"So it wasn't a total loss after all," Tina said, and everyone laughed. They fell into another silence, but more comfortable than the last.
Finally Lauren spoke. "When you're ready, I'd like to talk about that night."
Tina sighed. "Yeah, okay. Go. Fire away."
"Knowing what you know now," Lauren said, "about Niki stealing the negatives, Max, the baby business, Tom, anything and everything, is there anything at all that you can add? Anything new you can think of? Who do you think killed Jenny, and why? Could it have been Max? Somebody else?"
Tina and Bette looked at each other, then at their laptop camera. "We've talked about it dozens of times," Bette said. "Basically we have nothing. Could Max have killed her? Maybe, yes. But neither of us have a shred of evidence to back it up. And it's complicated by the fact that neither of us liked Max very much, and we try not to let that prejudice us against her. Him."
"That's a pretty common sentiment, it seems," Lauren said. "Tina, tell me about Niki. You knew her pretty well. Could she have done it?"
"Gee, that's hard. Is she a bitch? Absolutely. Is she smart? No, but she's sneaky, wily, cunning, mean, selfish, self-centered. But here's where I get stuck. If she killed Jenny, why did she stick around, hiding in the bushes, and doing it so badly she got caught? I mean, if I were in her shoes I'd have beat feet out of there so fast your head would spin. Who commits a murder, then sticks around and watches? That's just plain crazy. Even for a crazy person it's crazy." She turned and looked at Bette. "That sentence doesn't make sense, does it?"
"No," Bette said, "but we know what you mean. That's my stopper, too. If Niki did it, why stay?"
"Okay," Lauren said, "but consider this: If Alice did it, or Shane, or you, or Bette, or Kit, Max or Helena, whichever one of you might have done it, that person killed her and then came back into the media room, sat down, and watched the farewell video."
"Right, exactly," Bette said. "Which is exactly why none of us in that room did it. Not even Alice. Not even Max. Not possible. No."
"All right," Lauren said. "How about this: Could Max or Niki have witnessed the murder by someone else, and hid that fact, for whatever reason? Could Niki have seen Max do it?"
"Sure," Bette said, "but once again, why stick around and watch what happens next?"
"Let's flip it. Could Max have seen Niki kill Jenny, and then said nothing? Could she have thought, well, good, the bitch is dead, good for Niki. Then she comes in and calmly watches the movie."
"But why say nothing?" Carmen asked. "Why doesn't Max come back in saying, 'Well, that bitch Jenny is dead, and good riddance. I just saw Niki push her off the deck and into the pool."
"Shock?" Shane suggested.
"Money," Tina said. "Extortion. Hit up Niki for a big payout in exchange for silence."
"Not withstanding she's a sly, cunning, conniving bitch, can you guys really see Niki pushing Jenny's body into the pool?" Lauren asked.
They all thought.
"Anybody?" Lauren asked.
Shane shook her head no.
"I don't know her, never met her," Carmen said.
"No," Tina said. "I come back to the question, 'Why stick around?' So, no."
"Here's something to think about along those lines," Carmen said, "and we talked about it briefly once before. How did Niki get there that night? Nobody has ever said anything about finding her car. Did she drive and park three blocks away? Or did she come with somebody? Was somebody with her, and did that person run away from the crime scene so fast he or she left Niki behind? Maybe Niki didn't stay, maybe she got abandoned. And now, one step further--"
"Did that person kill Jenny," Bette said, more a statement than a question.
"Right," Carmen said. "And could that unknown driver be Adele?"
There was silence as they thought about it.
"It could be Adele," Tina finally said, "but that doesn't mean Adele was the killer. It only means she ran faster than Niki, hopped in the getaway car, and left Niki there to face the music."
"Boy, that's cold," Carmen said.
"You don't know Adele," Shane said quietly.
"Or Niki," Tina said.
There was more silence while everyone thought.
"Fasten your seat belts," Carmen said. "We're gonna take a ride. Let's suppose Adele and Niki go to Bette and Tina's house, or maybe Shane and Jenny's house, it doesn't matter. They sneak around back and see a party going on. People coming onto the deck, going back inside. Shane going to her house, maybe, and coming out really pissed some time later. Maybe all they see is Shane leading Tina out of Tina and Bette's house, and going into Shane and Jenny's house. Niki knows the negatives are in the attic, because she put them there. Shane and Tina seem pissed, and they go into Tina and Bette's house, and don't come back out. Shane, Tina, is that accurate so far?"
"Yes, we came out, we were both pissed. We went back into my house," Tina said.
