Cold Case 8-9: Pretty, Pretty Princess

[valrush]

COLD CASE: PRETTY, PRETTY PRINCESS


With serious health issues looming, Will Jeffries is contemplating retirement when the body of a teenage girl that had been missing for fifteen years suddenly surfaces.


PREVIOUSLY ON COLD CASE:

Vera and Jeffries were out walking the street. “You said your yearly physical is next week?” asked Vera.


“Don’t remind me. Talk about a pain in the ass, literally,” Jeffries replied.


“Well, I wouldn’t bring it up at all, except I could have sworn your yearly physical was last month. Is something going on?”


Jeffries stopped in the middle of the sidewalk. “Nobody else knows, but I have to go in for more tests. The doctor found something on my chest x-ray; it’s probably nothing, but at my age they like to be cautious. I
say I’m already old; why waste the time I have left?” They started walking again. “I don’t want anyone else to worry, so don’t say anything.”


“Have it your way,” said Vera.


“Nick, I’m serious. I don’t want anyone to know until I know what I’m facing,” insisted Jeffries.


“Will, they’re asking about you at work. I don’t know how much longer I can keep covering for you; especially if you don’t show up,” Vera added.


“I’ll be in tomorrow, but Nick, I need you to keep silent about this for now. As far as I’m concerned I’m still strong enough to work, but if John finds out he’ll force me to retire and I can’t yet. I still have loose ends to tie up,” Will insisted.


Vera could only shake his head and sighed. “I always said they would have to bury you under your desk.”


“I appreciate what you’re doing for me, Vera. You’re a good friend,” said Will.


“Then as your friend I’m telling you to retire. There’s enough ways for a cop to get killed without him doing it to himself,” insisted Vera.


“I’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about me,” Will replied. Nick, realizing there was nothing he could do, turned and left Will to his jazz record.

[valrush]

1

The following story is fictional and

does not depict any actual person or event.

 

Jill Sobule: “Supermodel”


 

October 12, 1996

 

An Afro-American girl of 13 years, Julie Garret stood about 5 ft. 2 in.. Her mother Maurine, who was standing behind her, stood nearly five inches taller. Both were dressed in blue-sequined gowns with matching heels as the white light of the spotlights above reflected off of them.


At that moment they were sharing a stage with four similar pairings: one pair in red, another in black, a pair in white, and a pair in pink. Julie and her mother were second from the left side of the stage. She didn’t recognize the young girl to her left, but she flashed a hopeful smile at the girl to her right who she knew from her neighborhood.


A woman seated in the center of three judges at a small, metal table in front of the stage stood up. “Ladies, the judges have finished adding up the scores and we have a winner. But first let me say that there are no losers on this stage today. All five mothers and daughters have performed admirably to make it this far; I wish I had a crown for all of you. However, we only have one set of crowns to give out, and the judges have decided that, after what was obviously a very bold and from the heart speech, the winners of the 35th annual Miss Philly Queen and Princess pageant are… Maurine Garret and her daughter Julie!” The small crowd that filled the hall cheered as the woman placed two silver tiaras on their heads and the other two judges presented mother and daughter with gold “WINNER!” sashes.

 

Cold Case Soundtrack: “The Window”


Julie Garret did not feel so triumphant, however, when she was fighting for breath against the hands around her throat later that night. She didn’t even live long enough to see the shovel load of dirt that would cover her head.

[valrush]

Will Jeffries parked his faded black car on the street next to the house with the back yard currently being sectioned off by yellow crime scene tape. Nick Vera, John Stillman, Scotty Valens, and Lilly Rush were already present and examining a large hole in the ground. Vera was the first to approach him. “Will, you’re actually here.”


“The call came in over my police scanner earlier. I had to see it for myself,” insisted Will. “Boss, what do we have?”


“What we have is Janet and Kevin Johnson’s youngest moving to Penn State earlier this fall. With the kids gone the couple decided they didn’t have much use for a pool anymore, so they decided to downsize and have it removed. One of the workers was digging and spotted a piece of blue cloth; that lead to the discovery of the body of a young girl. He’s off giving a statement to one of the uniformed officers now,” John explained.


