a bong hit during the opening credits and handed it to me. I reloaded the bowl and took another hit myself.
“On Wednesday night, officers from the Shoreston county police department were called to the small Methodist community of Lakeview, Ohio, to the home of Harold Pierson Junior, son of one of the founding fathers of this gated suburban enclave. When they arrived they found Mr. Pierson struggling for his life with bullet wounds to the shoulder and stomach, and his wife, Becky Pierson, dead in an upstairs bedroom, with two gunshot wounds to the head. This photo shows the conscienceless killer making his getaway in Mr. Pierson’s car. He has been identified as David Telano.
“While Mr. Pierson was fighting for his life at the Cleveland Trauma Center, police were searching David Telano’s apartment, looking for clues to where he might run in his bid to escape justice. What they found was evidence that David Telano had murdered before.”
They showed the male detective who had been at Junior’s house along with Reyes. The label at the bottom of the screen identified him as Detective Mike Borgano. He spoke: “In searching David Telano’s apartment we found a camera belonging to a woman named Amanda Porgett among his possessions. There were photographs of Ms. Porgett and her friends on the camera’s memory card. Ms. Porgett was murdered on June 26th and this camera was one of the items missing from her home. The only physical evidence in that case were cigarette butts found outside Ms. Porgett’s house, which happen to be the same brand smoked by David Telano. Our lab is testing the cigarette butts for any DNA.”
“They’re saying he killed someone else now? He’s so fucked.” I said.
“I know.” Jessie said. “Once you’re on America’s Most Wanted, it’s just a matter of time.”
John Walsh continued, “Our crew has produced this recreation of the events of Wednesday night. Watch carefully, as any detail might provide the clues necessary to crack the case.”
They showed a guy at a kitchen sink, doing dishes, who was supposed to be Junior Pierson. The voice-over began. “It was an average weeknight in the quiet community of Lakview Ohio. Harold Pierson Junior was home alone, while his wife and daughter from a previous marriage were at the movie theatre just down the street from their lakefront home. He was finishing the dishes when he heard a knock at the door.” When he opened the door a big Mexican guy dressed like a gangster shoved his way in and held a knife to the guy’s throat. “Where’s the safe essay? Take me to the safe.” He delivered the lines in a heavy Mexican accent while menacing synthesizer music played. They went into the upstairs bedroom and the man pulled a safe out from underneath the bed. The gangster stood behind him with the knife. “Open it.” He said. Inside the safe was a wad of money and a handgun. The gangster’s eyes widened as he picked up the gun.
Next they showed a woman and a girl sitting in a dark movie house. “I’m getting a migraine, I need my pills.” The woman whispered to the girl. “I’m going to run home a minute.” Back at the house, actor-David and actor-Junior were going through a box of jewelry in the bedroom when they heard her calling for her husband. The guy playing David held a finger up to his lips, and pushed Junior into a corner. The door opened and as soon as she was in the room, actor-David shot her twice in the head. Junior screamed, and David hit him across the face with the butt of the gun. “Shut up old man.” He said. “And gimme your keys, I’m takin’ your car. Cooperate and I might let you live, homes.” Holding the gun to the back of his head, David led him downstairs into the garage. After giving him the keys, actor-Junior got down on his knees and started begging. Gangster-actor-David just laughed, but his laugh was cut short when the doorbell rang.
“I knocked.” I said.
David stood the man up and put the gun to his head. He led him back into the kitchen and stood flat against the refrigerator. “Get rid of him.” He said. “I could shoot you from here easy. Any funny stuff, and I’ll kill you and Mr. rent-a-cop.”
The actor playing Junior walked to the door nervously. He opened it on a fat man in a wrinkled uniform with his hat pushed back on his head. His mouth hung slightly open.
Jessie laughed. “That’s you!” She squealed “Oh man! They got you perfect.”
“We had a noise complaint sir.” Fake me said. “Is everything alright? Someone said they heard gunfire.”
The guy playing Junior raised his eyebrows meaningfully and darted his eyes back and forth towards the kitchen. “No.” He said, too loud and even. “Everything’s fine. It was probably just some kids.” Again the camera showed his face communicating panic to the guy who was supposed to be me.
