Who Illed Jenny Schecter?

Chapter 28 Burner

Lauren took the 10 to the 110, and at Carmen's suggestion they stopped in Chinatown for lunch.

"Lauren," Carmen said.

Lauren knew Carmen well enough by now to know when the wheels were spinning inside Carmen's head, and how she introduced new ideas into their conversation. Lauren, she always began.

"Uh-huh," Lauren answered, sipping her tiny cup of scalding hot green tea while they waited for their spring rolls to arrive.

"Suppose Jenny knew the negatives were up in the attic. Suppose she found them."

"Yeah? We talked about this. You and Shane agreed there would be an immediate shitstorm. Jenny would scream loud enough to be heard in La Jolla. She'd tear Hollywood four new assholes. That's what you guys said."

"I know. But that was before we knew all about the blackmail, the second blackmail, not Adele's thing with the sex tape."

"Take it from the top."

"Okay. Suppose Jenny found the negatives, right after they'd made the fourth blackmail payment to the Creep. Jenny was already talking about hiring a private detective to find some way to end the blackmail, right? And she's pressing Niki to agree ... and then one day out of the blue she tells Niki, okay, never mind the private detective, you're right, we won't do it. Which was a flat-out bald-faced lie. And a short time later she tells Niki they are both not going to pay that month's blackmail. Niki asks why. Jenny just says, trust me. But see, that's completely unlike Jenny, to ever change her mind 180 degrees. Much less admit somebody else was right. Not without a really compelling reason. So what I'm thinking is, Jenny found the negatives—"

"--and instead of a shitstorm came up with a new plan."

"Right. And maybe for an hour or two she yelled and screamed and hit the roof, but nobody heard it, like the tree falling in the forest. Eventually she calms down and starts thinking. She thinks, I don't care right now who put the negatives upstairs. At least I know now where they are. I don't care right now who's framing me for stealing them. I'll deal with all that later. In the meantime, how can I use them? Can I make a trade with the blackmailer—"

"—Give me back my sex tapes you made with me and Niki—"

"—and stop the blackmail, because I'll trade you—"

"—something worth far more than what you can get out of me and Niki—"

"—something worth four million bucks, although you won't be able to get that much—"

"—but you can ask the studio for, like, half a million, or a million. And the studio can cook the books for half a mil, anyway, without batting an eyelash."

"Right. And then Jenny says, how much you can get is up to you and them, not me, and it's a nice clean deal, a straight swap, the stolen negatives for my sex tapes, and Niki and I are out of it," Carmen said. "Then you can do what you want with the ten film canisters. Sell them back to the studio one at a time, all at once, in batches, any damn way you want, and goodbye and good luck, motherfucker. Cue mic drop, Creep out."

"That's what you think she said?"

"Not necessarily. It's what I think she was going to propose to the Creep. And maybe she did. But the transaction never took place, because the negatives were still in the attic the night Jenny was killed. So what I'm saying is, maybe Jenny was negotiating with the Creep. I don't know how far she got, or even if it started. All I'm suggesting is that was in her mind at the time. Trade the movie negatives for the sex tapes, and end the blackmail."

"Nice. I like it," Lauren said. "And let's take Jenny's planning one step further into the future."

"Okay, how?"

"Jenny and the Creep make the deal. They trade the negs for the sex tapes, everybody goes home happy. And then Jenny makes an anonymous phone call to the police. There's this guy, he has the negatives. He's extorting the studio. The studio is going to buy them from the Creep. I don't know who the Creep is, but all you have to do is wiretap the studio, Aaron and his people. When the exchange is made, you follow Aaron or whoever is making the payoff, and you arrest the Creep and get the negatives back. And when the police say, okay, thanks, and by the way who are you? She says, just call me Adele."

"Wow! That's really twisted, Lauren. I LIKE it! Nice going. It fucks the Creep, it fucks the studio that fucked Jenny, and it fucks Adele. Trifecta!"

"Yes. And maybe she doesn't mention Adele, that's just a little collateral damage she can set up. Or maybe she does it some other way. She tells the Creep to use Adele as the go between. I don't know. I'm only free-associating. Even if Aaron and Adele aren't arrested for anything, they're up to their ears in paying an extortionist, and this time they can't hush it up—"

"Because Jenny calls the trade newspapers and TV cable entertainment shows anonymously and tells them everything—"

"—the media goes crazy. Major studio scandal, lezzie film stolen, big lezzie star Niki Stevens outed, extortion, maybe the studio board of directors fire Aaron, maybe not, but who cares. And the Creep, he's sitting in jail, he was in possession of the stolen negatives, so he can be charged with that much, even if nothing else sticks. The Creep tries to tell the cops he didn't steal the negatives, it was Jenny, because that's what he truly believes because that's who gave them to him, and he was just blackmailing her and Niki."

