The Boy Who Cried Freebird (26 page)

Then Ross asked, “Did your father have any enemies? Ever receive any threats?”

Alex Manning Jr. snorted and said, “Haven't you ever heard my father's show? Half of the people who called in despised him. He was incredibly vindictive and cruel and didn't respect anyone. If he knew that you didn't like something, then he would do it incessantly. He was only happy when he was making someone else miserable.”

Jim Kowalt squinted at the younger Manning and said, “Well, our examination of the phone records indicate that you spoke to your
father twice last night before he was killed. You called him at home around seven that evening and he called you about an hour later. What was that all about?”

“To be honest, we'd been fighting all week,” Alex Jr. said. “But I was going to visit him last night and we were on the phone making plans for dinner. Then he called me back and said not to bother, that he was expecting company and was too busy to see me.”

“Was he expecting a woman?” Ross asked.

Kowalt interrupted before the son could answer and said, “What my partner meant is, do you know who your father was expecting to see last night when he canceled his plans with you?”

Alex Jr. looked back and forth between the two detectives. He shook his head, and said, “No, I don't know. He was up to something though. The weird thing was that he sounded kind of upbeat. As far as women were concerned, the only ones I ever saw over at the house were his partner Alesha and that girl Angie. But they both had been pissed at him lately and were staying away as far as I know.”

Jim Kowalt made a snide comment about the son's inheritance. Then he jumped up, handed Alex Jr. his business card, and thanked him for his cooperation.

As Alex Jr. escorted the detectives to the door, he tentatively asked, “Don't you even want to know where I was at the time of my father's murder?”

Kowalt barely turned his head toward Alex and replied, “Here with your girlfriend, watching TV?”

Alex Manning Jr. grinned and said, “You got that right.” Then he closed the door.

Outside, Jim Kowalt turned to Ross and said, “Well, let's head down to the radio station and kill two birds with one stone. We have appointments with Angie Madison and Alesha Martinez and it's im
portant that we meet both of them before the media blows this thing out of proportion. Supposedly Martinez struggled through this morning's show because Manning was missing in action. Now the word is out about his murder, so she and the radio staff are probably trying to figure out what to do next.”

The detectives arrived at the radio station, which had already doubled security because of the Manning murder. There was a lot of activity out in front of the station and plenty of action inside, too. Ross noticed a cluster of mourning guests milling around one hallway. They were mostly strippers and porn stars, all dressed provocatively in black. Jim Kowalt observed that the station's employees were fretfully busy and the office management appeared extremely stressed out. No one looked very sad.

An intern escorted the detectives into Alesha Martinez's small office. Snoop Dogg was on the stereo. Martinez was wearing a short skirt and a sweatshirt bearing the radio station's logo. She had dark eyes and dark skin and a beauty mark on her left cheek. Her hair was long and straight and tied back in a ponytail. Her skin was smooth and so was her voice. She explained to the detectives that she was supposed to pick up Alex Manning and give him a ride to work the previous night. They occasionally did this to get a jump on things when they had a lot to discuss.

Ross can't get over how unbelievably hot she is.

Martinez also claimed that she called Alex Manning from her car, but he never answered the phone so she drove to work without him. She maintained that Manning was always erratic and him canceling plans didn't particularly concern her—until Manning didn't show up for their radio show.

“Alex never missed a show in all the years that I knew him,” said Alesha Martinez.

“But you do have a key to his apartment, don't you?” Kowalt said bluntly.

The question seemed to bother Alesha and her eyes narrowed. “Yes, I do,” she snapped, “and I don't like the implication of your question. Do you think I'm enjoying any of this? Don't you know what is happening? There are all sorts of conspiracy theories and that's all anyone can talk about around here. Some people think I killed Alex and others are blaming Angie Madison. It's all crazy!”