"Did either of you say anything? I mean, while you walked from one house to the other, anything loud enough that Niki and Adele or whoever, hiding in the bushes, might have overheard?"
"I don't think so," Tina said. "I was halfway between monumentally pissed and in a state of shock. Shane, did we say anything?"
"If we did I can't remember," Shane said, "but I don't think we did. We just both wanted to fucking wring Jenny's neck. But if we said anything, I don't have any recollection of it."
"Okay," Carmen said. "You both go inside. We'll get back to that in a minute. And then a few minutes later Jenny comes from somewhere, and somebody comes out on the upper deck as Jenny maybe comes up the stairs. That person is pissed. Jenny and this person talk, the person pushes Jenny off the deck, and then walks down the stairs and rolls her into the pool. Then this person goes back into the house, sits down with all the rest of you, and watches the rest of the farewell tape. Meanwhile, Niki and Adele are in the bushes and have seen the whole thing. 'Holy shit!' Adele says, and runs for the car and drives away. 'Oh, shit,' Niki says, 'Fuck you, Adele.' So she stays, because maybe she's in a bit of shock and not smart enough to figure out her next move. And at that moment Alice comes out of the house on the deck, sees Jenny floating in the pool, runs back in and tells you all. You all run out, fish Jenny out of the pool, somebody calls 9-1-1, and so on. Niki is in shock, stays and watches."
"Great," Bette said, "but who came out of the house and pushed Jenny off the deck?"
"Not me!" Tina said.
"Nope," Carmen said, "not you."
"Not me," Shane said.
"Nope, not you, either," Carmen said.
"Who, then?" Lauren asked.
"Max."
"Max? Why Max?"
"Because Max was the next one to be murdered," Carmen said. "This is all just a theory. But suppose Niki and Adele see the murder, as we've speculated. If there has to be some link between Jenny and Max's murders, that can be the only logical one. Otherwise, what could Niki, Adele, and Max all have in common? Jenny's murder is the only possible thing. Now, here's another thing. We've all been supposing that the killer, whoever it was, killed Jenny and was unaware that Niki was hiding in the bushes, watching the houses. Maybe Niki or Adele made a noise, and Max heard it. Or maybe he's just not sure. In any case, a little while later, after the police arrive, Niki is found hiding in the bushes. Max says to himself, 'Aha! She saw me kill Jenny.' But see, nothing happens. Niki never squeals on Max. Max may wonder why, he may even expect to be arrested and charged at any moment. He's resigned, and maybe he just doesn't give a shit. Maybe he has no remorse. Then Alice confesses, the entire investigation goes to hell. Days, then weeks, then months go by, Alice gets sentenced to jail, and still Max is never arrested. Niki never says anything about Max. If Adele was there, too, Max remains unaware of it. Months go by, Alice goes to Humboldt, Max does whatever he does with the birth and disposition of the baby, and moves to Bakersfield. Why Bakersfield? Maybe just because it isn't LA. Max had to leave LA, and it didn't matter where. Niki and her driver, presumably Adele, know Max killed Jenny. So Max is living and working in Bakersfield, and knows there's at least one witness to the murder, a witness who could send him to death row--"
"Not death row," Lauren said, "not for second-degree murder."
"Okay, maybe not," Carmen said, "but I doubt Max knew enough law to know that. And it might not matter, first-degree, second degree, manslaughter, death row, or life, or just 10-to-15 at Humboldt or Sing Sing, or wherever they'd send a half-complete tranny. Max knows there's witnesses who could send him away. Think about a tranny doing time in a jail. Never mind the length of the sentence; just think about a partial tranny in a major prison, even for a week. Think about the trial. Think about all the holding cells and transportation, being in buses and vans with hardened killers, back and forth. To me, solitary confinement on death row would be the first time I'd feel safe enough to go to the bathroom. Jesus." Carmen shuddered. "So what does Max do?"
"It's your story," Lauren said. "Keep going."
"Somehow, for some reason we don't know yet, Max makes contact with Niki. We know Niki has tons of money, and Max has almost none. So Max says to Niki, 'Yes, I killed the bitch, and I know you saw me do it. But so far I've skated. Now, give me a hundred thousand dollars or I'll tell the police I saw you do it. It'll be your word against mine, and your reputation sucks and you can't afford the publicity, whereas I just don't give a fuck. And if you don't give me the money, I just might kill you, too, because you alone know I'm one tough, scary dyke tranny killer, so pay up, a hundred grand, or whatever the dollar amount is, or I tell the cops I saw you roll her into the pool and run into the bushes. Shit, maybe I just kill you for sport.'"
