Hollywood Murder Read Online Free Page B

“I’m not sure I understand. Why didn’t she recognize her own sister?”
    “The body was missing the head.”
    ***
    Even though Section One was stationed in Hollywood, the unit was authorized to handle high-profile homicide cases occurring anywhere within the boundaries of LAPD. Hancock Park was a historic district in central Los Angeles, just south of Hollywood and surrounded by the Wilshire Country Club. The affluent subdivision was developed in the 1920s, with architecturally distinct homes and large yards. I remembered reading somewhere that the area had several celebrities living in the sprawling homes over the years, including the legendary actor John Barrymore Sr. and Muhammad Ali.
    Bernie and I met Leo Kingsley at Hollywood Station where he drove us to the murder scene. Leo was an African-American detective in his mid-fifties, with over thirty years on the job, and, as I recently found out, a PhD in psychology. He was a big man, with a shaved head, who had previously been assigned to the department’s cold case unit, anticipating his retirement in a few years. That all changed when Section One had recently worked with cold case on a homicide. That investigation had inspired Leo to take a more active assignment in the years before he turned in his badge. In some circles, my new partner was considered a legend; a hard-working detective who was tenacious and dedicated to his job.
    I filled Leo in on what little I knew about the case as he drove, adding, “It sounds like a pretty gruesome scene. Oz thinks the press will be all over what happened.”
    I’d seldom seen Leo without a smile, and tonight was no exception. “What would we do without the press?”
    “I wonder what this does to our Potter investigation?”
    Walter and Maggie Potter were the victims in our upcoming Hollywood Detective TV series. They’d been murdered while their nine-year-old daughter had been asleep in a nearby bedroom. Samantha had awoken the next morning to find her parents bludgeoned to death.
    I’d been motivated to take the case because of Samantha’s personal plea for me to find her parents’ killer and because of her mother’s illness. I’d learned from the autopsy reports that Maggie Potter was suffering from terminal brain cancer at the time of her death and had less than six months to live. It was something that she’d kept from everyone, except her husband. Neither Samantha, nor her extended family, had been aware of her illness. The fact that Samantha’s mother had bravely carried on with her life, keeping her illness to herself, had touched me deeply. I was determined to find justice for her. 
    “I got a feeling we’re gonna be pulling double-duty for a few weeks,” Leo said, referring to the fact that we’d be working both the Marsh and Potter cases at the same time. “I hope you enjoyed your time off.”
    It was my turn to smile. “I can honestly say, it was one of the best weeks of my life.”
    Leo nodded but otherwise didn’t respond. He knew I’d been dating Noah and was probably filling in some of the blanks on his own. My new partner also knew about my personal investigation into the murder of my love-dad and the possible involvement of Kellen Malone. As he drove, I took a couple of minutes, filling him in on what I’d learned from Collin Russell before we turned into the Hancock Park subdivision.
    “The Revelation—really?”
    “Really. I don’t know much about the group, but Russell made it sound like they control a lot of what goes on behind the scenes in Hollywood.
    Leo parked up the block from where we saw the flashing lights from a couple of patrol cars, and said, “I did a little background work on Kellen Malone while you were on vacation. He’s apparently got a lot of influence behind the scenes and has made a fortune, but he stays in the background. Not sure about him being involved in a secret society.”
    “I’m going to fill Oz in on everything and see how he wants to proceed.