Jonathan Kellerman - Twisted

“Oh, yeah,” said Petra, smiling.

“Oh, yeah, indeed,” said Mac. “I made sure the tape was running. By the time they got back with a plan, with a big old task force plan, she’s talking and at least they’re smart enough to keep their mouths shut and back off. Sandra’s story is she and cousin Marcella didn’t get along too well. Big-time jealousy, going way back. That scumbag Lyle Leon was messing with both of them for years and they ended up competing for his attention. When Marcella got involved with Omar Selden, Sandra figured that was wrong, she was the pretty one. So she moved in on Marcella’s territory. Also- get this- there was bad feeling because once, when Sandra was waiting to see a doctor for her hepatitis, Marcella left her alone, found an arcade on the boulevard, and played games for two hours. That really frosted Sandra.”

“Sounds like a motive for murder to me.”

“You should’ve heard the kid, Petra. Cold. She was the one told Omar that Marcella had aborted his baby. Told him Marcella had joked about it, called the baby garbage.”

“Lord,” said Petra. “She set Marcella up.”

“She did more than that. She told Omar the two of them would be at the Paradiso, pinpointed where and when Marcella would be coming out.”

“Omar photographed the parking lot a full week before the concert. The whole thing was well planned.”

“Oh, boy,” he said.

“That’s why Sandra was so cool after the shooting. She stuck around to gloat, got a little nervous when I tried to interview her. But no grief, she was digging the scene. That is one sick kid. What’s she being charged with?”

“D.A.’s not sure yet. I’m pushing for a full one eighty-seven, but the only evidence is what Sandra said on tape, so maybe they’ll plea it down to something juvie. She’s pretty smug, seems to think she’ll get away scot-free because she’s seventeen. For all I know, she will. Some slick private attorney showed up this afternoon. He wouldn’t tell me who hired him, but I’m sure he’s being paid by The Players. He’s already making noises about dismissing the confession because I didn’t give Sandra her rights right before she talked. The Downtown guys Mirandized her at the beginning and I was in the room, so the ADA’s claiming I was part of the ‘interrogatory team,’ the first warning was enough.”

“Here goes the system,” said Petra.

“So what else is new?”

“What about Lyle? He’s open to a big fat pedophilia charge.”

“Lyle rabbited right after we let him out of the holding cell. Which would’ve posed some problems if Omar had gone to trial. So it’s pretty nice that he won’t be needed. For that I thank you again.”

“You’re welcome,” said Petra.

“You all right?”

“Taking some downtime. How about you?”

“I’m off to play putt-putt golf with my grandson. Don’t let them grind you down, kid. You’re a solid girl.”

Shrinks kept forty-five-minute hours, so at four forty-five Petra tried the clinic where Dr. Sarah Casagrande worked, was transferred to voice mail, left a forceful message. No return. She repeated the process at five forty-five and this time a woman’s voice broke in.

“This is Sarah.” Soft, breathy, hesitant. “I was just about to call you.”

“Thanks,” said Petra. “As I said in my message, Doctor, this is about Marta Doebbler.”

“All these years,” said Casagrande. “Has something changed?”

“In terms of…”

“The detective I spoke to led me to believe the case was unlikely to be solved.”

“Did he?”

“Oh, yes,” said Casagrande. “I suppose he was being honest, but at the time it was hard to hear.”

“Do you remember what reason he gave?”

“He said there was no evidence. He had suspicions, but nothing more.”

“Suspicions of who?”

“Kurt. I felt the same way. All three of us did.”

“You told him that?”

“Of course.”

Something Ballou had neglected to tell her. Or write down.

“Why did you suspect Kurt?”

“He made me uneasy. Sometimes he made me feel uncomfortable.”

“Lecherous?” said Petra.

“No, I couldn’t say that. Couldn’t say he was actually projecting any interest in me. It was just the opposite, a lack of emotion. I’d see him looking at me, during a barbecue or some other social thing, and then I’d realize he wasn’t, he was looking through me. I told my husband and he said he’d noticed that, too, all the guys thought Kurt was strange, no one invited him to play poker.”

“You’re a psychologist. Care to diagnose?”

“I’m a psychological assistant,” said Casagrande. “A year away from taking the licensing exam.”

“Still,” said Petra. “You know more than the average person. How would you classify Kurt Doebbler?”

“I hate to do that. Long-distance analysis isn’t worth much.”

“Off the record, Doctor.”

“Off the record, if I had to bet, I’d say Kurt displays schizoid tendencies. That doesn’t mean he’s crazy. It refers to an asocial personality. Flat emotion, a lack of connection to other people.”

“Can that lead to murder?”

“Now,” said Casagrande, “you’re really asking me to step outside the bounds of my- ”

“Off the record, Doctor.”

“Most asocial types aren’t violent, but when they do act out- when schizoid tendencies are combined with aggressive impulses- it can be pretty horrendous.”

Meticulous planning followed by stunning violence…

“The Unabomber comes to mind,” said Sarah Casagrande. “A lifelong loner who hated people. He constructed an ecological excuse for murder, but all he wanted to do was destroy.”

The bomber had been a tech type, too. Math Ph.D., meticulous, scheming. And how many years had it taken to bring him down…

“I’m not saying Kurt’s like the Unabomber,” said Casagrande. “That was serial murder. We’re talking about someone killing his wife.”

If you only knew. “If Kurt did murder Marta, what do you think his motive was?”

Casagrande laughed nervously. “All this speculation.”

“Detective Ballou thought the case was hopeless and maybe he was right, Doctor. But I’m trying to prove otherwise and I need all the help I can get.”

“I hear what you’re saying… a motive. I’d have to say jealousy.”

“Of who?”

“It’s possible- and this is real speculation- that Marta was seeing someone.”

“So I’ve been told.”

“You have?”

“By Emily Pastern.”

“Emily,” said Casagrande. “Yes, it was Emily who raised the possibility in the first place, but I’d been thinking the same thing. We all had, because of changes in Marta’s behavior. She seemed happier. There was more… physicality to her. The way she carried herself, the way she dressed.”

“Sexier wardrobe?” said Petra.

“No, Marta was a very restrained person, even after the changes she was a long way from sexy. But she did start wearing more feminine clothing- dresses, stockings, perfume. She had a lovely figure but always used to cover it up under baggy sweats. She had great bone structure. Fixed up, with just the smallest touches, she was a very attractive woman.”

“How long before she was murdered did she start to change?”

“I’d say… months. Four, five months. I suppose there could’ve been other reasons for it.”

“Such as?”

“Trying to breathe new passion into her marriage. But I never saw any change in the way Marta and Kurt related.”

“Which was?”

“Platonic.”

The exact same word Emily Pastern had used. Which could be nothing more than consensus born of girl-chat. On the other hand, these were smart, perceptive women who’d known Marta Doebbler a lot better than Petra could ever hope to.