PRECINCT BLUES: PART 9: HOW TO MERIT YOUR OWN CATEGORY IN THE DSM 101
HARMONY KNOWLES
When I called Melanie this morning, I didn’t know that the results would come back conclusive with a 99.9999% match for the DNA samples taken from Jason Kemp’s body. The one test that still needed to be run was an epithelial comparison analysis, which actually needed to be tested against the partial prints found on Jason’s body. The ligature marks were a given, and according to Horvath, the rope was already collected among Novotny’s things, as well as the original strand it belonged to from Babylon. It was beyond disturbing to have almost all of your secret suspicions confirmed by way of irrefutable evidence. But what’s going to hurt worse is that I have to confirm her own. As far as I’m concerned, the only good thing to come out of this entire situation is that my friend will at last be free and clear of everything- every person- that has caused Melanie to doubt herself over the years.
“Okay, I’m here,” Melanie calls out as she comes into the conference room.
“Are they off yet?” I ask.
“They’ve been airborne now for…” She looks at her watch, before looking back at me. “...About an hour and a half.”
“You think Brian and Justin are going to be okay?”
Melanie almost looks lost in thought for a moment. “I don’t know. I can only hope that by the time they arrive, the processing of the house is done so that they can see what they need to without all of the other eyes watching them. If I know Michael, Brian is going to really need privacy so that he himself can process what he’s going to see.”
Before I can respond, an officer comes in and informs us, “Harmony, the feed’s ready.”
The color drained from Melanie’s face, but I have to admire the way she always manages to pull herself together within the blink of an eye. That’s part of the reason she’s always been one of the most respected attorneys in her field; almost nothing can shake her. But I can’t help but worry a little about how seeing this is going to affect her. I shake my head at my thoughts. Melanie Marcus has always been one of the strongest people I know, and today won’t be any different.
“Okay, well, let’s get this done,” I say, as the officer continues to hook up the monitor and other members of my team continue to file in.
“Yeah, let’s get this over with,” Melanie concurs, as she takes her own seat at the head of the table.
PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA
ALEX:
I once told Brian that he had enough of a handle on his different psychosis to warrant his own category in The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders- otherwise known as the DSM- and I’m sad to say that I couldn’t have been more right. However, I think Novotny and Peterson even had Brian beat before their bullshit caught up with them. I’m both anticipating, yet dreading going into the house that Michael Novotny intended to be a gilded cage for Brian Kinney, already unable to help the shiver wracking my insides. As I stand here on the lawn, waiting as everyone else readies their equipment, I can almost see the haunting evil in knowing beyond doubt what we’re going to find. It’s one thing to have suspicions about the lengths someone will go to have their desires met… But it’s going to be another thing entirely to see it for myself.
“What are you thinking of?” Samantha asks she comes to stand beside me.
“Just that I would rather be anywhere else but here, doing this particular assignment.”
“Is it because you know the victims and perpetrators personally?”
I shake my head. “No. Not exactly in the way that you’re meaning. It’s just… I just have a feeling that this house is going to be the real fall we’ve been waiting for from Novotny.”
“You don’t think ingesting bleach announced his mental instability to everyone?”
“Not at all. If there is one thing Michael Novotny keeps proving, it’s that he’s a cunning little fuck. No, that accidental ingestion of bleach wasn’t about ownership, or proving to his cellmate who the boss really was. But this house is.”
“We’re ready,” D.A. Linton calls out to everyone, after the officer in charge nods. “As soon as Detective Horvath gets here, which should be right about…”
“Now,” I say, smiling slightly at the car speeding up the road. The detective was one of the most reliable people I’ve ever met. In the last ten years, he’s only been late on one other occasion, and it absolutely couldn’t be helped since he was the first responder on the scene of a horrendous accident.
“Yeah, now. So as soon as he’s situated, we’ll go in,” Daris informs the group of about fifteen of us.
“We’re pretty much ready, Daris. And I brought company,” Carl stated as he walked up the lawn. “Brandon requested to be here, and since he’s been investigating the link between Novotny and Sapperstein, I thought it was a good idea for him to tag along. He’s also attending classes to obtain his official degree in Forensic Science so his observations will prove useful.”
“I’ve heard that he was spot on concerning the Jason Kemp case thus far, so I don’t see any problem with it,” Daris answers, but I’m a bit puzzled by that.
“Jason Kemp?” I ask. “I thought Reichart was solely responsible for that young man’s murder.”
Carl shakes his head. “Some new information has come to light, Alex, and ironically enough, it’s linking with this case. Here, read this real quick. Daris, you have your own copy. Harmony is back at the office waiting for the final analysis, which should be done by the time we finish processing this place, if not before.”