"Which, obviously, there's no way in hell he can admit that, and anyway nobody would believe him. And Jenny would say, his story is absurd; why would she steal her own movie? Plus he no longer has the Jenny/Niki sex tapes if he traded them away, and if he kept a copy, that's even worse, because it corroborates him as a blackmailer."

"Right. He'd skate on stealing the negatives, but he's still in possession of stolen property, and of course he was caught red-handed extorting the studio, assuming it all plays out like we said."

"But something went wrong somewhere. And at Bette and Tina's house he kills Jenny," Carmen said.

"I've been thinking about that, it's bothered me, right from the beginning of this thing," Lauren said.

"What has?"

"How the murder took place. Before we knew the details, all we had was the Creep seeming to stalk them, or watch them. Even when we learned about the blackmail payments, we still didn't have a motive for murder. Blackmailers don't usually kill their victims. It cuts off their gravy train and it escalates the crime to a higher plane, maybe even to Death Row and the needle."

"In theory, anyway.

"Okay, in theory. Yes, this is California, we don't execute people very much anymore. But anyway, I ask myself, what is this guy's motive in killing Jenny? And I just don't see it. He pushes her off the deck. That's not murder because she survives the fall, that's just assault. The actual murder occurs when he walks down the steps and rolls her into the pool. Like we told Jack and the ADA, I don't think it was in any way premeditated. I think he went there to talk to Jenny. Maybe do the swap. Something happened, words were exchanged, he got mad and pushed her off the deck. Who knows, maybe she pushed him first. Hit him. Whatever. And he pushed her back, and zoom, she goes flying off the deck. He's a big guy, and she was, what, a hundred ten pounds dripping wet. And now she's lying unconscious by the pool, and she knows who this guy is who pushed her. It's Gabe McCutcheon, and she can identify him. And now he has no choice but to walk down the steps and roll her into the pool, and drown her," Lauren said.

"To keep her from telling the cops."

"Yes."

"I can see it," Carmen said.

"Back to the last part of her plot. She and the Creep go through with the deal, she calls the cops anonymously. The blackmailer -- now known as Gabe McCutcheon -- gets arrested with the film canisters. Jenny's off the hook for the blackmail, AND she's off the hook for being framed for stealing them. So when Gabe is arrested and the media announces it and that the film canisters have been recovered, Jenny can look around and see how people react. Because one of them was trying to frame her. And she thinks maybe she can see how people react to discover which one of them was framing her."

"Who we now know was Niki."

"Right, but Jenny didn't know that at the time," Lauren said. "Maybe she suspected. Or, hell, maybe she did figure out it was Niki. That wouldn't have mattered at the moment, because the priority was to stop the blackmailer and get the sex tapes back. After that, she can figure out paybacks for Niki."

Carmen furrowed her brows. "I think I know how she'd have done that. And in a way it's really beautiful, really an elegant revenge."

"Okay, I'm dying to know. Tell me."

"She does nothing. She just sits back and lets the studio release the butchered version of

Lez Girls

. And the movie gets a ton of hype, because of all the background and the arrest of the blackmailer, yadda yadda, and you know what? The movie is terrible, and Niki's career is ruined, which Niki confessed was her motive all along. Even someone as insensitive as Niki knew it was bad. She's mocked. Even to herself, Jenny gets to blame the disaster on Adele taking it over, on the studio chickening out and changing the ending, on Niki being a terrible actress, etc. Jenny goes on the talk shows, she bad-mouths Adele, she bad-mouths the studio, she bad-mouths Niki. She's got a whole new career just heaping bile on her poor, innocent creation, the story of a simple, pure, good-hearted but delicate lesbian from America's Heartland who wanted to be a writer and who got crushed by the perverted Hollywood machine and Hollywood culture. I mean, maybe she even writes another memoir, the follow-up to

Lez Girls

, a tell-all behind-the-scenes book about the whole thing. I'm telling you, Lauren, Jenny would have eaten that shit up with a big soup ladle, never mind a common teaspoon."