“She definitely looks young. I’m assuming there’s no ID,” added Lilly.


“The medical examiner estimates that she was somewhere between twelve and fourteen years old when she died. Kat Miller is running the database at the office for missing children reports that fit this description to double check, but when I heard the phrase ‘silver tiara’ I pretty much knew who it was,” explained John. “Do any of you remember Julie Garret?”


“Missing girl from 1996,” Jeffries informed.


“If it’s her, she’s not missing anymore,” insisted Scotty as he dropped to his knees for a closer look. “Ligature marks on the neck; someone choked her. Scratches on the left side of her face and the left sleeve of her dress is partially torn,” Scotty explained.


Lilly dropped to her knees and examined the right hand of the body. “I think I see traces of blood here under the nails.”


“Sounds like defensive wounds to me; our girl put up a fight,” said Vera.


“Wait a minute. Something is buried under the burial,” added Lilly. She slowly lifted the right side upward and came back up with a piece of paper.


“Someone sent Julie a letter?” asked Scotty.


“I don’t know. There’s some kind of partial design on the upper left corner. It looks more like something you would see on a company letterhead,” Lilly explained.


“What is that, an E turned on its side?” asked John.


“I’m not sure. The rest of the ink is too faded; I can’t even read the address,” Lilly replied.


“Bag it and send it down to Questioned Documents. Maybe they can do something with it,” added Vera. Then he scanned the body one more time before arriving at her feet. “Here’s a better question; her feet are all torn up. Where the hell are her shoes? I don’t know too many girls that get all dressed up just to walk around barefoot.”


“They’ve been searching the area for them, but nothing has turned up yet. Well, I don’t think there’s anything more for us here,” insisted John. “Let’s load her up and get her to the morgue. We need the family to identify the body.”


Will stared down into the makeshift grave at the body as John walked off to make his call. “What are you thinking?” asked Vera.


“The mass on my lung is not going away. I’ve been thinking about what you said, and I’ve been looking for a sign to tell me that it’s time to hang up my badge,” said Will. “I guess she’s it.”


“So you’re saying Julie Garret is—“


“The loose end.”

[valrush]

2

At the station the crew huddled around detective Kat Miler who was seated at her desk staring at a file. “Julie Garret, daughter of Maurine and Willis Garret. According to this file Maurine and her daughter had just won the Miss Philly Queen and Princess Pageant. Mom told police in 1996 that Julie went out after the pageant with ‘a friend’ to celebrate her win, but she reported her missing the next day when she didn’t come home.”


“No name for this friend?” asked Lilly.


“No, nothing much else to go on here… except the address. Where did you say the body was found?”


“318 N 10th St. in the Ludlow district,” added John.


“That’s what I thought. According to these records Julie’s family lived at 315 N 10th St. in Ludlow back in 1996,” insisted Miller.


“It also says a city-wide APB was issued for Julie. To think she was practically in her own back yard the whole time,” insisted Lilly.


“I interviewed a few neighbors back then; it amounted to a whole lot of nobody seeing nothing. Obviously somebody lied to me,” insisted Will.


“Here’s a really stupid question; what about the family that lives in that house now?” asked Scotty.


“Irrelevant. Property tax records indicate that the Johnsons didn’t move into that house until 1998,” informed John. That’s when the phone in John’s pocket went off. He answered,”Stillman. … Yeah, I’ll let him know. Will, you wanted to know when Maurine and Willis Garret arrived. That was the morgue; they’re here.”


“Right, time to face the firing squad,” said Will.


“Hey Will, I’ll back you up,” added Vera.

[valrush]

The city morgue was a cold, sterile, white building two blocks down from the police station. “Vera, you really don’t have to follow me. I’m still capable of walking two blocks,” insisted Will.


“Will, I get it; missing kid cases are a b*tch. But what I don’t get is why you think this case is worth killing yourself over,” said Vera.


“We potentially kill ourselves every time we put on a badge. How is this any different?” asked Will.


“The difference is that last week you basically told me that you were living on borrowed time. We don’t see you at the station for days, and yet this case brings you out of hiding. So, out of all the missing kid cases in this city, what is so special about Julie Garret?”


