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In His Daddy's Shadow
Chapter 4
Over the next few days, the police examined every nook, cranny, ceiling, floor, and wall of my home, the Barnett mansion. When they were satisfied that nothing had been missed, they removed the crime scene tapes from Carolyn's room. You better believe that James and I, along with a very reluctant Vincent, entered the room to see if we could find something the police had missed.
The cleaning help was due to return to their duties the next day, so the bed still contained the bloody linens. That was the first thing we examined, and it was Vincent who first noticed it. In the middle of the fitted bottom sheet, camouflaged by the blood stains, he found a tiny little stone. It was a red garnet, and easily missed in the blood red stains.
"Get a tweezer and a plastic bag," he yelled at us.
I was more familiar with the house than James, so I said, "Stay here Jim. I'll get it."
I was back in a couple of minutes. Vincent gingerly picked up the stone with the tweezers, and dropped it in the bag. It was a zip-lock, and he closed it immediately.
"The stone is really tiny," he said. It could very well have come loose from the murderer's ring when he was stabbing poor Carolyn."
Then, acting like my dad in a film, I said, "I'll bet it came from a pinky ring. It's too small for a regular sized ring."
Vincent and James nodded their heads to let me know that they agreed.
"My birthday is January 4th, Vincent said. A garnet is my birthstone. The murderer might have been born in January. You guys keep looking. I'm going to call Detective O'Brian before he accuses us of withholding evidence."
When Vincent told the desk sergeant that he might have found evidence pertinent to the case, O'Brian got on the phone immediately. Vincent told him what he had found and the detective said that he would be at the house, immediately.
When he arrived, Vincent turned over the plastic bag with the stone to the detective.
"We figure that it came from a pinky ring, and if it's a birthstone, the murderer was born in January," Vincent said.
"That's really an interesting theory," O'Brian said. "Joe Franklin was born on January 7th. We know it couldn't be him, but this is very helpful. We can concentrate on any of his close contacts who might have been born in January also.
"Have you found any relationships or contacts yet between Franklin and anyone else?" I asked.
"Sadly, not yet," O'Brian answered.
Then, as if all this chatter wasn't interesting enough, I began to wonder about a few things. Why did O'Brian come himself? He could easily have sent a subordinate to retrieve the evidence bag. In fact, I would expect that he would have sent a gofer. Why did he call Vincent every time he wanted to update him on the case? After all, Vincent was not a cop. He was a material witness, and nothing more.
While I was wondering what was going on, Vincent added to my confusion even more.
"Detective," he asked. "Would you like to stay for lunch? We have plenty of food in the house. I'll whip up some cheese omelets with coffee and defrost some bagels."
O'Brian was quick to accept. "That's nice of you, Vince," he said. "I'd like that. But I insist that you call me Dave. By the way, I'm not named David. Dave is my legal name."
I had never heard anyone call Vincent, Vince. I was surprised that Vincent didn't correct him. The two men never stopped smiling at each other, and they began to talk about The Dodgers as if they were old friends. At some point, James caught my eye. He smiled at me, and I knew what he was thinking. I was thinking the same thing. James and I had already learned that Vincent had excellent gaydar. Now I was beginning to believe that he was coming on to Dave, and Dave was more than happy to indicate that he was interested.
After lunch, Dave said that he had to get back to forensics to turn over the stone. "I need to go over everything we know about Franklin and see if I can establish a January connection."
Vincent was not about to allow Dave to get away so fast. "Now that we can leave the house," he said, "and we have no cook, I had intended on taking the boys out to dinner this evening. Would you like to join us?"
I was floored. Vincent had just flabbergasted me. Now, I was convinced that my suspicions were correct.
"I'd love to join you," Dave said, without a moment's hesitation. "You men may still need protection, and I'll act as an additional bodyguard. Tell you what. After work, I'll go home and change, and pack an overnight bag. I'm very worried about you all, so I'll sleep over. I know that there are more guest rooms in this house, other than the one Vincent is in."
