The Poisonous Ten (10 page)

“I got you. Over two more I think,” Moore suggested. “To the right. Try that one. Dave, I haven’t seen any movement from within the apartment. I don’t think anyone’s home.”

“Thanks,” said Parks as he hung up and turned to Wilkes. “Sounds like they may not be home.”
He knocked, more forceful than he had intended. “LAPD. Anyone there?”

The two men stood patiently, waiting for a response.
             

“You smell that?” Pars asked, leaning in closer to the door.

Wilkes also leaned in, took a sniff, and looked up at Parks with alarm. Both men were more than familiar with the scent of a decaying corpse. 

“Go get the manager,” Parks said. “We need a key.”

Wilkes eyed Parks with disdain but knew better than to argue. Parks got on the phone and called Moore to have her gather the rest of the team and head over to the apartment. He also wanted her to have one of Wilkes’s guys get a warrant to make sure they kept everything in order.

“That’s the Bollingers,” the security guard said as he rounded the corner with Wilkes a few steps behind him. “Husband should be home. Jason Bollinger. Wife is Deb
orah. But she’s out of town visiting family. Been gone since Monday afternoon. The husband should be home, though. He don’t have a job right now. Legal problems. Here’s the key.”

Parks took the key and unlocked the door, opening it all the way.

“Sir?” Parks addressed the security guard. “Please wait outside. Thanks.” Parks nodded to Wilkes to be ready to enter. “LAPD. Mr. Bollinger? Anyone here?”

“Doubtful,” Wilkes commented.

“Check back there.” Parks nodded toward a back room he figured was a bedroom.

Wilkes nodded as he withdrew his gun and headed toward the rear of the apartment. Parks made his way in through the front room, finding it vacant.

“Find an—” Parks stopped walking when he reached the kitchen and saw what he assumed was Mr. Bollinger sitting in a chair next to the table. The shades were drawn in the kitchen, blocking any view from outside the apartment.

“Mr. Bollinger?” Parks worked his way around the table until he was in front of the man. “Wilkes! In the kitchen.” 

Wilkes walked into the kitchen and stopped as he took in the sight.

“Dave?” Moore called out as she stepped into the apar
tment with Fairmont and one of Wilkes’s two men behind her. “You find the people who live–Oh, God!”

“Stop,” Parks ordered. “
Someone call Amy Tanaka and Jackie Isley. They need to see this one.”

12

“What the fuck is going on around here?” Wilkes may have not been the most subtle person on the force, but he was pretty good at saying out loud what most everyone else was thinking. Everyone else being both investigation teams standing in the Bollingers’ kitchen staring down at Jason Bollinger’s lifeless corpse with a peculiar-looking fish in his limp hands. The fish was equally as lifeless as its holder. It was exotic, with spines coming out of the sides and top and stripes going vertically along the body, switching between a vibrant white to a coppery-brown color. Parks thought it might be a zebra fish but had a feeling he was wrong. 

“Jake?” Parks called out. “I want photos before anyone else steps in here.”

“Got it,” Fairmont called back.

By the time the two teams made their way across the courtyard and up the three flights to the other apartment, Tippin was just arriving from Samy’s Camera, traffic being lighter heading east than it had been heading west.

“I want to know what the hell he’s holding,” Parks said.

Tippin nodded and grabbed his computer and began r
esearching.

“If you need us, we’re at your disposal,” Wilkes said, looking to Parks. “But personally, this shit is too fucking
weird for me. And what’s with all the bread?”

Parks shook his head and put on a pair of blue latex gloves. On the table next to the body was an open loaf of bread with another two dozen pieces scattered about the t
able. There were also a few pieces on the ground near the table, as if someone had simply thrown them around the room. Upon closer inspection, he could tell the stale pieces had been sitting out for a few days.

“Not sure,” Parks said, admit
tedly. “But it is intentional. It has to mean something.”

“There’s more in the kitchen,” Moore pointed out.

Parks walked over to the kitchen and saw that indeed there were several more loaves of bread scattered about the counters and floor. The kitchen sink was filled with water and pieces of soggy bread, most of which had soaked in the water and dissipated into pieces that either floated to the top or had sunk to the bottom, giving the water a filmy, clouded appearance. 

“What the—?” Wilkes bit his tongue, appearing to be ta
king the crime scene personally. As much as Parks wanted tell him to keep it under control, he couldn’t disagree with his feelings.

“How about I have my team process the apartment and you have your team work the building,” Parks suggested. “Neighbors. Doormen. Manager. Video surveillance. An
ything.”

Wilkes nodded and rounded up his team and left the
apartment. 

