Sex and Murder.com: A Paul Turner Mystery

1

It is surprisingly easy to pick a victim. The real problem is waiting for the one you’ve chosen to be sufficiently frightened before killing them. The waiting can be a pain in the ass.

Standing in the bedroom doorway, Detectives Paul Turner and Buck Fenwick gazed at the dead body. Neither of them had gaped at a murder scene in years, but Turner thought that if he was going to gape at one, this was it. He could see blood covering or splashed on or flecked over every surface. The man who had become a pincushion for the killer lay in the middle of the floor. He had bled copiously from stab wounds on his face, neck, chest, arms, stomach, thighs, and calves.

Fenwick said, I hate to go too far out on a limb here, but my guess is that we have a very, very, very, very, very angry killer.

That’s so like you, Turner said, always jumping to wild conclusions.

I feel philosophical angst when I don’t jump to conclusions.

I hope that isn’t catching. Anybody been in here?

Fenwick wrinkled up his nose. It smells like piss.

The dead man’s wet and stained boxer shorts were the only clothing he wore. They were soaked, but they weren’t red. Turner knew it wasn’t blood.

Tommy Quiroz, one of the beat cops, said, I know my training. I didn’t touch anything. I waited for you guys.

How’d you get in? Fenwick asked.

The gate was open. We found the entire security system completely shut down.

What kind of system? Turner asked.

As far as we could tell, he had alarms on all the doors and windows, even those on the second floor. A surveillance camera on the street entrance.

Fenwick said, Did the victim shut it down, and if so why? Although my money is on the killer shutting it down.

All of them moved aside for the personnel from the medical examiner’s office and the evidence techs to enter the room.

Continuing to be careful not to step in any of the smears of blood, the three cops retreated to the hallway to wait for the experts to finish their work.

Who is this guy? Turner asked.

Tommy Quiroz flipped open his notebook. I assume it’s Craig Lenzati, the owner. We found a wallet in one of the other rooms. My partner says he was rich. Place is sure big enough for it to be true. I think I read something in the papers about this guy owning half the Loop.

I always wondered who owned the other half, Fenwick said.

It’s nice of you to be willing to share, Turner said.

The mansion was south and east of the Loop, the Prairie Avenue District. These homes had been spared by the Great Chicago Fire back in 1871. The fire had traveled north and east from its origins on the site of the current Fire Academy between Jefferson and Clinton Streets just south of Taylor. Turner found it intriguing that they had decided to build the academy on the site of the conflagration’s beginning.

All the rooms on the ground floor had high ceilings with windows close to the ground. Each room they’d seen had been crammed with antiques.

Supposedly he owned a lot of real estate, businesses, and politicians. Quiroz leaned closer. The rumor is the call reporting the crime came in from the police superintendent’s office.

As in Devin Nelson superintendent of police in Chicago? Turner asked.

Himself.

How’s old Devin? Fenwick asked.

I don’t know if he asked for you specifically, Quiroz said.

He doesn’t call me much anymore, Fenwick said.

The superintendent found the body? Turner asked. Was it someone in his office or the superintendent himself who called?

I don’t know.

Fenwick said, We need to find out the sequence of events and who was involved in them, even if it includes everyone in the superintendent’s office, which would be no bad thing. Locking up bureaucrats should earn me several merit badges.

I never knew you were a Boy Scout, Turner said.

I have many secrets, Fenwick replied. What pisses me off is top police brass being involved in anything I am connected with. I was depressed enough already when I got to work.

About what? Turner asked.

Life, Fenwick replied.

You’ve been testy since before roll call. I know you haven’t been to court to get steamed at the judicial system lately. You haven’t seen any of the higher-ups all day. Something wrong at home?

No.

Fenwick was taciturn and not forthcoming, which was unusual but not unheard of. Turner knew to let him be when this happened. Eventually his partner would tell him what was bothering him. For now his reticence was not interfering with their jobs and might lead to a slackening in Fenwick’s output of ghastly humor, though Turner doubted he’d be that lucky.

Fenwick continued, If I see too many idiots from downtown, I’m not sure I’ll be up to making death scene, cute-corpse comments.

I’m not sure that’s all bad, Turner said.

Fenwick said, I live to make cute-corpse comments. It’s my métier.

Everyone present, the medical examiner, the crime lab and evidence technicians, the photographers, and the beat cops, all stared at Fenwick. He saw the attention and smiled, What?