Daris nods. “Also, I’ve asked that Melanie Marcus be included in this step, hence the other need for a feed. Not many know it, but she has a secondary degree in Criminology, and considering that this involves…”
This was news to me, and I’m almost tempted to ask if they think it’s a good idea. It’s bad enough that I suspect I will have my own nightmares from this entire scene, but considering that Michael and Lindsay are involved, hers might be even worse. Yet, the bottom line is that she might be able to give even more insight into them and their motives than I can since she’s been around them much more. So, whereas the human part of me- the part that somewhat considers her a friend- wants to shield her from this knowledge that we’re all about to acquire, the Psychiatrist and Behavioral Analyst in me knows exposing her to all of the ugly truth is a necessary evil that can’t be avoided if we want to build an even more airtight case. And, as unfortunate as the situation is, who better to guide us than Melanie Marcus?
As I skim through the report Carl handed me, I advise, “We’d better get in there and get started then. Something tells me that it’s going to be a really long day, and none of it will be good.”
“But if it creates an airtight case against Novotny, leaving him no room to finagle out of it, this will all be worth all the temporary upheaval to our own emotional stability, Alex,” Carl reminds me. “You and I have seen some of the worst of humanity, but I suspect that it’s been nothing compared to what we’re about to discover about this guy.”
“I think the thing that needs to be answered the most is: how the hell has he flown under the radar so long?” Samantha says, but Brandon is the one who answers.
“That’s fairly easy to answer… his mother.”
DARIS:
I swear if there was a way to charge Debbie Novonty for being an idiot when it came to her son, I would do it in a heartbeat. Sure, every child probably spends the equivalent of a lifetime trying to get one over on their parents. I suppose it’s just ingrained into the human structure of DNA to push limits to see exactly what we can get away with versus what is acceptable by societal standards. But to be so willfully blind that you knowingly sanction the machinations of someone like Michael Novotny, which started back when he was still a teen living under his parent’s roof… Well, again, if I could charge her for being an asshole and a bully, I would!
“So how do you want to play this?” Carl asks me, and I almost feel a little sorry for him in all of this.
Originally, we all thought he might have found someone in Debbie Novotny to ask out on a date after all these years. In all the time I’ve known him, he’s been utterly consumed with the job. So in theory, I was glad that he was even considering getting back out into the real world and dating again. But the more we work this particular case, the more I see the deflation in his shoulders again with every new piece of information we uncover. It’s become pretty evident that no matter what Debbie Novotny may have presented on the surface to the world at large, she isn’t the type of person that a man like Carl could truly be happy with; that stalwart sense of right and wrong he has would prevent that.
“I think that I should send Gibbs and Mason to interview a few of the neighbors. I mean, this is a pretty affluent neighborhood where everyone may keep to themselves. However, it doesn’t stop them from noticing things, or even striking up the occasional conversation every now and again. And based on Michael’s inflated opinions of himself, I don’t doubt that the latter is the case. No way would he have been able to resist bragging about his best friend coming to live with him. He might have even projected his true motives by way of his most fervent fantasy…”
“That his husband, Brian, would be joining him as soon as he was able to do so, but he’s just here to set up house?” Samantha asks, and we all nod.
“Exactly,” I confirm verbally for her. “You’ve been observing him for quite some time now. Is there another view of his personality that you’ve seen, which would negate our opinion of what Novotny’s actions might have been in our absence?”
Samantha is quiet for a few moments. I can almost see the wheels turning in her head as her green eyes blink rapidly, almost as if she’s watching a movie. As she processes the information of what she knows thus far versus what we are all thinking in terms of Michael running his overflowing mouth, I can see when she discards one notion or another by the slight shaking of her head. Finally, when she speaks it’s not only to confirm our suspicions but to also pose a new question of her own.
“I can see the wisdom of what you all are saying, but there is one thing really troubling me. Novotny has had this place for over a year now. So how is it that no one has seen or heard anything from the elusive husband and not questioned it? I mean, if what we suspect is true in Novotny actually giving voice to his delusions of grandeur, wouldn’t it stand to reason that if anyone had shown up here fitting Brian’s description, the neighbors would know? I’ve found that in most affluent neighborhoods, even though they are apt to mind their own business in terms of what a neighbor does, they would still be curious about a veritable stranger in their midst.”
“So what are you proposing?”
“That the little liar extraordinaire would have probably hired a look-alike to make occasional appearances here to keep suspicions down in this area. My guess is that it would be either someone close enough in looks to throw the neighbors off, or at the very least someone with the same build as Brian so that if he’s seen from the back, it would be enough to throw any suspicions off once he brought a drugged up Brian here for good. It’s all about establishing fiction as fact. And in this case, who would question Michael bringing his obviously unwell husband home as opposed to his kidnapped best friend? Plus in the unlikelihood that Brian may have escaped Michael’s prison, who would have believed that such a seemingly harmless, loving man as Michael would be capable of holding a man like Brian Kinney hostage?”
“Ah… the premeditated alibi theory, which makes perfect sense considering all we know about Novotny. It looks like he’s taken away more than just advice from being around Peterson; he’s picked up one of her most used habits of self-preservation. I’ll bet she would just love to know that.”