Jeffries was about to open the solid metal door. “Nick, have you ever heard the phrase timing is everything?”


“So, we’re here because of bad timing?” asked Vera.


“Julie Garret was the daughter of a construction worker and a waitress; a working class black family from Ludlow, North Philly. When she went missing local media ran the story for about a day and then just dropped it when we didn’t have any new leads. I can’t count how many times her mother called me looking for updates, and I just had to keep telling her that we didn’t have anything. Then two months later a rich little white beauty queen by the name of JonBenét Ramsey becomes national news. After that, she just stopped calling; figured nobody cared about poor trash from Ludlow,” Jeffries explained.


“But they never figured out what happened to JonBenét either. Even when that one guy confessed DNA ended up clearing him,” replied Vera.


“If you were to pick a bunch of people at random, how many of them do you think would remember Julie Garret? How many of them do you think would remember JonBenét Ramsey?” asked Jeffries. Vera had no response; his blank stare seemed to say it all. “So, in answer to your question there was nothing special about Julie Garret, and that is why I have to see this through.” Then he opened the door and stepped through.


Inside, Vera and Jeffries saw Maurine and Willis Garret standing before a window while an attendant lifted a white sheet off of a body. Maurine had aged some since Jeffries had seen her last. Her hair was much shorter now than it had been, and her face showed distinct frown lines caused by years of worry. Willis had lost his hair since then and he wore thick glasses now. “Yeah, that’s Julie; I’d recognize that blue dress anywhere. I bought it for her,” Maurine said in somber tones.


“She was found like this. Do you know what happened to her shoes? That’s really bugging me,” asked Vera.


Maurine shook her head and sighed. “No, I’m sorry. I don’t. I remember they were these blue wedge heels, but if they’re not here I can’t tell you anymore than that.”


“Mrs. Garret—“


“It’s Miss Lucas again! I dropped all things that belonged to him twelve years ago!” insisted Maurine.


“Everything but my house and one third of my paycheck every week!” Willis shot back.


“Okay, let’s not go down this road!” Jeffries intervened. “Do either of you know anyone who may have wanted to hurt your daughter?”


“So this is the game; you find a body and suddenly you care? Do you ever think maybe if you had asked a few more questions Julie might still be alive?” Maurine shouted.


“Maurine, don’t even try to blame this on them! This is all you!” replied Willis.


“Willis, don’t!” said Maurine.


“No, let’s tell them the truth! Let’s tell them about how I warned you how bad things happen to kid performers every day; especially when you make them up the way she did!” Willis responded.


“She looked nice!”


“She looked like a call girl!” replied Willis.


“I take it that you didn’t want her in the pageant,” added Vera.


“You’re damn right I didn’t want her in the pageant! Hell, I didn’t even know if Julie wanted it half the time with the way those two argued!” informed Willis.


“Did you two argue a lot?” asked Jeffries.


“He makes it sound a lot worse than it was; I prefer the term ‘creative differences’…”

[valrush]

Los Del Rio: “Macarena”




“You know how all beauty pageants have a talent contest? That was what our last disagreement was about. We were in Julie’s bedroom trying to rehearse dance steps and I was correcting Julie’s timing. ‘No Julie, it’s right hand out palm down, left hand out palm down, right palm up, and then left palm up! All of our movements have to be in synch for this to work!’


“’Okay, I get it!’ Julie insisted.


“’Julie, this isn’t a dance I grew up with! If anything, you should be teaching me!’ I told her. Julie took a step back from me, walked over to the window, and sat down on her light orange bed. ‘Yesterday, you had this down. What’s really going on, Julie?’


“’I don’t know. ‘The Macarena’? Don’t you think that’s a little lame?’ she asked.


“’What’s lame about it?’ I responded.


“’It’s hardly original; everybody at school knows it,’ Julie explained.


“’That’s why we’re doing it; everybody knows it including the judges. If we go up there doing something that nobody recognizes, they’ll laugh us out of the contest,’ I told her. That’s when I noticed the brightness of the sun through Julie’s window. “Julie, why are these curtains open?’