Buck, Turner said, why don’t you go back to making cute-corpse comments. It fills a need in your soul, and it might keep you from spouting out-of-character clichés. Philosophical angst? Métier?

You don’t like my grim cop humor? Instead of philosophical angst, you want me to talk about hemorrhoids?

Specifically or generically? the ME asked.

Hell of a choice, an evidence tech said. If we’re voting, I vote for neither.

Turner said, Buck, we’ve been partners for years. I’ve heard more of your trenchant comments, gotten more information about your physical oddities, and heard more of your jokes than anyone except your wife.

More. She cuts me off from sex if I keep it up.

Turner guffawed loud enough for beat cops in the living room to enter the hall and stare at him wonderingly. When Turner stopped chuckling, he said, I certainly hope that was an inadvertent choice of words rather than a description of reality.

The ME said, Did I hear right? Somebody’s cutting off Fenwick’s dick? I want to be there for that.

That’s not what he said, a crime scene tech said, however, we could make that a threat to keep him from telling any more jokes. And we could offer to make it a complicated, painful operation using only a spoon and a fork.

Count me out, Turner said. The sight of blood makes me want to interrogate people.

An evidence tech said, Maybe the killer heard one of Fenwick’s jokes and went berserk.

Can we get out of here? Quiroz asked. It’s painful when you guys stand around trying to be funny. I don’t get paid for listening to that crap.

"Let’s cut off his nuts," Fenwick suggested.

The beat cops in the past few years had become less inclined to put up with Fenwick’s jeers and sneers. One of them muttered in a stage whisper, If we’re lucky, he’ll be next.

I heard that, Fenwick snapped. It’s not funny.

The reference to being next was to a report in that morning’s Chicago Tribune claiming that there was a serial killer on the loose who was targeting police detectives. The reporter had drawn a line from Boston to Gary, Indiana, with five stops in between, where police detectives had been killed. All had been in cities through which Interstate 90 ran. Starting in Boston and preceding west through Albany and Buffalo, New York; Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio; South Bend and Gary, Indiana, one cop in each city had been stabbed multiple times. The murders had occurred once every six months over the past three years. If the killer was on schedule, according to the report, he or she would strike within the next week to ten days and the next major city west on the Interstate was Chicago. While the cop profiles in each city had not matched perfectly, the parallels the reporter had drawn between the descriptions and lives of the victims had been numerous and unsettling. Few cops might admit it, but Turner guessed most detectives in Chicago had checked to see if they matched the profile of the victims. Turner and Fenwick had each met some of the criteria.

Unfortunately, no one could be certain what the discrepancies might portend. The reporter’s analysis could be inaccurate, or incomplete, or dead wrong. Cops could hope they weren’t in danger, but no one could be sure. Turner knew that if there was a serial killer, this doubt was one of the things he or she could prey upon.

2

I like it best when they’re complacent. When they don’t believe it could happen to them. Detectives have huge egos. I want to deflate them. Their indifference to real human problems causes pain and suffering. I’m going to make them pay for all the indifference, and all the pain, and all the suffering.

Vinnie Girote, the mayor’s press secretary, and Alex Yerson, the director of news affairs for the police department, showed up fifteen minutes after the evidence techs. Fenwick spotted the unwanted intruders. He asked, Why are we being inundated with those fools?

Turner said, A desire to work on the side of truth and light? The politicians are frightened about the impact of the killing? One of our prominent fair citizens committed the murder? Hysterical overreaction? Damage control? I don’t know, Buck. How many more guesses do I get?

Fenwick said, You can be Mister Question Man, and I’ll be Mister Wisdom.

How come you always get to be Mister Wisdom?

I’m better at making cute-corpse comments.

That’s getting just a trifle stale today. Turner knew that Fenwick was always one to beat a good joke to death.

Girote was a short, bald man in his late sixties, whose clothes never seemed to fit him quite right. They might be the most expensive, but he always looked like he’d just lost or gained fifteen pounds, so his clothes either clung too tight or billowed out too far. He had one characteristic Turner found most annoying. The detective had seen the type before: those who believed that if you were shouting, you were being effective.

