The Bedroom Killer (36 page)

CHAPT
ER 91

John sat across the table from Detectives Freeman and Tonkin, each with Greenwood Police Department's Internal Affairs Division. They had grilled John for three hours, starting with the night of his attempted suicide all the way through to the car chase and shooting death of Detective Bell, with only a short bathroom break and a small breakfast of coffee and Danish.

Freeman said, "But John, why would Detective Bell, a highly
respected homicide detective, ever issue an order like that? It makes no sense."

"He did,"
John said.

"Kill him?"

"Yes," John said.

"Kill Isaac Graham
. Not arrest him. Just kill him?"

"Yes,"
John said.

"Doesn't make sense," Freeman said again.

"What does Andy say?" asked John.

"Detective Anderson is being interviewed by others
—so at this point I don't know what he's saying. For now, that doesn't matter. What matters is what you're saying, and it makes no sense. I've got a dead detective, John. Why do I have a dead—"

"Ask Andy!" John yelled, smacking down his hand
. "Ask Andy! Ask Andy! Ask Andy!"

Tonkin stood and came around the desk, "Easy
. Dr. Randall."

"Ask Megan when she wakes up
!" John shouted.

"We fully intend to
, John. Now, please calm down. I know this is stressful. We have to go to our bosses with what happened and why. There's got to be more to this story," said Tonkin.

Freeman leaned forward, his finger stabbing the table, "I need a
goddamned explanation that makes sense!"

That's when the door burst open
and a man leaned in and said, “Get out here.  You need to see this.”  He pointed to John and said, “And bring him.”

The six
-minute, forty-three-second video, which came to be known by all as the Bedroom Killer Video, was uploaded to the
Greenwood Times
website by Jackie at exactly 7:00 a.m. that morning. Morry and Marcus spent a good deal of time with the paper's senior editor, corporate attorneys, and the publisher of the
Greenwood Times
discussing the consequences of posting the video. Within fifteen minutes, it was picked up by the
Associated Press,
which took it around the world.

They stood in the large conference room and watched the video together. W
hen Bell fell to the ground from getting kicked in the groin, he fell in one of the two areas that were fairly well lit. So when Megan kicked Bell it was in full view. Then they all watched John run in and grab Megan, then heard Andy shout "
Get her out of here
!" Andy was then seen crossing the screen, right to left, cuffing and picking up Isaac Graham, and reading him his rights as they walk past the screen again, left to right. Then, in the lighted background, there's movement as  Bell sat up, reached into the shadows, and came up with his gun and yelled, "Randall!" They hear Detective Anderson yell,
"Look out!"
Then came the six gunshots.

A collective groan emanated around the room. 
But it wasn't what was said in the early portion of the film or the gunshots that truly shook John and the rest of them.   It was what they saw and heard after John, Megan, and Andy left the room. The camera stayed on Bell.

And Bell moved.

They watched as his arm rose into the air, like a played out rock star who collapsed in a drug-induced stupor on an illuminated stage. He rolled to one side and tried to sit up. Then he fell back down.  They heard him cough and say,
"My house, My camera, My tape,"
just before he died?The video ended on the image of Bell lying on the floor.  A silence filled the conference room as the crowd of investigators tried to digest what they just witnessed.  Freeman turned to John and said, “Why did he say that?”  John shook his head and said, “I don’t know.”

CHAPTER 92

Isaac Graham was convicted on five counts of premeditated murder and received the death penalty
. Lindsey went into hiding, having participated in numerous interviews following her testimony in court.

There were murmurs of lawsuits against the homicide division of the Greenwood Police and City Hall for
Bell’s "accidental death," with the family alleging a cover-up. But after a series of long and heated conferences behind closed doors involving the family's attorneys, the Greenwood District Attorney, and Internal Affairs, the family decided it was best to leave it be or risk some embarrassing revelations about Gerald.

Andy was not charged in
Bell's death. If not for Marcus and his camera, he certainly would have been, or at best, he would no longer be a member of the Greenwood City Police Department.

Morry typed up a Pulitzer Prize nomination form and inserted Marcus Cash in the space for nominee
. Sadly, he didn't live long enough to witness the day Marcus received word that he had won. And on that spring day when he stood at the podium in the rotunda of the Low Library at Columbia University, Marcus choked up when he spoke of his special relationship with the legendary reporter. Along with thanking Morry and his colleagues at the
Greenwood Times
, Marcus took some time to speak about John and the short time they spent together, using words like "selfless," "courageous," and "honorable" to describe him.