Martinez continued her rant, “We're not even sure if we should do the broadcast tomorrow, but what else can we do? Alex and I had a decade's worth of history here, but I can't do my job right now without looking like a bitch. The ironic thing is, Alex was the most malicious person of us all and he's not here to take advantage of this mess. I've got to be ruthless or the sharks are going to eat me alive. Our show is a multimillion-dollar enterprise and it's in total jeopardy—Detective, I did not kill Alex Manning!”

Ross kept his head down and took notes. He was trying not to stare at Alesha.

“Did Alex Manning have any enemies, Ms. Martinez?” asked Kowalt.

Alesha sighed disdainfully. “I hope you're not going to ask me to do your police work for you,” she said. “Alex and I were here for ten years and we dealt with the public almost every day. We made promo appearances and went to parties and hosted events all over the city. There are a ton of kooks out there—we even had stalkers and had to put out restraining orders. Alex had affairs and dumped people, invested in dubious ventures, and screwed over business associates. Sure, he had enemies; just look at the show's transcripts.”

Jim Kowalt responded without a hint of empathy, “Our records show that only two individuals ever threatened Alex Manning's life
and had restraining orders established as a result of those threats. These individuals now reside in other states and have been eliminated as suspects in this case. We believe the person who killed Alex Manning was a little closer in proximity. How well do you know Angie Madison?”

“Not very well,” answered Martinez. “We all went out socially a few times when she was dating Alex. But anyone who listened to our show knows about Angie.”

“S-s-so, Ms. Martinez,” stammered Ross. “Were you romantically involved with Mr. Manning?”

“Detective,” she said curtly, “there was nothing romantic about my relationship with Alex Manning.”

“Yes, but were you having sex with him?” countered Jim Kowalt.

“Why is that always the million-dollar question?” Martinez spat back. “There are plenty of other reasons why somebody would want to kill Alex, I assure you. What's the difference if we did or did not have sex? Can't you guys ever get past the jealous lover thing?”

“Well,” said Kowalt. “Isn't it true that in the last few months you were trying to renegotiate your contract with this radio station, but that any change from your current arrangement required a written release from Alex Manning—a release that he hadn't provided to you despite your repeated requests for him to do so?

“Yes, that's true,” she said indifferently.

“Well,” continued Kowalt, “wasn't this dispute one of the factors that had led to the tension between you and Mr. Manning prior to his murder? The tension that led to you confronting him on the air for his numerous character flaws, including but not restricted to his treatment of women in general, his treatment of Angie Madison in particular, and his temperament toward you, his longtime pal and loyal cohost?”

“Yes, that was one of the factors,” she said less indifferently.

“Well, where were you last night between ten o'clock and four in the morning?” asked Jim Kowalt.

“With a friend,” she said defiantly.

“Man, she's hot,” thought Ross.

Kowalt persisted, “Well, Ms. Martinez, will you please provide us with that person's name and contact information so that we might confirm your whereabouts on the night of Alex Manning's murder?”

Alesha Martinez looked alarmed and her voice became shrill, “I'd really rather not.”

Ross suddenly came to life. Smiling, he leaned forward and cooed, “Please, Miss Martinez, Alesha. I guarantee you that this information will not be made available to anyone else. All we want to do is eliminate you as a suspect as soon as possible, and that's it. I promise. We'll respect your privacy.”

Alesha Martinez looked unimpressed and said, “Don't you understand that if my reputation gets any worse I could lose my job? There's no real guarantee here, just your damn promise. I'm supposed to trust you? Why don't you just put your tongue back in your mouth and give me a goddamn break.”

Jim Kowalt leaned forward, softened his voice as best he could, and said, “You have my guarantee as well, Ms. Martinez. We're just trying to solve this case and if you're innocent, then you have nothing to worry about.”

The woman gazed up at the ceiling for several moments. She blinked back some tears and said in a choked whisper, “Okay.”

“Well,” repeated Detective Jim Kowalt, “who were you with last night between ten in the evening and four in the morning?”

“Ace MacKay,” said Alesha Martinez.

“Damn,” said Ross.