“All right, everybody, you know the drill,” Parks began. “Don’t touch anything on the body. Fairmont, keep getting pictures. The bread around the body, and in the kitchen. There’s something up with that. Not sure what. We’ll have it all tested.”

“What about the fish?” Fairmont asked.

“I said don’t touch a damn thing,” Parks repeated. “That includes that . . . whatever the hell it is. Don’t touch it. We don’t know what it is or what it means. You just phot
ograph.”

“It’s a lionfish,” Tippin answered, looking up from his electronic tablet. “Don’t touch it. They’re poisonous.”

“Of course they are.”

“They’re one of the most venomous fish in the ocean,” Tippin said, skimming whatever website he was reading. “But they’re
not deadly to us. Just stings. And painful as hell.”

“What about after the fish is dead?”

“Not sure,” Tippin said, continuing to scan. “Doesn’t say. I’d avoid it though.”

“So they’re venomous but not lethal?” Moore asked. “Then what—?”

“Just wait until Tanaka and Isley get here,” Parks ordered. “Probably another compound poison like Ian Harris with the methanol and snakebite. Everyone make sure to keep your gloves and masks on. Just work around the body. Whatever you do, don’t touch it.”

*
                            *                            *

“Whoever the flip this guy is, no one can accuse him of b
eing boring or unoriginal,” Tanaka said as she set down her kit and knelt in front of Jason Bollinger’s body, staring intently at the decaying man. He showed signs of having been one of those guys whose glory days had come and gone, having most likely peaked during his high school days, though that didn’t necessarily mean he was lacking. He was still fit and, regardless of his current complexion, was someone who enjoyed life with a beer or two in his hands. Tanaka looked from the man’s placid face to the fish he held rather protectively in his hands on his lap. “Scorpion fish?”

“Lionfish,” Tippin corrected from behind her.

“This is what killed him?” she asked, looking to Jackie.

“I don’t think so,” Jackie answered, sliding on a pair of latex gloves. “They’re venomous, but human deaths are rare from them. Mostly just result in nausea, stinging pain, and difficulty breathing. Few places carry any specific antidote, but then again some people are more susceptible to them than others. There is a possibility the victim here was one of those people and the fish did kill him. But we should run a full tox screen to check
if he was exposed to something else.”

“I’ll put a rush on it,” Tanaka said as she moved the body, releasing both an intense odor and a clear liquid that leaked from the body to the floor. “There’s a crusty substance along
the lower lip and chin. Looks like saliva. I’ll test it too. But I don’t see any physical signs of restraint or defense wounds of any sort. But, just so you know, this chair stinks.”

“Soaked with sweat before he died,” Jackie said.

“You think our vic stayed put while he was dying?” Parks asked.

“Paralyzed.”

“What’s that?”

“He was paralyzed,” she repeated louder. “The killer i
njected the victim with a toxin that paralyzes but kept him alert. Our guy was alive during his death. He knew he was going to die.”

“What can cause that?”

“Some animal bites. Rattlesnake. Cobras. Shellfish. The puffer fish.  Several plants and fungi. Fool’s parsley. Hemlock. Larkspur. Monkshood. Mountain laurel. Passionflower. And several nerve agents. Soman. Tabun. VX.” Parks’s eyes widened as his heartbeat picked up a beat. “Don’t worry, I don’t think it’s any of those. They would have dissipated by now anyway, and I’m not seeing any other concurring signs that it’s one of those.”

“You said he showed no signs of a struggle or defensive wounds. What about his hands?”
             

“Those punctures were made postmortem,” Tanaka an
swered. “I think our killer placed the fish in his hands after he died. See? There’s no blood. Just the punctures. His heart had stopped pumping already.”

“So our killer stayed around to stage the scene,” Parks surmised. “Just like the last two.”

“He’s done it three times now?” Jackie asked.

Parks nodded. “You’ve missed out. With Allison Tisdale he stayed to draw the circle around her with her blood. Ian Harris, he stayed to collect the snake and leave his marks. Speaking of which—”

“I don’t see anything visible at first glance,” Tanaka said, looking closer at the body for the killer’s calling card. “But on the first two vics they were more hidden from sight than out in the open. I have a feeling I won’t find it until I get the body back for autopsy. But you’re right.”

“What’s that?” Parks asked.

“If we do find the mark then this makes three. This guy’s a serial.”

“
You could be right about the ten thing. The symbol I mean. Guess ten is going to be our lucky number,” Fairmont commented. 

“These deaths are painful. No one should have to go like this.” Tanaka said as she stood up, having finished her initial observation.

“Hey,” Jackie said from Tanaka’s side as she maneuvered around her to lean in and get a closer look at the body. “What’s that? On the neck.”

“What?” Tanaka asked as she too leaned in.