Six months after the end of the Bedroom
Killer case, Dr. Burt Larson received a letter from John. It simply read:

Burt,

Thanks for everything. I'll keep you in mind if I ever need to talk again…but for now, I'm good.

John

EPILOGUE

A warm breeze blew across the sloping hills of Greenwood Cemetery, picking up stray yellowed maple leaves
that flittered in an undulating blanket of red, gold, and brown as they moved downhill. At the far right side of the cemetery, near the top of a hill, sat two gray marble headstones. Three feet tall. One and a half feet wide. Four inches thick.

Paulette Michelle Randall.

Trevor James Randall.

John stood rigid before them, thinking back to the last time he was there
. It had been eight months ago, but it seemed so much longer now. A lifetime. He was drunk and angry at himself and at the world. He was at the lowest point in his life, and he felt there was no point in pretending anymore. As he stared at the headstones, he thought about how things had changed so vastly for him. If not for Isaac Graham, he would not have found Megan. But five young girls had to die for that to happen and it would always be bittersweet. It was a link that would always be there, but John would focus on other things, happier things, whenever he thought of Megan. And he thought of her every day now. He turned his head up to the sun. It felt good on his face, the one with the scar on his right cheek. He turned around to look behind him and spotted her standing there, thirty feet away, where she'd stopped to allow him time by himself. He caught her eyes and she smiled a warm, reassuring smile that told him,
Take as long as you need…I'm not going anywhere.

As she watched John, Megan reached up and unconsciously touched her blouse, feeling the six-inch scar underneath
. It was healing well. During her recovery, Dr. Keating told Megan she could be back at work in a few weeks, but she knew then she wasn't going back. Even though Bell was gone, there was no way she could ever step back into that office again. She'd talked with Andy and Kennedy and some of the others when they visited her at the hospital, but she knew that those friendships would fade. They had to. It was part of her healing process: to separate herself from everything that reminded her of that part of her life.

Except John.

She was alive because of him. He'd said it the first time they met on that very rainy day.

I save lives
.

Like a future promise to her
.  A rain check, now cashed.

John squatted down in a spot between the graves and looked from one headstone to the other.

"You know I love you
both very much. I always will. I promise." John said, then he let out a small sigh, stood up, and turned away from Paulette and Trevor, and walked down the slope to Megan. She reached out her hand and he took it, and they moved down the hill together.

Dear Journal,

I don’t really know where to begin.  A little over two months ago I tried to kill myself.  But you know that don’t you.  Then I met Megan.  Even though I’ve told you about her I still feel the need to say more.  But I’m going to have to think about it for a while.  I can’t just sit here and say anything that pops into my mind.  Whatever I write – I want it to matter.  The words need to be right.  They need to convey exactly how I feel about her.  Exactly how she has changed me.  I don’t think I can do that now.  But you should know that things are better.  Much better.  The Killer has been caught.  Megan caught him.  She needed that…she needed to be the one to catch him and she did.  I am so proud of her.  She’s been through so much.  We both have.  Bell is dead.  I know I shouldn’t say this, but fuck him.

Megan will
be in therapy too.  Don’t we make a great couple.  Mr. and Mrs. messed up.  But I’m ok.  I’m doing better.  You wouldn’t believe it but I actually took part in Megan’s surgery.  She was shot.  It was bad.  They say I saved her life.  But that’s too simple…I’d like to think we saved each other.

Dr. John Randall    

Photo ©
Nicole Waters

About the Author

Taylor Waters has written four feature film screenplays. You can find the logline and synopsis of each screenplay on his blog at www.taylorwaters.com.
The Bedroom Killer
is his first novel. He lives with his family in Rancho Santa Margarita, California and is presently working on his next novel.

About the Book

This novel was originally written as a 106-page feature film screenplay. The film rights to
The Bedroom Killer
are available. Please contact Taylor Waters at
[email protected]
if you are interested in discussing an option or purchase of the script. The electronic
version is available on Kindle.

You can read more about Taylor Waters on his blog at
www.taylorwaters.com
.