“’Because it’s the middle of the day,’ she said.


“’Rosa’s window looks directly into yours; she could have been spying on us this whole time!’ I informed.


“’Rosa and I are friends! She wouldn’t do that!’ Julie said.


“’Really, look for yourself!’ I said.


“Julie looked out the window and saw Rosa also doing ‘The Macarena’. ‘That doesn’t prove she’s rehearsing; her mother isn’t even with her!’


“’Girl, do you want a repeat of what happened last year?’ I asked as I closed the curtains. Julie just shook her head. ‘Then we’re not taking any chances, and we’re coming up with a plan B!”

[valrush]

“Who was Rosa?” asked Vera.


“Rosa Betista, a girl who lived across the street from us. I should have known; ‘The Macarena’ was a Spanish song. Of course Rosa was going to do it,” said Maurine.


“What happened between Julie and Rosa the previous year?” asked Jeffries.


“That actually didn’t have anything to do with Rosa. That was another girl, Kelly Pressman, who sang the exact same song that Julie was planning to sing. We had no backup plan and it completely killed Julie’s chances that year,” Maurine explained.


“Thank you for your time,” said Vera as the pair left the building. “If Julie thought she might be upstaged again, that might have lead to something ugly.”


“Plus Rosa’s house was next door to where the body was found. Let’s call the station and see if they can find her,” added Jeffries.

[valrush]

Rosa Betista was wearing a red leotard as she walked across the gym floor of the Water Tower Recreation Center of Philadelphia. She was surrounded by children attempting to perform handstands and cartwheels on blue floor mats. Lilly and Scotty stepped from the hall into the class. “Rosa Betista,” said Scotty.


Rosa turned around to face them. She looked like she had grown a full eight inches since her pageant days. “The adult classes don’t start until 7:00 P.M.”


“We’re not here for class. Philadelphia Police, we’re here to ask you some questions about Julie Garret,” said Lilly with badge in hand.

Rosa blew the whistle around her neck before calling out, “Everyone takes a break until I get back!” She followed the detectives out into the hall. “Are you really here about Julie? That life seems like forever ago.”


“Well, it’s about to become more current for you; we found Julie’s body this morning,” Scotty informed.


Rosa stepped backward. “So, Julie’s dead.”


“You don’t exactly sound surprised,” said Lilly.


“It’s been fifteen years. After awhile you just face reality,” Rosa explained.


“Rosa, Julie was buried right next door to where you used to live,” Lilly informed.


“I don’t know what you are suggesting, but Julie and I were friends. I would never have hurt her,” insisted Rosa.


“Not intentionally maybe, but we know you were planning to do the Macarena for that pageant just like Julie. We also know Julie was upstaged the previous year by someone who ended up doing the exact same song that she was planning to sing. So maybe Julie comes to your house, a fight breaks out that gets out of hand, and next thing you know your hands are around her neck,” Lilly explained.


“You have that all wrong lady. Julie was the singer; I relied on a very different talent,” insisted Rosa/


“Gymnastics?” asked Scotty. Rosa jumped upward and did a series of back flips up and down the hall. “Impressive, but we’re still going to need a DNA sample in order to rule you out.”


“Take all the DNA you want; you’re wasting your time on me. You should be looking at the b*tch who stole her song, because you got one thing right in your story. Julie had good reason to be paranoid,” Rosa explained.


“You mean about Kelly Pressman. We’re trying to track her down too,” insisted Lilly.


“What exactly happened between them?” asked Scotty.


“Believe me, it was no coincidence that Kelly ended up doing Julie’s song that night. I’m sure you know what sports dads are,” Rosa informed.


“You mean parents who start fights with umpires at their kids’ baseball games,” Scotty replied.


Rosa added, “Just trust me when I tell you this; pageant moms are not exactly tame…”

[valrush]

Des’Ree: “You Gotta Be”





“We were both in the ladies’ room of the building where the pageant was held. We were standing in front of a mirror surrounded by a pink tile wall putting the last touches on our hair. I remember I was wearing a red dress, and Julie was wearing yellow and singing ‘You Gotta Be’ by Des’Ree.


