Really? I’m paying you two hundred dollars an hour so you can joke around with the jilted lover who arrested me?”

“I didn’t arrest you,” Vanessa said.
And ouch
, she thought.
Jilted lover?

Jane Cartwright finally got her giggles under control. “You two have a personal relationship? You didn’t mention that,” she said to Oscar.

“
Had
,” he said. “As in past tense. As in, it tends to kill the mood when the girl you like sends her detective flunky to your workplace to haul you in for questioning.”

“Yes, but that has nothing to do with why we’re here,” Vanessa said. She found herself wishing she’d had Donnie stay. It might have balanced things out in the end. “I have questions, is all.”

“Go ahead and ask them,” Jane said. “But Mr. Trejo doesn’t have to answer if he doesn’t feel comfortable, or if I instruct him not to.”

“For Christ’s sake, call me Oz,” Oscar snapped at his lawyer. “Last I saw you, your name was James.”

“All righty,” Vanessa said, giving Oscar a stern look. “Let’s get started, shall we?”

He sat up straighter and crossed his arms.

“I have reason to believe that Glenn Hovey, a longtime employee at Wonderland, killed at least four teenage Wonder Workers.” Vanessa never took her eyes off Oscar’s face. “Blake Dozier, Aiden Cole, Kyle Grimmie, and Tyler Wilkins. There may be nineteen more potential victims; we’re still working on verifying that.” She said this last part with a perfectly straight face; Nate Essex’s preliminary check had showed they were all alive.

“Nineteen?” Oscar blinked. “Are you joking?”

“Am I laughing?” Vanessa said.

“And Oz can help with this how?” Jane asked.

“We also have reason to believe that Bianca Bishop, Wonderland’s CEO, conspired with Glenn Hovey to kill those boys,” Vanessa said. “If not conspired, then she told him to kill them, or perhaps implied that he should, or, at the very least, she was completely aware he was doing it and said nothing.”

“That’s a lot of possibilities, Deputy. You’re clearly fishing.” Jane turned to her client. “Don’t say anything until I tell you to.” She turned back to Vanessa. “What evidence do you have against Bianca Bishop? And why would Oz know anything about it?”

“Because she was sleeping with them.” Oscar’s voice was dull. “And I was sleeping with her.”

“Oz, for god’s sake, keep your mouth shut.” Jane’s exasperation was obvious.

“It doesn’t matter.” Oscar’s gaze fixed on Vanessa. “That’s what this is about, isn’t it? You found out about me and Bianca, and you’re doing this to get back at me.”

Vanessa had to laugh. “You overestimate yourself, Oz. I’m investigating a confirmed homicide and a whole slew of missing persons cases, and your name came up. That’s the only reason you’re here.”

“I don’t love her,” Oscar said. “Despite what she told you, I don’t love her, and we’re not together. We were never together, not in any real way. I didn’t call you back because I knew I fucked up with her, and I was ashamed of that, but I don’t want her. I want you.”

“I’m confused,” Jane said. “I feel like everybody is sleeping with everybody, except me.”

“Oh, shut up, James,” Oscar snapped. “This isn’t about you. If anyone else had been available, trust me, I would have called them.”

“It’s Jane, and stop being a dick,” the lawyer said. “I’m a top-notch lawyer you’re getting for half the price I used to charge, so consider yourself lucky. I’m here to protect you and make sure you don’t say anything to incriminate yourself.”

“Do
you
two know each other personally?” Vanessa asked, looking between the two of them.

“We played baseball together, that’s all,” Oscar said. “Back in high school.”

“Actually, we were friends up until my transition,” Jane said.

“You’re wearing makeup, for Christ’s sake,” Oscar said. “How is that not weird for me?”

“Pretty sure it’s not about you, Oz,” Vanessa said, giving Jane a small smile. “Now can we please focus? You said you were aware Bianca was sleeping with her Wonder Workers.”

“Aiden and Blake, yes. Tyler and Kyle, I suspected, but I never confronted her. There were others, too.” Oscar rubbed his face. “Though I would never have guessed the number was nineteen.”

“Do you have any knowledge of who murdered them? Did you ever suspect Bianca?”

Oscar looked at his attorney, who shrugged.

“How the heck would I know what you’re planning to say?” Jane said. “Whisper it in my ear first, if you want.”

Oscar made a face. “I want immunity.”

“Can’t promise that until I hear what you have to say,” Vanessa said.

Hesitating, Oscar leaned closer to Jane and whispered in her ear. Jane’s eyes widened, and she whispered something back. It went on for another minute.

“Okay,” Jane finally said. “Here’s the thing. We need you to promise immunity, right now. Oz has firsthand knowledge of a crime having been committed that involves Wonderland, but before he says a word, I need a guarantee that he won’t be charged with withholding the information, even though he had nothing to do with committing the crime itself.”

“If that’s true, then fine.” Vanessa already suspected where this was going. Oscar had known all along that Glenn Hovey had murdered Jack Shaw, and he was about to confess that he’d been part of the conspiracy to cover it up.

“I don’t know anything about Bianca killing those Wonder Workers. I don’t know if she put Hovey up to it; I have zero knowledge of that. But Bianca
is
a murderer. I know that for a fact.” Oscar put his head in his hands. “God, I can’t believe I just said that.”

Vanessa blinked and sat back in her chair. That was not at all what she’d expected him to say. “Who did she murder?”

He looked up, his eyes misty. “Nick Bishop. Her uncle.”

Vanessa stared at him, then looked over at Jane Cartwright, whose face was serious. This was not a joke and she couldn’t conceal her shock. “Nick Bishop? As in the owner of Wonderland? He’s
dead
?”

“For eight years now.”

“I don’t understand,” Vanessa said. “How is that possible? My daughter still gets emails from him every week.”

“Bianca writes those,” Oscar said. “She always has. From the beginning, Nicky gave her as much responsibility as she wanted. Eventually, as he started stepping back from the day-to-day, she took over his duties. She has access to everything—his email, his online banking, the payroll, she can even sign his name. The signature’s a near-perfect match.”

“So what motive would she have to kill him?” Vanessa asked.

“He wanted out.” Oscar sighed heavily. “Nicky had been fielding offers from Cedar Fair, Paramount, Six Flags, even Disney was sniffing around for a while. He didn’t want to be at the park anymore. His joy came from transforming the park into something new. Once he’d done that, the passion was gone. He was getting restless. I know the feeling.”

“So she killed him.” Vanessa leaned forward. This was a bombshell of epic proportions. Even Jane Cartwright seemed enthralled.

“He told her he wanted to travel,” Oscar said. “He wanted to spend some time figuring out what to do with the rest of his life. He and I had talked about it before, but I wasn’t sure if he was serious. Bianca was upset. She didn’t want him to go. He was the only family she had, and up till this point, he’d done everything for her. She asked him to leave the park to her, but he wanted to sell it, and he wanted top dollar. He offered to hold off on the sale for a year or two, and in the meantime he’d make her CEO. It wasn’t good enough. They argued, and she got angry and lost control. She slugged him with a baseball bat. It wouldn’t entirely surprise me if it was the same one that killed Homeless Harry.” He frowned. “Sorry, I mean Aiden Cole.”