The Porno Set Mystery

The chronological order of my stories is as follows:

Todd & Melina series, Interludes 1-5, Sperm Wars series, Russian Roulette series, Case of the Murdered Lovers series, Case of the Murdered Chessplayer series, The Swap series, Interludes 6-10, The Murdered Football Player Series, Case of the Black Widow series, Teresa's Christmas Story, The Case of the Black Badge series, A Case of Revenge series, Teresa's Summer Race, The Trilogy series, Dark Side Of The Force series, Caught In The Act series, Case of the Murdered Bride series, The Credit Card Caper series, The Hot Wives Investment Club series, Seriously Inconvenienced, Ch. 1-5, Case of the Paper Trail, Ch. 1-4, Christmas Mystery Theater.

The Porno Set Mystery, Ch. 1-2.

Feedback and

constructive

criticism is very much appreciated, and I encourage feedback for ideas.

This story contains graphic scenes, extreme language, and actions that might be extremely offensive to some people. These scenes, words and actions are used only for the literary purposes of this story. The author does not condone murder, racial or racist language, violence, rape or violence against women, and any depictions of any of these in this story should not be construed as acceptance of the above.

****

Part 4 - Interviews and Discipline

Since we were at Police Headquarters, we had Jay brought into Interrogation-1. I read Jay his considerable legal rights and informed him that every minute of this interrogation was being recorded by audio and video means. Jay's legal counsel, H.J. Lynch, sat next to him while Tanya and Theo sat next to and behind me, with Cindy watching from the anteroom. Sr. Patrolman Morton also was in the room, per internal police protocols.

"My client tells me that he has invoked." said Lynch. "There's not much to say at this point."

"Doesn't stop me from asking a couple of questions." I said. "Jay, the witnesses at the scene all said that-"

"That is all inadmissible." said Lynch. "None of them were advised of their rights nor offered legal counsel, despite my client asking for it."

"Mr. Lynch, you know that we can talk to witnesses at the scene of a crime." I said. "And they

were

read their rights, we have that on videotape. Only Jay invoked, and was not asked further questions. He has been afforded legal counsel, specifically

you

, before we asked him any further questions. I'm not going to let you create legal loopholes here, Lynch."

I turned to Jay. "Jay, the witnesses at the scene all said that you were the only person, let me say that again: the

only

person who was not with the others at lunch. Now I'd love to be able to help you, Jay, but that does need some explaining. Otherwise, you're the primary suspect in the murder of Steve West."

Jay looked over at the lawyer, who whispered something to him. Jay whispered back, and the lawyer said something to him. I got up and had all PD personnel leave the room, leaving the two alone to talk. After a few moments, we were invited back in. The legal beagle sighed.

"I've advised my client that he has already invoked." said Lynch. "However, he is willing to answer questions provided he be allowed to re-invoke at any time in the future."

I nodded. "I don't have to allow that, but I will in this case. You may re-invoke at any time, Jay, but for now it would be most very good for you to explain where you were when West was murdered."

"I was in the bathroom." said Jay. "I had just taken a dump and was cleaning up when I heard the scream. I ran out and arrived in the back room right as the others did."

"Where is the bathroom in relation to the other rooms?" I asked.

"The front and back rooms were to the left of the building relative to the front door of the place. If you go from the back room towards the right side of the building, the bathroom is off to the left down a corridor." Jay explained, and I noticed his thoroughness in doing so.

"Did anyone see you go to the potty or did you say anything to anyone?" I asked. "Can anyone confirm you went to the bathroom?"

"I don't know." said Jay. "I stayed behind with Steve as the others were going to lunch. Just then I had to go, so I told Steve I was going and I'd be back in a minute. He just nodded; he was already adjusting lights and stuff, totally into it. I don't know if he even heard me."

"Did you see anyone else in the back room, or anyone not in the front room at lunch? No security people hanging around?"

"No." Jay replied.

"Did you tell Steve you were going to the potty while others were in the room, or had they all left? And to that end, did they all go as one group to the front room, or over a period of time?"

"I... I'm not sure." Jay said, becoming thoughtful. "They didn't all leave at once. Bobby rushed ahead, he's rude about getting to the food first. Callie had to put her clothes back on and someone was talking to her as they left the room, maybe Lisa. I don't remember, really. I think they were mostly all gone when I told Steve I had to go and said I'd be back."