If I live to be two hundred years old, I'll never know what possessed me, but I blurted out, "You two guys aren't fooling anyone. You might as well sleep in Vincent's room, Dave, and stay over until my folks get home."
James looked at me as if to say, "Are you crazy," but Dave smiled at me, and said, "Thanks Claude (groan), you're very astute and a life saver." He gave Vincent a chaste little peck on the cheek, so I reached over and did the same to James. I wanted Dave to know the score.
We didn't want to go to where the paparazzi hung out, so we opted to go to Canter's Deli on Fairfax Avenue. They are open twenty-four seven. Celebrities do eat there, but it's an old established restaurant, it's not exactly the IN place right now, so we hoped to avoid the press.
We had a wonderful dinner, and a wonderful time together. We all forgot about the terrible circumstances which brought us together, at least for the moment. Every one of us knew what pleasures awaited us at home, but nobody rushed dinner. We had all night, and the way Dave was acting, we had all the rest of the time my folks would be away.
That night, after the alarm was set and the lights were out, James and I crept stealthily out of our room, and inched our way up the hall. We wanted to hear something coming from Vincent's room, and we did. Vincent and Dave were two very loud lovers. The moans and groans were monumental. We could even tell when they were sucking and when they were fucking from the sounds they made.
Back in our room, I asked James how he felt about his father fucking some handsome cop. He thought a long while, and finally answered. "I'm really happy for him. I hope something develops between them. Dave's a really nice guy."
In the morning, Vincent made breakfast again. All through the meal, he and Dave kept grinning at each other. Obviously, things had gone well last night.
"I have to get back to the precinct," Dave announced. "I want to ask forensics if they learned anything from the stone; probably not, but you never know. I also want to get to The Metropolitan Detention Center where Joe Franklin has his accommodations right now. Maybe if I promise him a small favor, he might be able to help us out. Actually, I doubt he will, but I have to try."
"Will you be back for dinner?" Vincent asked. "I'm taking the boys shopping with me this afternoon, and if you're coming over, I'll know what to get."
"I wouldn't miss it for the world," Dave said. He got up to leave, and surprised all of us. He embraced Vincent and gave him a very wet, open-mouth kiss.
Detective O'Brian was talking to the prison's warden, Seth Patterson, before being escorted to his interview with Franklin.
"Don't be shocked," the warden said. "He's in solitary confinement. We'll bring him to a small interview room, but he'll be shackled."
"How come he's in solitary?" Dave asked.
"He attacked a new kid who was just admitted. The boy was barely nineteen and scared to death to be in prison. Joe tried to rape him. Fortunately, some other prisoners heard the cry for help, and rescued the kid. The boy wasn't hurt, so I just gave Franklin a stern warning."
"I guess your warning fell on deaf ears, if he's in solitary."
"Yes, indeed. Less than a week later, he did rape a young kid. The boy reported him. Franklin had no rubbers, so we had plenty of DNA evidence. The boy wants to prosecute, so Joe's going to endure another trial"
"Do you have witnesses?"
"Sure, the prisoners who saw the young man on the floor, with his pants pulled down, all saw Franklin fleeing the scene, and they all want to testify. He's universally disliked here."
"Are any of them about to be released."
"Yes, one this month, and one in three months. Why do you ask?"
"Because someone is murdering all the rape victims who testified against Franklin at his first trial. Those men who testify at his new trial may be tough, but they are going to need protection. That's why I'm here, Warden. I'm hoping Franklin will give me some information as to who's taking revenge for him."
"Fat chance," Patterson said.
"I know, but sometimes they slip up and say something innocent which gives me all the information I need."
"Well, good luck," the warden said. "Now come with me.
Patterson took Dave to a small interrogation room. A few minutes later, two guards came in with a very chained up Joe Franklin.
"What am I doing here?" he asked.
"I ask the questions," Dave said.
Franklin sniggered. "If you insist. Ask away."
"Do you have any friends or relatives on the outside."
"I don't have any of those." Now Joe was smirking.