Jackie moved to the side to avoid getting in the ME’s way, not noticing the thin layer of liquid that had accumulated under the corpse, placing one of her Cole Haan short wedge boots into the bodily fluids and immediately slipping. Tanaka noticed her friend going down and grabbed at her, managing to keep her up on one foot while her other swung around and brought her to her knees, causing her to land in Jason Bollinger’s lap.

“You okay, honey?” Tanaka asked, trying to get her friend to her feet.

“Ow. I’ll . . . oww . . .” Jackie started to stand up but froze when she saw the lionfish move with her, several of its spines sticking into her forearm.

“Oh, shit,” Fairmont yelled from behind Parks as his eyes grew wide. “Oh, shit.”

Jackie stared down at the fish that dangled from her arm, and tried to maneuver around the protruding spines to remove it.

“Hold on,” Tanaka ordered as she worked her way around to Jackie’s other side.

Tanaka removed a pair of metal tongs from her kit and reached up and, looking at Jackie who nodded back, grabbed hold of the fish and pulled it free from her arm. Jackie let out a painful groan as she instinctively pulled her arm in close to her body as if to protect it. Parks let out a breath himself, not realizing he had been holding it. 

“We need to get her to a hospital,” Tanaka said, looking to Parks.

“No. I’m sure I have something—”

“You’re going to a hospital and that’s final. I’ll take her,” Parks insisted. “You guys can finish up here and make out your reports just fine?”

“We got it, boss.” Fairmont nodded. “Go. Go. Go.”

“No problem,” Moore added. “Go take care of her.”

*                            *                            *

“I’m okay,” Jackie said for the tenth or so time. “Really. Doctor’s fixed me up. Gave me enough shots and antivenin to cure me from Death himself, and I have some really good painkillers to boot. I’ll be fine.”

“But you can’t drive,” Parks replied, tearing away at the wrapper of a Milky Way bar he had retrieved from one of the vending machines in the waiting room. He had felt a surge of adrenaline when Jackie was poisoned and could feel himself coming down from that high.

“No, I can’t,” Jackie said with concern in her eyes. “But I already called Ricky. He’ll be here any minute to rescue me. It’s okay.”

“I could have taken you home.”

“It’s okay. Besides, you have a case to get back to.”

Parks looked at his watch and finished off the candy bar.

“What’s with the chocolate bar? You hungry?”

“It’s the caffeine. Or the sugar. Or something. Just a—I just need a fix is all. Bet you’re regretting I called you earlier, now aren’t you?”

“What? About the case?” Jackie asked. “No. Not at all. Been waiting for your call.”

“You’ve been waiting for someone else to be poisoned?”

“No,” Jackie said, blushing. “I said I was waiting for you to call. Which I realize you were probably never going to do. But I’ll take another dead body as an excuse for you to do so.”

“What?” Parks looked confused.

“Nothing. Men. Go on. You have a case to work on. Go,” she said as she pulled Parks in and gave him a hug. She felt warm, and he wondered if it was from the drugs she was on or if it was just the way she was. He felt the softness of her skin as she held him, and he started to close his eyes as he took in her natural body odor, which was surprisingly potent for someone who had just been scrubbed down with cleaning alcohol. She started to back away from him, and for a second he could feel her lips about to grace his cheek when she let him go. “Go. I’ll be fine. But thanks for worrying.”

“I better not see you at the office again today,” he joked.

“Don’t worry.” She smiled. “I have a good excuse for my baby to stay at home and pamper me, so I’m going to milk every second of it I can. But I’ll be in early and ready to go tomorrow. No arguments there. You need my help.”

“Sounds good to me,” he said as he started to step back. “You’re sure you—” 

“Go,” she ordered again. “I’m an adult. I’ll do just fine. Thanks for your concern. Go take care of business. We still have a killer to catch, remember?”

“Okay,” Parks said with a smile as he finally turned and headed for the elevator.

He pressed the button and noticed Jackie staring at him as he waited. The rest of the hospital seemed to disappear as he stared back into her deep, Irish-green eyes, and he felt his heart tug at him for leaving her exposed. He knew she was fine, there was nothing to worry about, but still, he wanted to stay, to make sure she was okay and protected. He wasn’t sure why he felt this strong about her, as he hadn’t felt this way about a woman in quite some time, let alone this quic
kly after having just met. He knew his track record with women, most of them never sticking around longer than a week or two. He liked the companionship but wondered if his need to be with another person had more to do with his addiction than an actual desire for a relationship. The elevator chimed, breaking the spell, and the doors opened and Parks stepped aside to make room for a young man who was frantic to get off. The kid’s square jaw was clenched and his brown eyes were large and filled with a combination of worry and fear, and he pushed past Parks without a word.