“Julie got up to the line ‘Try to solve the puzzles in your own sweet time—“ when we heard a flushing toilet behind us as a woman in a light green dress opened the stall door. ‘Oh, hello Mrs. Pressman.’


“’Good evening, Julie. Was that you singing? You’re not bad; we might have some competition this year,’ she replied.


“’Thank you, Mrs. Pressman,’ said Julie.


“That’s when the main door opened and Kelly, in a matching green dress, stuck her head in. ‘Mom, the evening gown competition starts in five minutes. Are you ready yet?’ she asked.


“Mrs. Pressman glided over to her daughter whispering, ‘I’m more than ready, honey. The other shoe just dropped. I just figured out what your talent should be.’ Then they both left leaving Julie with a puzzled expression.”

[valrush]

“Then, as luck would have it, Kelly went first that night and did Julie’s song. When it was Julie’s turn to perform she froze because she had nothing ultimately knocking her out of the pageant,” Rosa explained.


“So, Kelly’s mother was spying on Julie,” said Lilly.


“That’s kind of an odd phrase, ‘the other shoe’. I don’t suppose you know what that meant,” added Scotty.


Rosa let out a sigh. “I can’t speak to the truth or falseness of this, but rumor has it Kelly’s mom bribed a judge to get them into the finals that year. You see, they won the title in 1994 and everyone knew they were desperate to defend it after that.”


“Did they succeed?” asked Lilly.


“No honey, I won that year. I guess all the bribes in the world couldn’t hide the fact that Kelly had a voice like a bag of sick kittens,” insisted Rosa.


“It’s a good story, but we still need that DNA sample,” said Scotty.


“I understand,” Rosa replied. “Detective, you said the body was found next door to my old house. Did you mean 314 or 318 N 10th St.?”


“What’s it to you?” asked Lilly.


“Well, if it was 318, that was Kelly’s old house,” added Rosa.

[valrush]

“You’re telling me that all that time three pageant rivals lived within walking distance of each other,” said Jeffries to Rush and Valens when they returned to the station. “How the hell did I miss that in 1996? I should have seen it.”


Stillman spoke up. “Will, you didn’t know she was dead back then. You treated her as a runaway; you made the best decision you could with the information you had—“


“I should have seen it, John!” yelled Will. He slammed a fist on his desk and stormed off.


“Seriously, what the hell is up Will’s ass lately? I haven’t seen him this broken up over a case since that triple shooting at that restaurant seven years ago,” asked Scotty.


“I don’t know, Scotty, but this won’t make him any happier. The DNA results from the blood under Julie’s nails came back from the lab too. It didn’t match Rosa; it matched Julie,” John informed.


“The blood was hers. How does that happen?” asked Lilly.


“It’s hard to say what someone will do when an adrenaline rush kicks in. Maybe she thought she was clawing her attacker and got herself by mistake. In any case, DNA won’t help us here,” insisted Stillman.


“No, but this might,” insisted Vera as he dropped a series of papers on the desk. “Miller and I have been digging into Rosa’s story. According to those tax records you mentioned earlier in 1996 318 N 10th St. in Ludlow, Philadelphia belonged to Carolyn and Francis Pressman.”


“Rosa was telling us the truth,” said Lilly.


“When that part of the story checked out I did a little more digging,” Vera replied as he shuffled the papers. “These are bank records for Carolyn Pressman. According to these statements Carolyn wrote a check out to a Ben Glassman for $300 on October 7, 1995,” said Vera.


“And that name means something?” asked John.


“According to the Miss Philly Queen and Princess website October 7 was a week before the pageant that year,” insisted Miller.


“This thing has a website?” asked John.


“Boss, everything has a website nowadays, and lucky for us this website had archives with lists of past competitors, winners, and judges. Guess whose name came up on the judging panel in the mid 1990s. Ben Glassman,” informed Miller.


“There’s your bribe,” said Lilly.


“But there’s one more thing. On October 5, 1996 Carolyn writes another check to Mr. Glassman only this time it’s for $500,” explained Vera.