"Don't lie to me, Joe," Dave said. "We're doing a total background check on you, and we'll find someone willing to murder for you, and he'll be right here with you."
"I told you. I ain't got nobody, so get lost."
"If you cooperate and save us a lot of research time, I might be able to do something nice for you," Dave said. He smiled as he said it, hoping to break down some of Franklin's defenses.
"That's bullshit," Franklin said. "We both know that you can't, and won't, do a thing for me."
"Try me."
"Okay, suck my cock."
Dave knew that he had hit a dead end, but he also knew, beyond a doubt, that Franklin had a friend or friends on the outside who were willing to commit murderous revenge for him. He knew that from the way Franklin denied having any friends at all. There was something revealing in the way he smirked at Dave."
Detective O'Brian looked at the guards. "Take him away," he said, "and add some time to his solitary confinement. I want to punish him for the way he spoke to me."
Both he and the prisoner knew that was an empty threat. Dave had no authority to order additional solitary time for Franklin, but he wanted to plant a seed of doubt in the criminal's mind.
Before leaving the prison, Dave stopped at the warden's office. "I have one more request," he said. "Could I see Franklin's personal effects. I'd like to see what you confiscated from him."
"Sure," Patterson said.
He pushed a button on his telephone, and asked that Joe Franklin's personal property be brought to him. In less than five minutes, someone brought a small box into the room. It contained only three items. There was a wallet without any money or other ID in it. It was as if Joe had destroyed any evidence leading back to his life outside the prison. Next, there was a fancy looking knock-off watch, which you could buy from a street vendor for $10 or so. Finally, there was a little gold pinky ring with a tiny garnet set into the gold.
"Have you got a magnifying glass?" Dave asked. The warden produced one from his desk. Dave inspected the ring carefully. The stone matched the one found at Carolyn's murder scene. So, whoever the murderer was, he and Joe had purchased matching rings. He continued to study the band, and in the tiniest of all etchings, he made out, "Jones Jewelers."
"If I told you that this ring is vital evidence in a murder investigation, how hard would it be for me to check it out?"
As long as you get it back before the prisoner is released, all you have to do is sign an evidence release form. I think you can hold on to the ring for a very long time." As he said that the warden actually laughed.
Driving back to the precinct, Dave vowed to take a long, hot shower when he got back to my house this evening. Franklin and the prison had made him feel dirty, somehow. He hoped Vincent would join him in the shower. He was grateful to James and me that we approved of his and Vincent's feelings for each other. He thought that it was a pleasure not to have to hide in the shadows, at least not in the Barnett home.
About ten minutes into his drive back to the precinct, his cell phone rang. He picked it up, and identified himself. "Detective O'Brian," he said.
"Riley here, Dave," Detective Riley also identified himself.
"What's up?" Dave asked.
"We've been able to dig up Joe Franklin's birth records," Riley said, "and guess what?"
"What?"
"He has a twin brother."
"It all fits together," Dave said. "I assume that they're identical, and they probably alibied for each other many times. That's why nobody suspected they were twins. The DNA we recovered from the raped women could have belonged to either of them. I picked up additional evidence at the prison. I have a ring that belongs to Joe Franklin. The stone in the setting is a garnet, and it's a match to the stone Vincent found in the victim's bed. I should be at the precinct in about half an hour. When I get there, I'll fill you in. In the meantime, see if you can locate Jones Jewelers. Hopefully it's in L.A."
When he hung up on Riley, Dave called Warden Patterson at Metropolitan Detention Center.
"Listen," Dave said. "We've discovered that Joe Franklin has an identical twin brother. If he comes to visit, take his fingerprints coming in and going out. Identical twins share a lot, but they have different fingerprints. The two brothers might try to switch places, just so one of them will be free at any given time. I believe that's how they can keep on their murdering rampage, and make us believe that since Joe is locked up, he can't be the murderer."
In the morning he planned on paying Jones Jewelers a visit, but for now he had much pleasanter things to look forward to tonight in Vincent's bed.
To be continued ...