“That’s what I figured.” The fake me said without any comprehension. “I’ll keep a lookout for those kids.” Actor-Junior gave one more terrified look as he closed the door.
“THIS IS SUCH BULLSHIT!” I screamed. “He never did anything like that! How can they just make shit up? It’s ridiculous!”
“Shhh. I can’t hear.” Jessie said.
Gangster-David pulled fake-Junior back into the garage and made him kneel down. Fake-Junior was crying and begging for his life again when gangster-David shot him twice, wiped the handle of the gun with his shirt, threw it down and took off in the black Mercedes. “Police believe that David Telano is headed west toward California,” John Walsh said, “and may have switched cars to avoid detection. If you have any information on the whereabouts of David Telano, or any information regarding this case, our operators are standing by to take your calls and remember, you can remain anonymous.”
“Their timeline is fucked up.” I said. “It was like two hours between the noise complaints, the way they staged it I would’ve heard the second gunshots as I was walking away. I’d have run back and checked on him. And I swear to Christ he wasn’t making any weird faces at me.”
“You said he wasn’t wearing a shirt when he came to the door.” Jessie said. “They couldn’t explain that one so they just left it out.”
The TV was blaring a commercial for a vibrating razor with five blades, so I put it on mute. “I’m starting to think you’re right, there’s something fucked up about this. I mean, David’s no Rhodes scholar, but he wouldn’t kill someone just to take their car. He could go to the mall and steal a car without any violence. He knows how to crack a steering column.”
“Yeah, and why did he shoot Mrs. Pierson in the head, but only shoot Junior in the stomach and shoulder. If he was trying to kill him, wouldn’t he shoot him in the head too? And why leave the gun? That makes no sense. Steal the car, and leave the gun? It’s fuckin’ obvious what really happened. Mr. Pierson shot his wife, and is trying to pin it on David. After David left, he probably shot himself in the stomach and shoulder to avert suspicion. He’s the real killer -Mr. Pierson. You should tell that cop, what’s-her-name uh, Reyes. You should tell her that Junior Pierson probably did it.”
“Yeah, but why was David there?” I asked. “And what about the dead woman whose camera he had, the Porgett lady? That a coincidence too?”
She reloaded the bong and was holding it as she answered. “Maybe so. He used to get stolen electronics and stuff all the time. It could very well be a coincidence.” She held a lighter to the bowl and sucked.
“Nah,” I said, “it’s too much. He’s involved somehow. I mean, you’re probably right and Junior’s trying to frame him, but you gotta figure he knows something about it, or he was involved in some shady deal that went bad. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, he’s fucked now, he’s probably going to death row.” I thought about it for a second. “Stupid ass David trying to run to California, thinking he can start his life over again in LA or something. He was always so unrealistic. He’s probably even enjoying it on some level.”
Jessie handed me the bong and I finished the bowl she’d started. “You’re right about the coincidences.” She said. “What if we assume there are absolutely no coincidences involved here, then it gets really interesting, because then you have to wonder why the night before all this shit went down, David’s uncle had his pinky chopped of
f, right? That’s a pretty big coincidence too.”
“Yeah I’ve been thinking about that since day one.” I said. “But the cops know everything we know, so we don’t have to go all Matlock on it.”
“Are you going to the library tomorrow?”
“Yeah.” I said. “I wanna check my email.” We had an old computer but no internet connection, so I checked my email once a week at the library.
“Would you do me a favor and Google Amanda Porgett? See if you can find out what happened to her.”
“You trying to crack the case, Nancy Drew?”
“Come on, just out of curiosity. Google Amanda Porgett. See if she has any connection to David,” she said, “or to people David has a connection to, like Freddie Divos. Maybe she worked in one of his hotels and had some dirt on him, you never know. Just see what you can find out.”
“You need a little more faith in law enforcement.” I said. “Detective Reyes didn’t look stupid. I’m sure if there’s a connection, she already found it.”
“Just print up anything interesting okay? David’s lawyer might need it for his defense.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe David was on America’s Most Wanted.”
“I just want to know why they got a fat guy to play me. I mean I know I’m not skinny, but