Dangerous by Default

16 The investigation

Janus cursed as she jumped into the street, trying to avoid the spray of a strawberry mist that was being flung in all directions. The heavyset woman sang as she pressed the strawberry water onto her skin, cupping the sticky red liquid on her arms and legs and tossing it onto her back. Janus couldn't help but think of Caine. The only difference between being in the MoMA and sitting naked on a Tenderloin sidewalk is where you come from, how you were born. About that, she had no doubt. She had just finished the safety inspection for Caine's show at the SFMoMA, and she knew she was no expert, but what complete garbage. To call that art. She'd take strawberry performance anyday. At least it was real.

Everything in her life seemed to revolve around Caine lately and she resented it. The teenagers in the police station. That small frail girl who died that morning from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The protests. Then there were the buttons - first the button that was snipped from the old woman's blouse. Then from the gangbangers in the alley. She was certain there were more missing buttons. It was such an easy thing to miss if you didn't know what to look for. She made a note to review old case files. Something was up, and she was pretty certain that Mina was involved with whatever it was. She'd be damned if the woman with the pink wig wasn't Mina in disguise. She didn't mind the help bagging some drug dealers, but vigilantism is a crime. Mina was guilty of something. She needed to find a pressure point, and squeeze it hard. To top it off, Ami revered her. It bothered Janus sometimes to hear how much Ami talked about her. As if her whole life revolved around one person. The person who also happened to be married to Caine Blue, who was making her life hell.

A police officer was waiting at the blue iron gate to let her in. As she ascended the stairs, the police officer spit his gum onto the glossy brown paint of the stairwell. Janus shot him a disapproving glance and he shrugged. "It's adding to the ambience" he said cheekily in defence.

"It seems like the victim woke up?" she asked him.

"Yeah, he's up. Doesn't really know what happened, he's a bit foggy. Thinks he took the wrong medication."

"So there might not have been a crime after all? Why are we here? What am I missing?"

"His housekeeper let herself in this morning as she does every week. Said she found him naked on the living room floor, with a cattle dart sticking out of him. She got scared and called 911."

"A cattle dart? Like the kind used to tranquilize animals?"

"Yeah it looks like that. Kind of DIY looking, like it was handmade."

"Maybe he's just into rough play?"

"That's what we think. He's a little embarrassed. But, she called the police. So, here we are."

Inside the apartment, the victim was sitting on a brown leather sofa wrapped in a bright orange blanket. He vomited violently into a bucket. Janus looked around the apartment. The decor was adventurous.

"I'm fine, really, I think I just took something," the man said.

"Hi I'm Janus Thromgood. I'm a detective for the SFPD. Answer a couple questions for me and we'll be out of here."

The man nodded, his face blue, then he hurled again. Janus got up, partly to avoid being hit by projectile liquids for the second time that day, partly to fetch a wash rag for the man to wipe his face. She popped into the bathroom where she saw a cellphone lying on the counter. She hesitated for a moment. She felt the urge to open it.

As Janus returned to the living room, she noticed two parallel streaks of dirt leading from the leather sofa back into the hallway. They looked out of place in such a meticulously kept apartment. They also looked like someone had been dragged. "Take this," she said, handing him a damp towel. He nodded to say thanks.

"What can you tell me about this?"

She pointed to the bloody dart that was lying on his coffee table. "Not a normal way for someone to take medication." Her eyes glanced at the puncture wound on his collarbone. It was dark red and swollen.

"I don't know what that is, but it's not mine."

"Did someone break in? Your housekeeper found you naked. Were you with someone?"

"No I was alone. Look, I started taking a new medication recently, and I must have blacked out. Maybe I left the apartment, someone came back with me, I don't remember. This happens sometimes, someone pops an ambient and next thing they know they are coloring the floor of their bathroom with lipstick."

"Has that ever happened to you?"

The man smirked at Janus. "Frequently."

"What about these streaks? Could someone have dragged you last night? Maybe after you fell ill?"

"Yeah, I'm not sure. I don't wear my shoes in the house as a rule. You never know what is crawling on the underside of your shoes after walking around the sidewalks out there. But again, I'm on new medication. Maybe I forgot to take my shoes off."

She stood up to get him another towel from the bathroom. Her meticulous discernment of opportunities for information, for leverage, got the better of her. He might have taken a photo of last night, she wondered. She picked up the phone and swiped on the screen. To her surprise the phone wasn't locked. She knew she should ask the victim, but she can always look first and then find out if he was lying to her. That would certainly give her some leverage to find out what really happened.

Janus returned to the living room and handed Joseph another wet towel. "I brought you your phone," Janus said, her eyes fixated on his face. She wanted to see exactly how he'd react when she said that. Joseph's eyes flickered into hers. His teeth clenched, as if he had forgotten about something important, then he looked away.

"Thanks," he said.

"Let's look at the photos from last night. Maybe there'll be someone you recognize in there, who can help us answer why you woke up naked with a dart stuck in you."

Joseph laughed. "That would be convenient. I'm starting to feel better. Whatever happened, I'm ok and I'm not interested in pressing charges. Mind if we talk again at some other time?"

"That will work for me. I'm especially curious to learn more about all of those men you raped. I didn't count, but it looked to be at least 100. Maybe the dart was meant for a victim who ended up escaping?"

Joseph's head sunk, knowing he had been caught.

Janus studied the man's clothing for the first time. His blue collared shirt was open, messy. "Is that the shirt you were wearing last night?"

"I want a lawyer before I..."

"Just tell me if that's the shirt you were wearing. It's a simple question."

"What difference does it make?"

"When did the button go missing?"

Just then, a police officer popped into the living room and tugged Janus by the shoulder.

"Can't you see I'm interviewing a suspect?" she said assertively. So typical to think their time is more valuable than mine.

"Janus, you're needed. There's been another murder."

"Same one?"

"Yeah we think so."

"Get him cuffed," she said pointing to Joseph, who was beginning to hyperventilate.

"I can't, I... I don't.. Jail?" he stammered.

"Honey, consider yourself lucky. There are dead bodies piling up all over the city. Thank Jesus you aren't one of them."