Part Three

Angie Madison didn't have her own office; she worked out of a cubicle in the sales department. For privacy, the detectives met with her in one of the executive conference rooms. Madison was a leggy blonde, originally from Terre Haute, Indiana. She gave off a youthful, midwestern sort of innocence and looked Jim Kowalt straight in the eye. She was quite intelligent and possessed a rock-hard body with a flat stomach and well-defined thighs.

Ross can't get over how hot she is.

Angie explained to the detectives that she had been working at the station as an ad salesperson for about eighteen months before dating Alex Manning. “He was the least likely person for me to ever have gone out with,” she said.

“In what way?” asked Ross.

Angie looked Ross straight in the eye and said, “He was a lot like my father, an overwhelming personality. Alex was very aggressive and his mind was very sharp. He sought out other people's weaknesses and then exposed them.”

“Well, why did you start having personal dialogues with Mr. Manning on the radio?” Kowalt asked.

“The first time it happened it was just twenty or thirty seconds of him asking me out on a date,” she explained. “I didn't even realize we were on the air until my girlfriend told me afterward.”

Angie Madison blushed and said, “Discussing more personal things happened gradually. He'd call me on my cell phone while I was on the way to a meeting or something. I've always had this weird sense of humor and the audience liked me. It became like a game for Alex, he tried to catch me off guard or talk provocatively like he did with
his other guests. That's where I drew the line, but Alex was incorrigible.”

“We understand that Mr. Manning broke up with you on the show and you took it pretty hard,” said Kowalt.

“That's not true, I broke up with him!” Angie Madison objected. “Then he called me the next day while he was doing the show and said that he didn't want to see me anymore. It was like Paul McCartney claiming he was the one to quit the Beatles when it was really John Lennon! I was upset because he made it look like he was dumping me and it just wasn't true.”

“And Mr. Manning continued to disparage your reputation on his show after you'd stopped seeing each other,” added Kowalt.

“That's right,” said Angie. “I'd never been so hurt and angered by a person in my life.”

“Is that when you called up the show and told him to ‘fuck off ' on the air?” asked Kowalt.

“Yes, that's when I called him and said that,” Madison answered.

“And you told him that if he embarrassed you again that he'd regret it,” Kowalt reminded.

“Yes, but he never said anything after I confronted him,” she said defensively. “He finally left me alone and that was the end of it.”

Kowalt pressed further, “Well, didn't your confrontation on the radio directly precede an even bigger argument between Mr. Manning and his cohost Alesha Martinez?”

“Yes, that's true,” said Madison. “But what does that have to do with anything? Alesha was just standing up for all women everywhere and I respect her for it.”

Ross jumped in again, “Do you know Alesha very well?”

“No, not very well,” she replied. “We all went out socially a few times when I was dating Alex.”

Jim Kowalt remained focused and terse. “Did you continue to communicate with Alex Manning after your breakup?”

“Not really,” she answered. “I was very angry with Alex and didn't want to have anything to do with him.”

Jim Kowalt frowned and said, “Well, the phone records show that Alex Manning called you at home last night around six-thirty and that the two of you were on the line for about twenty minutes.”

“He called me!” Angie Madison screeched. “I just answered my phone, is that a crime?”

“Well, what did the two of you discuss on the phone for twenty minutes?” asked Kowalt.

“Alex wanted to reconcile, he said he wanted me back!” she shouted. “I didn't say yes but I didn't hang up on him, either. He kept asking me to come over to his place. Finally, I told him I had to get off the phone and would call him back but I didn't. I turned off the ringer, took a Xanax, and watched TV until I fell asleep.”

“Well, tell me, Ms. Madison,” Kowalt said. “Do you have a key to Mr. Manning's apartment in your possession?”

Angie Madison started crying, “Yes! Yes! I still have the key; I was going to mail it back to him. So I forgot! Is that a crime?” She looked imploringly at Ross and said, “That doesn't mean that I would kill anybody. You don't think I killed Alex—do you?”