Turner had seen Girote on the news and in person. His role as cheerleader seldom got in the way of his avoiding giving out information that was helpful or informative. The press corps, however, seemed to like him. He always made sure they had copious amounts of food at press buffets at major events and his sound bites resonated perfectly for the evening news. The reporters got plenty of advance notice of hot stories, which might be mostly geared to shed favorable light on the mayor and his administration, but it also made the reporters’ jobs easier. Girote was also fantastic at doling out perks. If a writer needed tickets for their kids to an important sports event, they got them. If a reporter wanted front row seats at a hot theater opening, the tickets would miraculously appear.

Girote bulled past the beat cop stationed at the hallway entrance. He attempted the same maneuver on Fenwick.

Going somewhere? Fenwick asked. He moved his bulk to block Girote’s progress. Fenwick’s heft was legendary. His ability to pack away food second to none. His ability to devour chocolate unrivaled. His size, as much as his determination, effectively blocked the way.

I need to see the body, Girote said. I’m Vinnie Girote, the mayor’s press secretary. Turner wished he had a volume control knob so he could bring the guy down several decibels.

No. Fenwick’s voice matched Girote’s in volume, but Fenwick’s tone also gave the syllable enough finality to impress a hardened gangbanger. Girote, at the moment immune to Fenwick’s best, tried to push past him again.

How would you know where the body was? Turner asked.

Girote ignored him and attempted to surge forward for the third time.

Fenwick put a large fist on the man’s chest. He said, You are not going to disturb my crime scene. You are not going any farther. You are going to turn around and march out of this house faster than you came in.

Girote drew in more than his full share of oxygen and resumed shouting, I told you who I am. You’re only a cop. I represent the most important politician in this city. That makes what I want to know important. He began rocking from foot to foot, a prize fighter out of his element, or a case of nerves in someone unable to conceal his emotions.

Turner liked it when press people were nearly out of control. They were actually easier to handle at such moments and far more likely to blurt out something indiscreet.

Fenwick laughed. He asked, Are you the pope or a close relative of his? Wouldn’t matter. He wouldn’t get in there either.

Why are you here? Turner asked. And why do you need to see the body?

The mayor is very concerned.

Turner said, How does him being concerned have anything to do with you seeing the body or the crime scene? I see no connection. What is it exactly he is concerned about?

I don’t answer to you, Girote said.

Fenwick gave his lowest grumble, before which crazed, heroin-addicted triple murderers had quailed. He said, This is a murder investigation. If necessary, you will answer to me. He took a step forward.

Girote stopped talking and moving. He eyed both detectives carefully.

Turner said, I asked you once already. How did you know which direction to go in to look for the body?

Am I a suspect? Girote demanded.

Not if you have a good alibi, Turner said.

Would you like to be? Fenwick asked.

The man continued to breathe heavily. His eyes bugged out like a fish on a cold slab waiting to be grilled. His mouth gaped like a nozzle on a vacuum cleaner hose.

Finally Fenwick said, I’ll get someone to escort you out. He took the man’s elbow in one massive paw.

Girote tried to yank his arm away from the grip. Let me go!

Turner said, Buck, wait a second. Mr. Girote, if you give us some useful background about Craig Lenzati, perhaps we can accommodate you in some way.

Well, I suppose, Girote said.

Fenwick let him go. They repaired to the kitchen, out of the way of any technicians. The director of news affairs for the police department followed silently.

Fenwick asked, Why are the politicians so concerned about this murder?

It’s obvious. He’s a prominent citizen. One of the richest in the city. He was thinking of buying a professional sports team and bringing it to Chicago. He’s brought a lot of high tech jobs to this town. His loss will be severely felt. The mayor wanted to make sure the investigation was being pursued with all vigor.

Why not just call our boss and apply pressure? Fenwick asked. Why send you?

Is that really germane to solving the case? Girote asked. I think the mayor’s concern is natural.

Without discounting this explanation, Turner remained highly suspicious of this level of direct personal concern.

Tell us more about Lenzati, Turner said. What’s his background?

I thought everyone knew about Craig Lenzati. Don’t you detectives read Kup’s column or the INC column or anything?

Humor me, Turner said.

Well, he and a friend started one of those Internet businesses in their garage while they were still in college at Northwestern. They were very rich before they were twenty-five. They sold their company for over a billion dollars. Now they have an experimental technology company that’s making even more money. The original company employs several thousand people in this area. The new company is expanding very fast. They are on the cutting edge. It is only a slight exaggeration to say that he and his company were responsible for the technological renaissance in the city. Before them, it was moribund. Forget Motorola. They were pikers compared to these guys. He has also invested heavily in real estate in cities around the world, but nowhere more so than in Chicago.