"And so you invoked because you knew you were alone at the time of his murder." I said.

"Yeah." said Jay. "I knew it looked bad for me. I was hoping everyone would tell you cops they weren't answering your questions-" At that moment the lawyer whispered something to Jay.

The lawyer said "That is not an admission by my client of any guilt whatsoever."

"I'm not taking it as such." I said. "Let me ask this: how long have you been working for Steve West Films, and for Steve personally?"

"About three years." Jay said. "he hired me right after he started the company. He was a cameraman for one of the big companies, and thought he could make better films himself. So he started his own company, and did very well. The big companies tried to pressure him to shut down or sell out to them, but he was a tough guy. He stood up to them, even when they had the Mob threaten him."

"Was he paying off the Mob?" I asked.

"Probably." Jay replied. The lawyer immediately grabbed him and began whispering something.

"I've told my client not to make speculations of that nature." said the lawyer.

"Yes, I must clarify: I don't know for sure." Jay said. "Betsy might; she's the company's manager."

"Jay, did you know of anyone that might have wanted to harm Steve? Anyone at all, for any reason?"

"No." Jay said, shaking his head. "Nobody that I know of."

"No arguments or fights with anyone, anyone at all?" I asked, peering at Jay.

"No. Nothing that I'm aware of."

"No girlfriends, or ex-girlfriends?"

"He was dating Betsy," said Jay, "but that might be too strong a term. He was

fucking

Betsy, but she was fucking other guys, too, so I don't think there were any issues there."

"Okay." I said. "What about yourself? No arguments, no grudges, no issues of not being paid?"

"No, no problems at all. Really, I had no problems with him. He's a perfectionist, and he could really drive people hard during shoots, but it wasn't personal and we knew it. He just wanted the best films possible."

"Did he ever abuse any of his porn actors?" I asked.

For the first time, I saw a glimmer in Jay's eyes. He peered straight at me as he said "Officer, the porn business is not all glamour and glitz and spontaneous loving sex. The hours are long, the work is hard, and we don't have the luxury of days of shooting like the mainstream films do. And some of the films Steve did were rough sex films. Everyone knew it, the girls knew it, and they knew they were being paid well for it. Steve was a great visionary when it came to porn films; that's why they're so good and so successful. But watching them being made is another story. He didn't abuse anyone in the sense I think you're asking. But it can be a rough life."

"Sounds like the old joke about sausage and the law... those who love them should not watch either being made." I said. Jay nodded. The lawyer looked at me contemptuously.

"Okay, Jay, thank you for answering these questions." I said. "If there is anything, anything at all, that you can remember, that will help me find Steve's killer, you need to let me know as soon as possible." I instructed Morton to return Jay to his cell, and I came back through the anteroom, not bothering to speak with the lawyer Lynch.

"That was instructive." I said to my assembled party of Detectives. "You guys get something to eat and then go to County Lockup and wait for me. I've got a couple of items of business to take care of. Cindy, I'm going to need you as a witness for all of this." Tanya and Theo scooted; they knew that my business was disciplinary in nature.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

I typed furiously, then hit the Save and Print buttons. I sent an email to the appropriate places, then handed Cindy an extra copy.

"This is writing up McCombs for his insubordination today." I said. "I'm sure he's going to go to the Union for me yelling at him; this is butt-covering, but it will also keep him in line, I hope."

"Does it matter if he files his grievance first?" Cindy asked as she read the report.

"No." I replied. "What will happen is that the Union will commiserate with him, come to yell at me, then Captain Charles will come in and promise everyone that he'll take care of the discipline in exchange for me not dropping this report into McCombs' permanent file. I'll agree, the Union will agree, and hopefully McCombs will keep his fucking mouth shut for awhile. Just between you and me, Cindy... I've been watching McCombs, he's borderline, and I've always wondered if he'd been part of the Black Badge or if he is some kind of mole for bad guys."

"Teresa has her suspicions, as well." Cindy said. "But aside from having a bad attitude after being passed over for Detective a couple of times, and showing insubordination because he thinks he's smarter than everyone else, he hasn't done anything really bad that we know of."

