The Chilling Spree (19 page)

“I see your point,” but it was clear that
Johnny was unconvinced that my reaction was normal and borne of
frustration and fear.  “Still, according to the police report,
there was a very real danger of Jackson finishing the job, whereas
when you threatened to kill Southerby, he was safely in
custody.”

“Right,” I gritted my teeth.  “In
custody in the same place he previously escaped by faking his own
death once before.  Sue me.  I had a momentary lapse of
reason.”

He nuzzled my neck.  “I’m not saying I
disagree per se.  You just freaked Tony out.”

“Yeah, so much that he was hoping you’d
never want to see me again.”

“Nah,” Johnny inhaled deeply.  “He just
didn’t want me to wake up to learn that my girl was facing murder
charges.”  His voice dipped to a low whisper.  “He
doesn’t know that you’re really smart enough to get away with it,
does he?”

“You’ve been an investigator long enough to
know that nobody is really smart enough to get away with murder,
Johnny.”  Fear clenched my heart in a vice.  Was Johnny
starting to remember, and if so, did his suspicion of me reflect
that he never believed what I told him about Rick’s death?  Or
was all this doubt the fruit of seeds planted by Tony Briscoe?

Rham Goddard was not what I expected. 
His brother, Scott Madden, was a wild, ginger-haired rock star
replete with tattoos everywhere the naked eye could see.  He
had holes pierced in his ears, through an eyebrow and God only knew
where else that was hidden by his clothing.  The baby brother
on the other hand had russet highlights that reminded me of
Crevan’s hair, or mine for that matter.  The style was
conservative short, and he seemed to have an appreciation for a
wardrobe that went beyond ripped denim, faded t-shirts and high-top
sneakers.

He rose and extended one hand when Johnny
and I entered the conference room adjacent to Johnny’s office at
OSI’s headquarters.  “Detectives, what has Scott done this
time.”

No preamble, just jump straight to the
assumption of his summons.  Johnny pulled out a chair for me
and waited until I was settled before sitting beside me.

“Mr. Goddard, thank you for coming out here
on such short notice.  We did want to talk to you about your
brother, however, Scott Madden isn’t the brother we want to discuss
right now.”

His forehead wrinkled. 
“
Theo
?”

“I understand that your brother and his wife
take an annual sabbatical on their boat every year,” I said.

“Sure,” Goddard said.  “Oh my
God.  Did something happen to them?”

“No, sir,” Johnny reassured him
quickly.  “They’re expected back tomorrow, a little ahead of
schedule, but safe and sound.”

“We hope,” I murmured.  “I guess I
should be candid, Mr. Goddard.  We have questions about Scott
and Theo’s relationship, an estrangement that Scott says has
existed for some time, and the source of the problem.”

Concern bled into confusion.  “Why on
earth…?  All right, though I can’t imagine why the police
would care about any of this.  Scott and Theo were barely ten
months apart in age, detective, so I guess it’s somewhat natural
that there would be a rivalry between them.  Theo is the
opposite of what Scott has always been.  Theo excelled in
school.  Scott made a point of being a horrible student – not
that he isn’t every bit as intelligent as Theo, it was simply one
of many ways he defined himself as someone distinctly separate from
a brother who was often mistaken for a twin.”

“And Theo resents that Scott wants to be
unique?” I asked.

“No, no.  He pretty much rolled his
eyes at Scott’s antics and accepted it for what it was.  Even
when Scott was up to his eyeballs in substance abuse, Theo could
always be counted upon for support, moral or otherwise.”

“What other kind of support would Scott need
beyond moral?” Johnny injected another salient question.

“Financial of course.  Nobody burns
through money faster than our brother.  Rehab isn’t cheap, and
until a few years ago, Scott was pretty much in a cycle of spending
as much time in rehab as he was on his career.”

“Was it when he became religious that the
rift widened?”

“Well, to be honest, Theo and I were less
than thrilled when Scott announced that he was a bona fide
Buddhist, but the change in his personality was undeniable. 
He seemed calmer, more centered, he was certainly more thoughtful
and capable of admitting that he made mistakes.  Part of my
brother’s lifestyle I think is that no one has ever called him to
task when he’s out of line, let alone flat out wrong.  He
became spoiled when no one dared stand up to him, and suddenly,
there was a nuclear meltdown whenever anybody danced close to that
line with him.”