“Indeed she would, since she still hasn’t quite figured out yet that as she was setting Novotny up, he was doing the same to her. She still thinks she was the smarter one within the pairing.”
“But you beg to differ?”
“No,” Samantha says. “I think they were evenly matched, even if they didn’t know it. They are the personification of the adage: keep your friends close, but your enemy closer. The only true question is what Novonty intended for Peterson to do once he had Brian whisked away here… and what would he have left her and Debbie Novotny holding the bag for?”
And something tells me that within this gilded cage of horrors, the answer is going to become more than evident. As we enter the house, I have to admit that on the surface, the place is all Brian’s style. The open floor plan leaves nothing to the imagination. It’s all glass and chrome; absolutely pristine, just the way Brian Kinney would want his home. It’s more than evident that Novotny really intended for Brian to feel at home here.
Alex gasps, before saying what I was thinking aloud. “So… this is what he thought Brian would want with him, too. I remember hearing an argument between him and Brian once, regarding the fact that Brian allowed Justin to move in with him. It was more that Michael was whining because Brian never invited him to move into the loft with him, especially when Michael was trying to convince Brian that they should live together during their early twenties. Upon first glance, this place is a clear indication of how Michael saw that going should Brian have given into his whining back then.”
The living room area is an exact replica of what the loft looks like, with the exception of the brick walls. The high-end furniture is something that reminds me of what one would find in a showroom. The white leather fabric is almost blinding as the sunlight filters in through the floor-to-ceiling bay window with its gauzy curtains. The only indication that is classic Novotny is the superhero-themed throw pillows adorning each of the sofas and the retro red chaise lounge. The only really disturbing image is the giant cardboard cutout over the fireplace…
I feel Brandon shudder beside me while staring at the image. “Kinda puts what Michael thinks of Brian into perspective, doesn’t it?”
“Knowing his penchant for Captain Astro, sadly it does,” Alex nods. “However, it’s not necessarily about Brian being his hero, but the other way around. I mean, if you take Michael Novotny’s logic in the literal sense, who was Batman without Robin? Who was Charles Xavier without his X-Men? But if you reverse it into what this really is: who was Superman without Lex Luthor? Who was Mighty Mouse without Oil-can Harry? The answer could certainly be looked at as not a hero, but a regular guy who just happened to have some pretty special abilities which would never have been realized without either his self-appointed sidekick, or the arch-nemesis.
“To that end, Michael didn’t want Brian to ever be seen as a regular guy who was intelligent, and successful, and all the other adjectives that support that theory. He needed Brian to be seen as exceptional. But not simply because of Brian’s own accomplishments, but to feed Michael’s ego as the sidekick. Hence his chronic ‘You owe me’ mantra. Anytime Brian pulled away, just wanting to live his life on his own terms, there came one of the Novotnys with that fucked-up reminder of Brian’s abuse at the hands of his family. To Michael and Debbie’s minds, Brian needed constant reminding about what his role was in their lives.”
“And that was?”
“The role of the reluctant hero,” Alex confirms.
“And to keep making Michael feel relevant and necessary to his life in some way,” I interject. “But… isn’t that what Debbie did to Michael?”
“She tried to,” Melanie said, after the connection finally came through. “But whereas they used Brian’s insecurities to tie him to them, it’s the same way Michael began to use Debbie’s against her in order to break free from her care. Until he needed something, in Michael’s world Debbie was a constant embarrassment. She was overbearing and a disgrace. Much like Brian is an asshole to them unless he is doing what they demand. In Michael’s terms, Debbie is his arch-nemesis.
“But as soon as Michael needed something that only his Ma could give, such as the constant bullying tactics and thickly-laid blame and guilt, then Debbie became valuable again- his hero- much like Brian did when he would do what they wanted. Ironic that Debbie taught her son to be that way, but the student has far surpassed the teacher. So much so that Debbie doesn’t even realize he’s been employing the same methods she used to keep Brian under her thumb for years.”
We move further into the house, with each new room supporting our Sidekick-Arch Nemesis theory. But it’s when we enter the bedroom that things take a much different turn. Not because of the initial decor which is straight-up out of Batman…
But because of a seemingly out of place area of the room with a two-way mirror at the backend of it...
“Fuck!” Melanie whispers, as we all draw nearer to the area. “That sick bastard built a dungeon into the bedroom!”
“Looks that way,” I confirm as I begin to scan the room from this side of the mirror. Already, I can see what Michael would have done to Brian. The lone sofa within the room is facing some sort of screen. I’m almost willing to bet that there is a projector in there with… Oh fuck! “Feel along the walls. Look for a button of some sort. Hell, even look inside the drawers on the bedside table.”
“What are you thinking, Daris?” Carl asks me, even as he starts doing as I ordered along the wall.
“That this is where every single thing we’ve found in Pittsburgh is about to be confirmed here. I don’t know why; I just feel it. I have to see what’s on that damn projector!”