"Okay." I said. "Now for the big one, that you need to be here to witness." I got on the phone and told the Duty Desk to find Lt. Michaels and have her report to my office.

Five minutes later Lt. Claire Michaels, commander of the SWAT Department, was in my office. I did not invite her to sit down, making her stand in front of my desk.

"Lieutenant," I said, looking at her severely as I spoke, "do I understand correctly that you ordered the SWAT team to go along with the Vice raid on the porno set today?"

"Yes sir." said Claire, flatly.

"And who authorized this?" I asked.

"I did, sir." Claire said.

"Er, yes... but I mean who gave

you

the green light to deploy the SWAT team." I asked.

"Detective Sharples asked for them to come with his raid team-"

"Lieutenant, that is not what I asked." I said, intentionally interrupting her and bearing down hard. "I am asking you to tell me who gave you the authorization to deploy SWAT team members on that raid."

"Sir, may I speak freely?" Lt. Michaels asked. Cindy had a confused look on her face that matched my feelings at the moment.

"Is there some reason my question cannot be answered within protocol?"

"No sir, but the answer may be lengthy and I want a chance to explain fully."

"By all means, Lieutenant. Explain. Within protocol, but explain."

"Sir," Claire said, "Sharples came to me this morning and asked for four people. He said it was '

rush rush

'." 'Rush rush' was the colloquial term we used whenever we got information that we needed to act upon very quickly, such as a drug shipment coming in that we might could interdict. "I try to send teams out whenever I can for such operations, to give them training and experience if not to help keep other officers out of harm's way."

"Did Sharples say he'd cleared it with Lt. Croyle, Lt. Ross or myself?" I asked sharply.

"No sir, and I admit that I did not ask." said Claire.

"I can understand you wanting to get your people work and experience." I said. "But you're a Lieutenant and in charge of the SWAT team because you have the brains to think about these situations. I daresay that a SWAT unit raiding a pornography set is a bit of overkill, and you should have realized that. Put yourself in the position of those poor naked people having a heavily armed SWAT team rushing in and pointing guns at them. And God help us if the Media had gotten onto it."

"Yes sir." Claire said. "I should have better informed myself of the nature of the mission before approving it."

"That would help. This will help more." I said, sliding a sheet of paper across my desk for her to read and keep. "This memorandum is an order from me to you, in writing, as witnessed by Lt. Ross, here. It says that you are to deploy SWAT teams

only

upon the orders of Captain Charles, Lt. Ross, myself, or someone higher like the Police Chief when we get a new one, or the Sheriff himself. You may deploy SWAT upon the request of Lt. Croyle or Lt. Perlman, but preferrably after clearing it with Lt. Ross or myself, and I would imagine that they will have let me or Lt. Ross know about it already, if at all possible in the time constraints imposed by the intel."

I went further, leaning forward to emphasize my point. "But most of all, Lt. Michaels, you are never...

ever

... to approve any SWAT mission based upon

any

request from Detective Leonard Sharples at

any

time, no matter the necessity of quick action or little time, no matter the circumstances, unless of course you also have the approval of Lt. Croyle at least. Sharples is not your boss, he cannot require you to do anything, and you are to deny his requests even if he says lives are at stake. I do not want a situation like today to ever occur again. Do I make myself clear, Lt. Michaels?"

"You do, sir."

"Good. You're dismissed. Get your team's reports in tonight."

"They're already in the computers, sir." Michaels said. She left the room. I glanced at Cindy.

"I'm surprised you didn't discipline her further, Commander." Ross said. "She really should've known better, especially if it was Sharples."

"Naah, that was a bit of a loophole that I'd let go for too long." I said. "If it weren't Sharples, I wouldn't have had nearly as much a problem with it, either. But that man is abusing the system, constantly wanting raids that have to be done in a hurry, right at the last minute, and then he wants overkill like the heavy armor, not to mention the SWAT team, and he's got us headed for an 'excessive use of force' lawsuit if we're not careful. He's driving Teresa crazy, too. That bastard is really becoming a problem for us... especially for me.

"Welcome to the world of Acting Chief." Cindy said, having no mercy upon me.

