The Dream of the Broken Horses (16 page)

Here a man and two women, faces encased in stockings, pointed to a cardboard carton that, they said, contained the preserved remains of the Fulraine child. When Maw opened the carton, he found what he took to be the body of an infant, but the lighting was so dim, the odor so horrific, the corpse so wrinkled and distorted, he could not possibly identify it as Belle Fulraine. Nevertheless, intimidated by the people surrounding him, he handed over the key to the locker, at which point the three jumped into the van and sped off, leaving him alone with the pungent leathery remains.

When Maw picked up the carton and stumbled out of the garage, he found himself not two hundred yards from smelters with smokestacks bearing the words FULRAINE STEEL.

It had been a swindle, of course. The little body was that of a black male infant, preserved, according to experts, in a manner employed by Haitian voodoo practitioners. By the time police were brought in, the $10,000 was gone and the storefront card reader had disappeared. The incident marked the end of Charles Maw's affair with Barbara Fulraine and left him with badly shattered nerves.

It's a strange story and it fills me with pity. It hurts to think of Barbara stooping so low, then being taken in by such a transparent scam. That she was running around consulting with scummy fortune-tellers tells me how very desperate she must have been. As for Maw, he strikes me as a fool. What kind of a friend was he not to have warned her off these con artists?

The six other interviewed former lovers were a junior executive at Fulraine Steel; a star third baseman with the Calista Forgers; a cellist who played with the Calista Symphony; an orthopedic surgeon from the Lucinda Taft Medical Center; a professor of theology at Calista State University; and a mechanic who worked at British Motors in Van Buren Heights where he took care of Mrs. Fulraine's Jaguar coupe.

All spoke of her with affection and respect, not one expressing the slightest degree of ill will. The mechanic described her as "a gracious person" whom it had been his "great privilege" to know. The theologian said, "She was quite the finest woman I've ever known." The cellist said that making love with her was "akin to reveling in the music of the spheres." Charles Maw, the only one to make negative comments, described her as "a user who left many husks behind . . . and I count myself among them." But even he claimed he harbored no animus toward her. "With Barbara I had some of the most memorable and
pleasureful
experiences of my life."

Gossip columnist Waldo Channing was interviewed by Mace
Bartel
.

His comments, unlike those of the former lovers, were not respectful at all:

Witness stated he was close friend and confidant of victim for many years. Witness stated victim was 'splendid, exciting person of great passion and sensuality' and 'I was privy to all her secrets. There was nothing that happened in her life she did not reveal to me, knowing I would always hold her confidences.'

Witness stated that contrary to opinion commonly held in victim's circle, victim was not promiscuous. Witness stated, 'She did not engage in serial affairs. She was a one-guy-at-a-time-type gal.' Witness stated he and victim were in love, but 'a physical affair between us was not to be. Our affair was far more sublime than that, what the French call
une
affaire de
coeur
.
'

Witness stated he is certain victim Fulraine was not romantically involved with victim Jessup. Witness stated, 'If she were she would certainly have told me about it. So, you see, it's simply impossible. There has to be another explanation.' When told that investigators had proof that victims met numerous times at the Flamingo Court, witness became angry. 'Impossible! Can't be true!' When assured that it was, witness broke out in a sweat. Witness then asked for a glass of water and time-out 'to collect my thoughts.'

When interview resumed, witness stated, 'If you ask me, there was something fishy going on between Barbara and that shrink she was seeing.' Asked to explain what he meant, witness stated, 'That's my impression. I just don't trust the man. I think he's a total opportunist. Anyhow, I very much doubt she revealed to him the same intimate details of her life she shared with me. I'm sure she never shared those secrets with anyone else.'

Witness stated that now that victim is deceased, he feels free to reveal some of her confidences. Witness stated victim despised Jack Cody. Witness stated, 'She thought him common, which of course he was. She told me the only reason she continued to see him was that they were into the same kind of sexual kinks and that made sex with him a lot of fun. She never believed for one instant that he could turn up her missing daughter, but still she pretended she did. She told me, "He thinks he's using me, Waldo, but really I'm using him" She told me she was not afraid of Cody, that "he puts on a tough front, but he's just a big pussy underneath." '

Witness stated victim believed her ex-husband had homosexual inclinations and that she'd had him followed by a private detective in hope she could turn up sufficient proof to embarrass him so he'd back down on his custody claim. Witness stated victim told him the private eye she hired never came up with anything. Witness stated victim told him, 'I think Andrew's just too uptight to indulge himself like that around here.'

Witness stated, 'Barbara had all sorts of evil schemes up her sleeve. She could be pretty malicious at times, which is why we got along so famously. She had no use for the hypocrites who run Calista society, especially her former in-laws. In fact, she held the Fulraines in utter contempt.'

Witness stated that victim told him her shrink was secretly in love with her. Witness stated victim told him, 'I can tell by the way he looks at me, he wants to get into my pants.' Witness stated victim told him she often tried to arouse shrink with tales about her sexual depravity. Witness stated victim was contemptuous of shrink and only continued to see him 'because it amused her to see how crazy and lovesick she could make him.'

Witness stated, 'Barbara was a great actress. She could convince anyone of anything. If she'd gone on the stage, she'd have been a tremendous star.' Witness stated, 'People thought she was this self-confident, cool beauty. In fact she was terribly insecure about herself, didn't even think she was particularly attractive. One time when I was with her, she looked at herself in a mirror then ran her hands down the sides of her face. "Soon it'll be all over for me, Waldo," she told me. "I'll become an old bag and no one will lust after me anymore." '

Witness stated victim feared old age. ' "It's like a shipwreck," she told me. "You get bashed and battered against the rocks, pieces of you break off, then finally you slip into the drink." '

Witness stated victim was a manipulator who played up to other women she viewed as her rivals. Witness stated victim actually loathed these women but 'she beguiled them with her false concern and friendly smile.' Witness stated victim 'was the sort of woman who, if she discovered one of her rivals was in love with a man, she'd go after that man, seduce him, just to hurt and vanquish the rival.' Witness stated victim told him tales about her affairs and then mocked the way her former lovers acted when she broke off with them. Witness stated victim enjoyed 'sending them scurrying back to their wives knowing that having been with her, tasted her delights, they'd never be content with their little "
wifie-poos
" again.'