“But Buddhism changed his outlook that
dramatically.”  I didn’t ask, because Goddard had verbosely
explained one simple fact.

“He did a complete one-eighty with us,” Rham
said.  “Home for holidays, even though in his new religion,
there are no Christian holidays.  Suddenly, our in-your-face
brother was respectful of our differing beliefs.  He showed an
interest in our lives, our well-being.  It was hard to suspect
that the changes weren’t genuine.”

“But Theo had his doubts.”

“No, Detective Eriksson.  If anybody
had doubts, it was me.  You’ve got to remember.  I’m
significantly younger than Theo and Scott.  I’ve watched this
dance they do for my entire life.  I kept waiting for the
punch line, for it to blow up and coat everybody with blood and
guts.”

“Did it happen eventually?” Johnny
asked.

“Not the way you’d imagine, Commander
Orion.  About five years ago, Scott was home for a visit, and
told Theo that he was concerned about our nephew Kyle.  Kyle
is one of those kids who makes a very compelling case for the
biological influence in homosexuality.  I swear, the kid was
really born a flamboyant, out of the closet, fearless guy who only
had eyes for other boys.”

“Theo disapproved?” I knew that Scott’s
version of the story was opposite what I suggested.

“No, but Scott told Theo that for Kyle’s
safety, he ought to curb some of his more outrageous
behavior.  He said he saw unspeakably cruel behavior directed
at kids like Kyle as he traveled the world, and I quote,
kicked
some serious ass
in defense of people like Kyle, but that he
was apt to incite violence if somebody didn’t rein him in.”

“I see,” truly I did.  Madden had been
forthright with me about one thing at least.

“Well, Theo flipped over it.  He called
Scott a hypocrite for living his outlandish, often dangerous and
always illegal lifestyle for so many years, and then claiming
enlightenment and encouraging Kyle to live a lie.  Theo really
ranted and raved, but Scott held his ground.  He told Theo
there was a difference between honest living and tweaking the noses
of everyone Kyle encountered – and really, who better to know the
difference than Scott?  He elevated nose tweaking to a high
art form.  In one sense, I understand that Scott wanted to
spare Kyle some of the pain he’s endured from learning everything
the hard way.  On the other hand, I see Theo’s point.  We
pat our sons on the back for being stereotypical jocks.  If
Kyle wanted to be the prom queen instead of prom king, Theo was
going to be supportive.”

“Your brother is a clinical psychologist,
yes?” I asked.

He nodded.  “They both had points that
were valid, but as with just about every other major issue between
Theo and Scott, the solution lay somewhere in the middle. 
Kyle could stand to tone down his behavior, but he shouldn’t hide
who he is either.  Sounds confusing, doesn’t it?”

“Not really,” I said.  “This rift, five
years ago I think you said, did it close off all communication
between Scott and Theo?”

“Not completely.  They’re capable of
having some pretty bland and meaningless conversations, but they
haven’t spoken of substance for years.  Scott was hurt that
Theo didn’t accept the advice in the spirit intended.  Theo
resented Scott for butting into something he saw as a private
matter. As for family holidays, that ended. We haven’t seen Scott
in a couple of years. Although, it seems he’s managed to find
trouble on this recent visit.”

“And through all of this drama, you’ve
managed to remain close with both of your brothers?” I asked.

“You’d think I was the middle child, the
proverbial peacemaker,” Rham grinned.

“Are you aware of any incidents that
might’ve given Scott reason to believe his advice was correct and
that Theo was wrong?” Johnny asked.

“Sure, there were plenty of instances where
Kyle was targeted by bullies, particularly when he decided he
wanted to dress and behave as though he’s a woman.  As far as
I know, Scott never was aware of any of that, and didn’t broach the
subject with Theo again.  Like I said, their relationship was
damaged into a state of superficial civility.”

“Do you think that Scott would ever resort
to tactics that might be a little… extreme?  I guess what I’m
asking is if Scott would go too far to show Theo that he was right
and Theo was wrong?”