“Inflation,” said Lilly.


“She really wanted that crown. Maybe Mr. Glassman knows just how badly,” said John.

[valrush]

3


Ben Glassman was working with a customer at the GAP Outlet on Chestnut St. when Will Jeffries and Kat Miller approached him. “Ben Glassman!” Jeffries shouted.


“I’ll be with you in a minute, sir,” said Ben.


Will reached into his coat for his badge. “You’ll be with us now. Detectives Jeffries and Miller, Philly PD, we have some questions for you.”


“What the hell? My psycho boss called the cops! For Pete’s sake, it was a couple of sweaters for my grandchildren and I said he could take it out of my check next week! Where’s the shoplifting here?”


“Actually, we don’t know anything about that. We’re homicide, and we would like to ask you about Julie Garret,” insisted Miller.


“Julie Garret, I think I remember her from my younger days; she won the last beauty pageant I ever judged. I heard she went missing after that though,” said Ben.


“She’s not missing anymore. We found her body a few days ago,” Miller informed.


“Ben, do you remember Carolyn Pressman?” asked Jeffries.


“I think she was one of the mothers who participated in the pageant. Blonde lady, right?” asked Ben.


Will pulled a folded paper from his coat. “These are copies of cancelled checks signed by one Carolyn Pressman and made out to you. So I’ll ask again; what was your relationship with Carolyn Pressman?”


Ben threw his hands up in the air. “Okay, she tried to buy my vote in the pageant. But is it really a bribe if you don’t do what the other person wants?” asked Ben.


“Is that why she upped the offer a year later?” asked Miller.


“Only this time, maybe she’s a little angry, and really wants her money’s worth!” demanded Will.


“I don’t get your meaning, detective,” said Ben.


“Have you ever heard of Tonya Harding?” asked Will.


“You think I attacked that girl! I voted for that girl in 1996; she gave a very passionate interview speech that year! I swear, I didn’t even keep the money she gave me! That first check, I gave it to a homeless shelter that I volunteer at a few times a month!” Ben responded.


“What did you do with the second check?” asked Will.


“I cashed it, but I swear I didn’t spend it. I intended it more as a ceremonial thing,” insisted Ben.


“Ceremonial how?” asked Miller.


“I went to Carolyn’s house a few nights before the pageant to tell her off. In fact, I think I saw Julie that night…”

[valrush]

The BoDeans: “Closer To Free”


 

“I pulled up to the Pressman house in my red Toyota. I didn’t know what to make of the house at first when I saw that a good section of the back yard had been torn up, but I walked up the porch steps and rang the bell. I could hear Carolyn’s voice through the door before she opened it. ‘Kelly, would you turn that down? We have someone at the door!’


“’Okay!’


“’Did I interrupt something here?’ I asked. I remember that Carolyn was wearing a white robe as if she was about to go to sleep for the night.


“’Just ‘90210’ and ‘Party Of Five’; my daughter’s must see TV night. Is there a reason for this visit?’ she asked.


“I took five $100 bills out of my left pants pocket and fanned them out in front of her. ‘I guess, speaking of five, I have five reasons for being here. One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Take your damn money back lady! Put it towards that grave or whatever the hell you’re digging back there!’


“’We’re putting in a pool,’ said Carolyn.


“’Get this through your thick skull; this bribery crap doesn’t work on me! I didn’t even vote for you two last year; I voted for that Mexican girl Rosa and her mother! Seriously, if you’re going to try this on another judge, you might want to pick a talent for your daughter that she can actually do! She certainly can’t sing! Do you know how it would have looked if I had voted for you two after that crappy song she did last year? Forget it! I’m not for sale!’ I threw the money on the ground and turned to my car. I must have really laid into her because she didn’t even move to pick it up.


“Anyway, as I was approaching my car, I saw Julie coming out of a neighbor’s house with some boy. ‘I just don’t know what to do, Brent. All these rumors about your mom, and now this thing with Rosa,’ she said pointing at the house, ‘I don’t even know if I want to do this stupid pageant now.’”