Witness stated that if it were true that victim Fulraine had been carrying on an affair with victim Jessup, 'it must have been one of those inconsequential ventures with which she amused herself, and I'm certain the only reason she didn't tell me about it was she was saving up the story till she'd engineered an amusing denouement.'

Witness stated he had no idea who might have wanted to harm victim or have her killed. Witness stated, 'She probably had a zillion enemies, so your guess is as good as mine.'

Evaluation:

Witness started out praising victim. However, once witness was assured victim had been involved with Jessup, he became so angry she hadn't confided in him about affair that he attempted to use remainder of the interview to destroy her character and reputation. There is absolutely no evidence that victim's psychiatrist had anything but a professional relationship with her, nor that victim hired a private investigator to find proof that her husband was homosexual. For these reasons, and because witness's remarks contradict information conveyed by other interviewees, investigator deems this witness unreliable.

Whew!
Impossible not to concur with Mace's evaluation. Waldo Channing's portrait of Barbara is at odds with everything I know of her, the ravings of a man consumed by spite.

What upsets me most, of course, are his comments about Dad—that he was an opportunist and that there was "something fishy going on" between him and Barbara. Here again I feel the sharp edge of Waldo's malice, a nearly insane jealousy of anyone beside himself who had access to Barbara's confidences. Unable to make love to her yet spellbound by her glamour, he had to believe he was her only confidant. That a mere psychiatrist, not even a member of their "Happy Few," might have access to secrets she denied to him seems to have sent Waldo into paroxysms of rage.

It's also difficult for me to believe Barbara spent three hours a week on Dad's analytic couch merely because it "amused her to see how crazy and lovesick she could make him." Between her two affairs she had sufficient diversions in her life . . . and as anyone who's been in analysis knows, the process is a good deal more painful than amusing.

Continuing to read through the case file, I come upon a folder devoted to Jack Cody: interviews with his friends and Elms Club staff and those who supported his alibi—the judge who was his luncheon companion at the Downtown Athletic Club the day of the killings, as well as the waiters and barman who served them as they ate and drank.

Mace interviewed Jürgen Hoff, maitre
d'hotel
at The Elms:

Witness states he's been employed by Cody since the opening of The Elms eleven years ago. Witness states before that he worked for two years as maitre d' at a restaurant in Cuernavaca, Mexico, and before that held enlisted rank in French Foreign Legion, serving in Algerian war, where he was wounded and awarded several medals. Witness states he was born in Germany, obtained French citizenship due to military service, and is now a naturalized U.S. citizen. Witness states he considers Cody a friend, adding 'I'm extremely loyal to my friend.' Witness states that despite this friendship he will answer all questions truthfully.

Witness states Cody was devoted to victim and would never do anything to harm her. Witness states Cody always looked forward to victim's visits and 'he was almost like a little boy when she was around he was so excited by her.' Witness states of victim, 'I found Madame Fulraine charming. She was also cool and haughty, not my type. But Mr. Cody liked women like that so they got along just fine.'

Witness states, 'In my eleven years with Mr. Cody, I never once saw him lose control. He can get very angry, certainly, and you will feel his anger when he turns it upon you, not a boiling rage that makes you sweat, but an ice-cold anger that chills you to the bone.'

Witness states he is familiar with story that Cody disfigured Marceline Foresti
è
re, an entertainer he was going with, when he discovered Miss Forestière was sleeping with club backup musician, Randy Wayne. Witness states this story is totally false. Witness states he knew Miss Forestière, a Canadian citizen, very well, that they always spoke French together, and that after she was disfigured she told him Randy Wayne was the one who'd cut her face. Witness states Cody was so incensed by what Wayne did to her he asked some gangster friends to 'punish' Wayne for his transgression. Witness states he doesn't know what happened, but he heard Cody's friends got carried away and since Wayne's body was recovered a little later 'maybe they went too far.'

Witness states that even though Cody was betrayed by Forestière, he sent her to Los Angeles to be treated by a famous plastic surgeon and ended up paying thousands of dollars for operations so she could sing in public once again. Witness states: 'I tell you this so you know the kind of man we are talking about, a man who, yes, shows a hard face to the world, but who has a big, soft heart beneath.'

Asked by interviewer if Cody, discovering he was being two-timed by victim, might have asked these same friends to 'punish' his girlfriend's lover and maybe the friends again 'went too far', witness states, 'I do not believe that could have happened.'

Witness states Cody is a very smart man who always learns from his mistakes and that after what his friends did to Randy Wayne he would never again have entrusted them with such a mission. Witness states, 'What they did caused Mr. Cody a lot of trouble, and Mr. Cody doesn't like trouble. Many people still think he cut up Marci. I happen to know he didn't. But you must understand Mr. Cody is not the type to go around telling people "I didn't do this" or "I didn't do that." He is not the type who denies. Rather he's the kind who demonstrates his character to the world by his actions and demeanor. People can think what they like. Mr. Cody doesn't care. He knows who he is and who he is not, and those, such as myself, who know him well know he would never have allowed anyone to hurt Madame Fulraine, a woman he loved, no matter whether she fucked every busboy, guard, and gardener at The Elms.'