"Jesus," Lauren said. "You really think Jenny was smart enough to have it all figured out that far in advance?" Two spring rolls arrived and they each took one.

"Yes, I do. She was a writer, that's exactly the kind of stuff she did. And remember, we think she started to figure out what was going on about a month or more before she was murdered. In that last month, even with all the shitstorm going on around her, she'd have been thinking it all out. Even if she was responsible for a lot of the shitstorm herself. She was a shitstorm multi-tasker."

Lauren was quiet.

"What's the matter?" Carmen asked.

"Oh, uh, nothing."

"Come on, what is it?"

"I was just thinking...I'm not sure how to say this. I know Jenny was your friend, and she was once your fuck buddy. But to tell you the truth, I don't think I like her very much, from everything I've learned about her. And ... I hate to say this... but I'm glad you and Shane split. I know you got hurt bad from the wedding disaster, but I also think you were lucky to get out of that group. Maybe even out of LA. Don't get me wrong, I like Shane, I really do, and I'm beginning to see those good points about her that you and Alice and a few others see and admire, but aren't obvious to people who don't know her well. And she's ... um ... different. In a good way. All that said, I'm glad you didn't marry her, because I think it would have turned out badly, and you'd have gotten hurt a lot worse than you did just from the busted wedding. Maybe all I'm saying is, I'm glad you weren't part of the shitstorm there at the end."

"Thanks. I am, too. I was on the ship going to and from Hawaii, and I'd get an e-mail from Alice or Tina once in a while, keeping me up-to-date and filled in, but it was kind of piecemeal, you know? All I knew was there was this high drama in progress."

"Here's something to think about. The deal goes the way you suggest, but without Jenny and the Creep meeting. They go through an intermediary, or somehow make the exchange without actual face-to-face contact. Whatever. Then the Creep is arrested with the negatives in his possession. Only then does Jenny learns it's Gabe McCutcheon. Now what?"

"Jesus," Carmen whispered.

"And what does Shane think when she hears about it?"

"Shane would never have known the negatives were in the house. She'd never have thought Jenny stole them. And her coat with Mollie's letter in the pocket would still be up there in the attic. She'd wonder how her father got the negatives, though. And she'd have had no reason to break up with Jenny unless she goes upstairs and finds her jacket with the letter." Carmen though about it. "This is hurting my head. I guess we'll never know, though, because that's not what happened that night. Gabe killed Jenny. One shitstorm ends, and a new, different one begins."

They split a single order of kung pao shrimp and friend rice, which was enough for themselves and a friend besides.

"Which brings me to my next question. Suppose Jenny is communicating with the Creep, and she doesn't know who he is. Suppose Hooker wasn't able to find out his identity before he went on vacation. Jenny and Niki have missed their March blackmail payment, and if the Creep isn't angry, he's at least annoyed. But maybe he's been negotiating with Jenny, so he's mollified for the time being, but he's still in a hurry, he wants his money or wants to make the deal, whatever. Jenny says, yes, okay, let's do the trade, but I'm really swamped right now, my friends next door are moving, I'm making them a tape, I'm working night and day on it, and I can't deal with you and the trade until after the party. Then she realizes, you know what? The farewell tape is three hours long, and everybody is going to be up in Bette and Tina's media room--"

"--The ideal time to meet with the Creep," Carmen said. "Her own house empty and safe. Shane's next door. Her project is done. She has time. She can go to the party, start the tape, say I'll be back in a few minutes, off she goes."

"So she tells the Creep, by text or e-mail, okay, meet me at my house, say, after 8 p.m. Make sure nobody sees you. But Jenny also feels safe, like meeting in a very public space, because all she has to do is yell and all her friends come running. She's like, a hundred feet from all her friends if anything bad happens."

"So Jenny's waiting, either in her own back yard, on the back patio, maybe, or in Bette and Tina's backyard."

"Right. And here's the next thing. She does not, repeat not, bring the negatives down from the attic. She's not going to get her fingerprints on them. But the negs are right there if she needs them. If they do the deal, she'll take him into the bedroom, pull down the steps, and tell him he can go get the negative canisters himself. If he leaves fingerprints, fine, just in case. If he's wearing gloves, that's fine, too. Doesn't matter. So she's sitting there waiting for the Creep to show up, and when he does, she sees, for the first time--"

"Gabe McCutcheon."

"Yes. And so my question now is?"

