Any of them could be involved.Or none of them.
"What about suspects?"she asked."Who had access to all five victims?"
Carter pulled out a legal pad covered with handwritten notes, columns of names and dates and question marks."I've been working on that.Let's start with the obvious ones."She consulted her notes."Blake Montgomery.He photographed all five women at some point in their careers.He has a history of complaints, aggressive behavior, pushing models to emotional extremes.He's the first name that comes to mind when you think about who might be hurting these girls."
"But?"
"But he has solid alibis for at least two of the deaths.Jennifer Blake died on the night of the Fashion Forward Gala.Montgomery was there from seven PM until two in the morning, making the rounds, networking, being seen.At least fifty people saw him throughout the evening, and there's photo and video evidence placing him at the venue during the window when Jennifer died."
Carter flipped to another page."And Destiny Morales died while Montgomery was shooting a campaign in New York.Commercial for a clothing brand.He was in a studio in Brooklyn with a crew of twenty people when she went off that balcony."
Kari felt something like relief, mixed with frustration.Montgomery had seemed like such an obvious suspect.But alibis were alibis, and if he couldn't have committed two of the murders, he probably hadn't committed any of them.
"Who else?"she asked.
"Dr.Callum Pemberton.Plastic surgeon, works extensively with models from Elite Vision and other agencies.He prescribed anxiety medications or sedatives to three of the five victims in the months before their deaths."Carter's jaw tightened."He had access and means.If he wanted to stage an overdose, he'd know exactly which drugs to use, how much would be lethal, how to make it look accidental."
"Have you talked to him?"
"Not yet.I wanted to get your read on things first.But he's on my list."Carter made a note."Then there's the agency side.Jessica Vance at Elite Vision knew all five victims.So did Vanessa Caldwell at Image Management, since she recruited most of them.Either of them would have had access, known the girls' schedules, their vulnerabilities, their living situations."
"So we're looking at Pemberton, Vance, or Caldwell," Kari said."Or someone we haven't identified yet."
"That's my read."Carter gathered the files into a stack."I'm officially opening an investigation.Quietly, for now—I don't want to spook anyone before we have something solid.But this isn't a missing persons case anymore, Blackhorse.This is a serial murder investigation."
The words hung in the air between them.Serial murder.Someone had been killing young women in Los Angeles for at least three years, and no one had noticed because the victims were models and everyone assumed they'd destroyed themselves.
"What do you need from me?"Kari asked.
"Keep doing what you're doing.You have access I don't—people will talk to you because you're not official, because you're just a concerned relative looking for a missing girl.Push on the agencies, talk to the models, see if anyone knows anything they haven't told the police."Carter met her eyes."And find Tayen Stern.If she's still alive, she might be the key to all of this.She might have seen something, or known something, that made her a target."
Kari left the police station with her mind racing.Five dead women.A pattern of staged suicides and overdoses.Multiple suspects with access and opportunity, but no clear evidence pointing to any of them.
And somewhere in this city, Tayen Chee was either hiding or being held captive, possibly by the same person who had killed Amanda Escalante and four other young women.
Kari needed to find her before she became victim number six.
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Three women were dead, and the one thing they had in common—besides beauty, besides ambition, besides the bad luck of signing with the wrong agency—was this address on Wilshire Boulevard.
Kari had looked up Dr.Callum Pemberton before coming.Board-certified, Stanford Medical School, with fifteen years in practice.His website featured tasteful before-and-after photos and testimonials from actresses whose names she half-recognized.His online reviews praised his "artistic eye" and "natural results."Nowhere did it mention that at least three of his patients had died under suspicious circumstances in the past three years.
Kari gave her name to the receptionist—a young woman whose face had clearly been worked on, though Kari couldn't pinpoint exactly what had been changed—and settled into a leather chair to wait.Soft music played from hidden speakers—something classical and inoffensive.Everything in this room was designed to reassure people that they were in capable hands, that the money they were about to spend would be worth it, that their insecurities could be fixed with a scalpel and a checkbook.
Kari thought about the young women who had sat in this same chair before her.Amanda Escalante, nineteen years old, from a small town in New Mexico.Jennifer Blake, twenty-two, from Phoenix.Girls who'd grown up without luxury, who'd never seen anything like this kind of polished wealth.
How intimidating it must have been.How easy it would have been for a charming doctor in an expensive suit to make them feel special, chosen, worthy of his attention.
The receptionist's voice broke into her thoughts."Dr.Pemberton will see you now.Second door on the left."
The office itself continued the spa theme: more soft lighting, more expensive art, a massive desk made of some exotic wood that gleamed in the afternoon sun filtering through floor-to-ceiling windows.The view looked out over Beverly Hills, all palm trees and manicured lawns and swimming pools glinting like jewels in the sunlight.A view that said:I have made it.I am successful.You should trust me.
Behind the desk sat a man in his mid-fifties, handsome in the preserved way of someone who'd had access to the best treatments his profession could offer.His hair was silver at the temples but thick and carefully styled, his skin smooth and evenly tanned, his teeth white and perfectly straight.He smiled as Kari entered, and the smile was warm and practiced, the smile of a man who'd learned exactly how to put people at ease.
"Detective Blackhorse."He stood and extended his hand, his grip firm, but not aggressive."I have to admit, I was surprised to get your call.I don't often have law enforcement visiting my practice."
"I appreciate you making time for me, Dr.Pemberton."