“’Then get out,’ Brent told her. ‘Seriously, if it’s a stupid pageant, why do it? You’re thirteen, you can make some choices for yourself, and as far as I’m concerned, not being paraded around on stage like a trained seal is the right choice. I wish my sister would take that advice. Speaking of which, I should get home. I have a big French test tomorrow.’”


“I turned the key and started to drive off, but not before I saw that Brent kid turn and walk into Carolyn’s house.”

[valrush]

“And that, detectives, was the extent of my interaction with Julie Garret,” insisted Ben.


“Kelly had a brother,” said Jeffries.


“An older brother by the looks of it. That part always looked off to me; that kid had to be at least four years older than Julie. Last I checked, teenage boys don’t usually date backwards,” Ben explained.


“Thank you for your time, Mr. Glassman,” said Miller as they left the store. “Obviously Julie did that pageant.”


“And it sounds like this Brent had a real axe to grind with pageant girls,” added Will.


“It was his back yard. Let’s go find him,” insisted Miller.

[valrush]

Carolyn Pressman no longer lived in Philadelphia, but rather she had an apartment outside of the city. She was heavier now and her hair was a bright white. “My children should be here soon. They check in on me a few times a week.”


“That’s pretty convenient, for all of us. But I guess right now I’ll start with you,” said Will seated next to Kat on the white couch. The entire living room was white with the exception of a blue throw rug under an oak coffee table in the center. “Mrs. Pressman, we’ve been talking to some people associated with the pageant. We have reason to believe you engaged in some questionable activity with one of the judges.”


“The bribes, Mrs. Pressman,” added Kat.


“So, you’ve been talking to Ben Glassman. Look, It’s not like those bribes actually worked; he certainly let me know that they wouldn’t,” Carolyn informed.


“We’ve heard, but after all that work trying to guarantee a win only to have it fall through you must have been angry. Maybe you went looking for revenge,” said Jeffries.


“Do I need a lawyer? I didn’t touch that girl,” insisted Carolyn.


“So then it’s just a coincidence that her body turned up under a pool that was part of what was once your back yard,” added Jeffries.


The knob on the apartment door started to turn. “We’re back with your grocery order,” said a male voice as a pair of individuals entered the apartment with a series of Target bags in their hands.


“Brent and Kelly Pressman?” asked Will.


The pair dropped the bags on the floor at the sound of the strange voice. “Yes, who the hell are you?” asked Brent.


“Detectives Jeffries and Miller. We’re here to ask some questions about Julie Garret,” said Jeffries.


“Julie Garret, there’s a name I haven’t heard in awhile. I’m a second grade teacher now; those pageants seem like a lifetime ago,” said Kelly.


“Good riddance I say,” added Brent.


“Brent, it’s been fifteen years. Please don’t start ranting and raving about this again,” insisted Kelly.


“Actually, I would appreciate honesty from everyone here,” said Jeffries.


“Perfect, I’ll be honest. I don’t understand the point of beauty pageants; especially the ones that feature underage girls made to look like strippers,” informed Brent.


“I think that’s a little exaggerated!” Kelly replied.


“I think it’s completely accurate!” Brent responded.


“You sound a little bitter, Brent,” insisted Jeffries.


“Well, it’s the hypocrisy that gets to me! Parents make their daughters up to look like they’re 25, they get rewarded for it, and then people are actually shocked when something bad happens to one of them! That’s why I wanted to go away to school so badly, so I could move out and not have to hear about that stupid pageant anymore!” Brent explained.


"It does seem like a lot of craziness for a little silver crown," said Jeffries.


"It's more than just the crown, detective. It's $1,000," Kelly added.


"$1,000?" asked Jeffries.


"Well, a $1,000 college savings bond, but still, there's some money involved," Kelly explained.


“Where did you go to school?” asked Miller.


“I applied at Texas A&M but I didn’t make it. So I ended up getting my engineering degree from one of the state schools, Shippensburg University. Either way, I got to move away from the princesses,” Brent informed.


“Sounds like you wanted nothing to do with those girls. That’s interesting because we have a witness who says they saw Julie with you at a neighbor’s house a few nights before she disappeared,” explained Jeffries.