"What does she do when she sees he's the blackmailer. The Creep. Or, more to the point, exactly how bat-shit berserk does she go, because I think that's the answer to your question. If it was just some person she didn't know, some studio hand, or one of Niki's posse, whatever, she'd just do the deal and say kiss my ass goodbye. But no. It's Gabe. And Jenny blows a gasket."

"And?"

"Hmm. She doesn't scream, because they can't hear her, and that's because she's not on the deck or in Bette and Tina's back yard. So she's probably on her own patio."

"Right. Is she scared? Afraid for her life?"

"No. Because she knows it's about the money, the deal. He's not there to kill her. That would be stupid. She's not afraid for her life. She's met Gabe, and she knows he's an asshole because of what he did up in Whistler. Nevertheless, she's really, really pissed. And she's contemptuous. She's not scared, because she knows he's a shit."

"Does he try to calm her down?"

"Maybe. But they argue. She bolts, runs like hell for Bette and Tina's house, and runs up the steps. He's chasing her. He grabs her at the top of the stairs, they are arguing, she pushes him, he pushes back, she goes off the deck, accidentally. And that's when it turns to murder."

"Okay, here's a problem. We've been thinking one reason Jenny never told Shane about the blackmail wasn't because she didn't trust Shane, but rather because she was worried the Creep might be someone close to Shane. So maybe she had suspected Gabe as the possible blackmailer for a while, and hired Hooker for confirmation. And maybe Hooker did confirm Gabe was the blackmailer. So he's finished his job and can go off sport-fishing without the job being hung up. In any case, Jenny's sitting on the back patio, waiting, and Gabe McCutcheon shows up. Just as she had suspected or been told. Does she still go berserk? Is she bat-shit pissed and crazy? I say no."

"No, you're right, I agree. In that case, she's angry inside but outwardly she's calm. She's had time to cool down and plan. So, motherfucker, we meet again, she says, back for another bite? Something smart-ass like that."

"So what happened? Why did it go south?"

Carmen thought about it. "I got nothin'."

Lauren said. "There's too many possibilities, but not one that jumps out. One is they just didn't agree on terms. He wants more money in addition to the negatives. Or he didn't want the deal at all, just his ten-thousand-dollar payments every month, which he came to collect, and they were late. Or something spooked one or the other of them. Maybe Jenny didn't run next door to Bette and Tina's, maybe she just said fuck you, Gabe, and calmly started walking over to Tina and Bette's, playing hard to get. He follows, they argue at the top of the stairs. Pushing match ensues, Jenny loses. Maybe he was supposed to bring his sex tapes, but didn't, so Jenny's the one who calls the deal off. All we know is it was Gabe in the back yard, they go up the stairs, and Jenny gets pushed, thrown, shoved, or otherwise falls off the deck. He rolls her into the pool. Game over. Time to run away."

"So how do we find out which one it was?" Carmen asked.

"Easiest question all day," Lauren said. "We ask him when we arrest him. If he won't talk, you and Shane beat the shit out of him until he does. What's your fortune cookie fortune say?"

Carmen broke her fortune cookie in two pieces, popped one piece in her mouth, and accompanied by crunching noises, said "You are going to meet a horny former homicide detective who won't help you beat up a murderer."

"That's really weird," Lauren said, crunching half of her cookie. "They usually aren't that specific. Mine says, 'You are a horny former homicide detective who doesn't want to get her case tossed out.'"

"Uncanny," Carmen said.

***

They got back on the 110, hopped off onto the Pacific Coast Highway, dropped down Vermont Avenue to Palos Verdes Drive North. When they crossed the intersection of Palos Verdes Drive East, Lauren pointed to the right. "We have an LASD station about a mile up that road, the Lomita Station. I worked a case out of there a year or so ago." When they came to Rolling Hills Estates she turned left onto Hawthorne Boulevard, and went past Palos Verdes Peninsula High School. "Had a pretty serious missing persons case here," she said. "Daughter of a wealthy family."

"How did it turn out?" Carmen asked.

"It didn't. We never found her. She still in the wind, after three years. She'd be 19 by now."

"But what do you think?"

Lauren shrugged. "Depends on whether she was doing any serious drugs. If she was, she could be dead by now or turning twenty-dollar tricks somewhere. But if I was guessing, she's out in the valley, making porn movies. She was pretty cute, and the parents didn't want to say so, but I think she had a pretty active sex life. She could be one of Shane's best customers, for all I know."