What kind of guy was he?

Great. Smart, a genius. A big tipper. A big contributor to charitable causes. He always had a big smile for everyone, but shy. A computer nerd, after all. Socially okay, in a if-I-don’t-make-a-move-I-won’t-make-a-faux-pas kind of way.

Did he live alone? Turner asked.

As far as I know, he did. He came to many functions with eligible young women. One more beautiful than the last. I don’t know if he was serious about any of them.

Fenwick said, I hate it when they have mostly frivolous relationships with women.

Girote gave him a puzzled look.

Gritty cop humor, Fenwick said. Not important to solving the case.

Do you think you should be approaching this with a flippant attitude? Maybe the mayor should get someone else on this case.

Fenwick said, You’re the one who wants to look at a dead body for no discernible reason, unless you’ve got a corpse fetish.

They glared at each other.

Who’s his partner? Turner asked.

You really don’t know?

Turner said, If I know the answer to a question, I promise not to ask it.

Brooks Werberg.

You know these guys personally? Turner asked.

Yes, I’ve met them on numerous occasions.

Have you ever been invited to their homes for dinner? Turner asked.

I’ve attended many events.

Fenwick asked, You’ve never gone over to watch a football game, just the two or three of you, or had them over for dinner at your house?

Well, no.

Turner asked, Do you have any names of people he was close to?

No.

Turner asked, How did Werberg and Lenzati get along?

Great. They’ve been best friends since they were kids. They lived together in college.

Where can we find Werberg? Turner asked.

I can give you his business and home addresses and phone numbers, but I don’t know where he is.

Has he been told about his friend’s death?

I’m not sure. Someone else was trying to contact him.

Turner said, We were told the superintendent himself called in the report. Who called him? Or was the mayor’s office called first? We need the sequence of the calls and who made them. The name of the original caller is the most important.

I don’t know who called.

Who would know? Turner asked.

I’m not sure.

We’re going to know that for sure before we’re done, Fenwick said.

Is that a threat?

I hope you take it as one, Fenwick said.

I don’t know who called.

We’ll have to ask the mayor, Fenwick said.

He can’t be involved in a murder investigation, Girote insisted.

Fenwick asked, Why? Doesn’t he have a get-out-of-jail-free card?

You can’t run around asking him questions. You can’t come to the fifth floor of city hall and accost the mayor.

Bull pizzle, Fenwick stated.

Fine, Turner said. All you have to do is show up with the information on who called the mayor, and we don’t bother him.

Girote looked shocked. Are you trying to bully me?

Turner said, You can call it a threat, bullying, blackmail, or making a deal, the life blood of politics anywhere. We need that name. We may need more information than that. You are going to provide it for us. Turner doubted if the mayor had committed murder, but he also knew he and Fenwick would follow any clues no matter where or to whom they led. If they pointed to the mayor, the problems for the case and their careers would be more than monumental.

Girote said, I’ll have to talk to some people, including your bosses.

I smell a deal, Fenwick said. Either that or we’re going to be tattled on.

Again? Turner asked, then said, Tell us more about Werberg.

The two of them are the toast of the town. They go to all the openings. They give a lot of money to a lot of politicians. They could buy and sell the state legislature several times over.

Fenwick said, I hear bribing all the legislators and the Chicago City Council wouldn’t take much. Aren’t half of the former aldermen in prison for over-feeding at the public trough?

Not that many, Girote said.

Close enough, Fenwick said.

Turner said, Lenzati and Werberg had significant political connections. I got that part. Were they smooth operators? Did they know the ropes? Did people like them?

They were a trifle naive early in their careers.

How so? Turner asked.

There’s a correct way to approach a legislator.

Bribery etiquette, Fenwick said, an area Miss Manners has yet to delve into. Perhaps the selection and use of the proper fork to skewer your opponent could become an art form.

Girote said, They learned quickly. That they were rich helped, but people genuinely liked them. In the beginning they were the usual computer nerds, mole-eyed dweebs hunched over machines and screens. But these guys were able to change. They had decent hygiene. They would listen to advice. They learned to socialize. Their businesses were well run. The employees were well taken care of with some of the highest salaries and best benefits in the computer industry. They were extremely popular. Everyone liked them.

Everybody but one, Fenwick said.

Turner asked, "Where were you this morning, Mr. Girote?

"Is that another threat or a very sick