"Yep. Okay, let's get back to work." I said. "We've got a murder to solve."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At the Third Precinct and County Jail, I quickly went through interviews with everyone from the cast and crew. Before I started, I asked the Uniformed officers watching on video about the people inside the room.

"The only emotion anyone is showing," said one Deputy Sheriff who was watching along with TCPD officers, "is the assistant Betsy and the Asian girl Connie. No one else really seems to care; they're just joking among themselves, and talking about sex. If that keeps up, they may start having sex right there in the room."

"I doubt it- they're not getting paid." I said acerbically. "So, any hostilities?"

"Not really, sir. The black haired woman that looks like she came out of 'The Addams Family', she was talking to the secretary girl and hugging her. The Asian girl has just been very quiet and keeping to herself for the most part. A couple of the others started messing with her, but the blonde woman came to her defense and told them to leave her alone, then went over and hugged the Asian girl and they talked for a while."

Tanya and Theo were also in the interrogation room, as was always at least one lawyer from Chase, Lynch & Berry. The interviews are condensed here:

The security guys were more like bouncers than armed, uniformed security, they actually weren't armed at all, and they were eating with everyone else when the scream was heard. They did not notice Jay's presence or absence at all, nor did any of them see him running up from the bathroom. One of the security guys, Rod, said he had been talking to Betsy in the front room and helping her set up for lunch during the shoot, and they joined the lunch line when everyone came to the front room to eat. When the scream was heard, they rushed to the back room and found Lisa just standing there and Steve dead on the bed. I asked them a pertinent question, and they stated their observation of what I asked.

Bobby Steed said he went to the food line first, mostly because everyone else was lingering and he didn't want to wait for them: he was hungry after three hours of sex with Callie and having to shoot so many different scenes and angles. He remembered seeing Cassandra, Callie and Betsy come to the table while he was eating, but couldn't really place anyone at specific times relative to each other. He never saw Jay at all. As far as he knew, Steve and Jay got along very well, and worked very well together. As far as he knew, everyone liked Steve just fine. Steve and Betsy sometimes acted like a couple, but that could just be that they worked together a lot on running the business side of the company. I asked him a pertinent question, but he had not observed.

Brooke 'Cassandra' Monarch's observations of the lunch line agreed with Callie's comments at the scene, and she (Brooke) was behind everyone else running to the back room after the scream, the last to arrive at the scene of West's murder. She did not remember seeing Jay at all, as she was trying to see through people to see what the issue was. She said Jay worked well for Steve, and never saw them argue. She did not know of anyone else having any problem with Steve. I asked her a pertinent question, but she had not observed.

Connie Chang said she had lingered a moment to put down the bowl of goop and to straighten out some of the things on the make-up table, then caught up to the rest of the group. She was last in line, and was in line when Lisa made plates for Steve and Jay. She had not seen Jay at all, but hit me with a bit of a bombshell:

"I did go back into the front room during the shoot, to ask about lunch." said Connie. "Betsy and Rod were in the front room, having sex on one of the tables."

"Are they lovers?" I asked.

"They were that day." said Connie. "Oh, sorry, I didn't mean to be flippant with that. Steve is in love with Betsy; everyone knows it. They've been dating, so I was a bit surprised to see Betsy making love with Rod. But it made sense once I thought about it: Rod was often on sets as security when he wasn't scheduled to work at all. It makes sense if he and Betsy are seeing each other on the side."

"Did Steve know about that?" I asked.

"I'll bet he didn't. He was infatuated with Betsy."

I asked Connie about hearing the scream. She was one of the first into the room when Lisa screamed, and I then asked her the pertinent question:

"The plates of food Lisa was bringing in... what happened to them?" I asked. Small thing but pertinent, and exceedingly important.

"She'd dropped them." Connie answered. "I almost stepped onto the food that was on the floor."

"Lisa was standing right there where the food had been dropped?"

"Uh, yes sir." Connie said. "She was just standing there, screaming. I don't think she noticed she'd dropped the plates. Not to be flippant again, but there

was

a dead man in front of her."

"True enough." I said. "Thank you, Connie. You were very observant, and very helpful to me." Of course, I thought to myself, the more important point was that Lisa had not moved from where the plates dropped, and that was a very important thing to establish.