Goddard tilted his head right and peered at
Johnny.  “I’m sorry, but why is OSI so interested in the
relationship between my brothers or the behavior of Kyle?”

“Mr. Goddard,” I began carefully. 
“Have you looked at this morning’s edition of the Sentinel?”

“Sure,” he said.  “Is this about that
incident at Scott’s concert on New Year’s Eve?”

“I’m afraid it is,” I said. 
“Ordinarily, we prefer to notify the next of kin in these
situations, but since your brother isn’t here –”

“Oh God.  What happened?”

Johnny cleared his throat.  ”The murder
victim at the Pan Demon concert was your nephew Kyle, Mr.
Goddard.  Scott is aware of the victim’s identity as of last
night.  We haven’t been able to inform Theo yet, which I’m
sure you realize, rates an in person notification rather than
delivering that kind of news by telephone.”

“God,” he rasped.  “Theo’s going to be
devastated.  Scott must be too.”

“Mr. Goddard, we have reason to suspect that
Kyle’s death is the result of a hate crime.  Were you close to
your nephew?”

“Close enough.”

“Can you think of anyone who knew him that
might’ve wanted to harm him?” I asked.

“No.  I mean there were people in
school that harassed him a bit.  He went to public school
because the church seriously frowned on Kyle’s behavior.  Are
you sure it was Kyle?”

“Our medical examiner made a positive
identification,” Johnny said.  “Not only that, Scott
recognized the photo of the victim and identified him as Kyle
Goddard.”

“Theo and Marion will be destroyed by
this.  Kyle is their only child.”

“Are you sure you don’t recall any incidents
that were volatile or threats that were made toward Kyle?” I
asked.

“Well, there was one incident.  There’s
a club in Downey where female impersonators perform.  One of
Kyle’s friends from high school recently started performing
there.  He’s twenty-one, and Kyle would’ve been twenty in a
couple of months.  Anyway, they had some sort of big show over
there during the festival, and this friend of Kyle’s sneaked him in
to perform with a fake ID.”

Johnny nodded.  “I remember that. 
The police were called to break up a protest outside the bar that
turned violent.  Some of the performers were arrested for
inciting violence.”

“When did this happen, Johnny?”

His eyes widened.  I watched a knot in
his throat hitch and slide.  “October,” he rasped.

“Last October?”

Johnny nodded.  “You were in the
hospital.”

“Is that significant?” Goddard asked.

Not for reasons that related to our current
investigation.  Johnny remembered something.  I wondered
if anything else from that time period was flooding his memory,
maybe something that related to how he saved me from more scrutiny
by the FBI over Rick’s death.

“I take it Kyle was part of the group that
helped fan the flames that turned the protest violent,” he
said. 

“Yeah,” Goddard said.  “Theo was livid,
more because Kyle was underage and performing his act illegally
than anything else.  The owner of the club got cited for
allowing minors to perform.  It was a big mess.”

My first thought was that if Kyle’s murder
was related to what happened in October, it had little to do with
the underage issues of this men’s club, but could be linked to one
of the protesters, particularly since it was conceivable that Kyle
was killed because of his transgender lifestyle.

Johnny cut through my thoughts.  “Any
more questions, Doc?”

“No,” I slid a card across the table to
Goddard.  “If you think of anything else, please call
immediately.  I’d appreciate if you not share what we told you
with anyone.  We’d like to have the opportunity to speak with
Theo and his wife before they learn what happened from other
sources.”

“Is it all right if I talk to Scott?”

“Of course,” I said.  “I’d just caution
you to be as discreet as possible.  This is an ongoing
investigation, Mr. Goddard.”

When we were alone, Johnny threaded the
fingers of his right hand with my left.  “Could be an
important lead, Helen.”

“Screw that.  Johnny you
remembered
something!”

“It’s more confusing than the blank slate,”
he admitted.  “Suddenly there’s all of this jumbled up stuff
in my head.  It felt like I was seeing something from outside
my body.”

“Were you at this protest?”

“I don’t know,” Johnny said.  “All I
know for sure is that I remember that it happened, and that I
couldn’t quite bring myself to care about another anti-gay drama
playing out in Downey.”