“Brent, they claim Julie’s body was buried under our old swimming pool,” Carolyn informed.


Brent shook his head. “Seriously! Well, I know how this is going to sound, but it wasn’t me. It could have been anyone in the neighborhood. Everybody in a one block radius knew we were getting a pool.”


“Who puts in a swimming pool in the middle of fall?” asked Miller.


“Nobody, that’s why we did it. We got the work done for half price,” Carolyn explained.


“Fair point, but it doesn’t exactly explain why you were seen at a neighbor’s house with Julie Garret and telling her she should quit the pageant,” explained Jeffries.


Brent threw his hands in the air. “Yeah, I met Julie a few times. We had someone in common; her friend Rosa Betista.”


“You had someone in common with a thirteen-year-old girl,” added Miller.


Brent shook his head. “No offense detective, but get real. I was four years older than Rosa. No, my motive was a little different; her mother was paying me for tutoring.”


“Tutoring?” asked Jeffries.


“Yeah, believe it or not, this pageant actually has academic requirements. The daughters are required to maintain a ‘stellar’ C average in order to be eligible, and at the time Princess Rosa was failing Chemistry. That’s where I entered the scene,” Brent explained. “Ironic really, since she was so good at applying Chemistry to her everyday life.”


Will’s head turned. “You’re saying Rosa was using drugs?”


“Well, nothing illegal, but it was nonetheless dangerous. Detectives, have either of you ever heard of Fen Phen?” asked Brent.


“The weight-loss drug?” Will replied.


“The potentially lethal weight-loss drug,” added Brent. “Rosa was taking it, and Julie found out…”

[valrush]

TLC: “Unpretty”


 

“I walked into the front door of Rosa’s house; a light-blue carpet lined the steps up to the main floor. As I climbed up the steps I called out, ‘Rosa, it’s Brent! You better have your book with you today!’


“Rosa’s room was the second door on the left as you came up the steps. I heard voices coming from that room; it sounded like two girls arguing. AS I slowly approached the door I could hear more clearly. ‘Leave me alone!’


“’Rosa, I thought we were friends; I’m just trying to help you! You’re putting yourself in real danger!’ Julie yelled.


“’You’re not trying to help me; you’re trying to scare me out of the pageant! Now get out of my way and let me do this!’ Rosa yelled. From where I stood I only had a partial view. but I could clearly see Rosa shove something out of the way, open a dresser drawer, and pull an orange pill bottle from it.


“At this point Julie came into view. I watched her get up in Rosa’s face. ’Oh, come on, I thought you knew me better than that! You think I’d lie about something this serious just to win a stupid pageant! It’s all over the news; that Fen Phen stuff has been known to kill people!’ Julie replied. ‘Does your mother know about those pills?’


“’Who do you think gave them to me? It’s her name on the prescription genius!’ Rosa replied as she took a step back. ‘Gees Julie, I never thought you would resort to these pathetic scare tactics. Nice try, but I feel perfectly fine, and I intend to win again this year. So if I were you, I’d back off!’.”

[valrush]

“Did you ever tell anyone about what you saw?” asked Jeffries.


“Who could I have gone to? If Rosa’s mother was really giving her the pills, that wouldn’t have done any good. And I couldn’t exactly go to the cops; Fen Phen was legal at the time. Anyway, Julie started to storm out after that, but not before she saw me. We talked a few times after that, and for awhile I really thought she would quit the pageant,” insisted Brent.


“But instead I guess she thought she could bring it all down with that big speech of hers,” said Kelly.


“Speech?” asked Jeffries.


“Beauty pageants have a section where judges interview the contestants. Julie was asked what being the next Philly Princess meant to her, and she goes into this rant about not winning at all costs and girls using dangerous drugs to get an edge in the contest. The speech was largely credited with winning her the pageant,” Kelly explained. “Back then it made no sense to me, but now hearing this information… it kind of changes things.”


Jeffries turned to Miller. “So Julie wins a crown off of a speech that basically outed Rosa as a drug user. That had to sting a little.”

[valrush]

4

Back at the station, Jeffries and Miller were about to enter one of the holding rooms. “Will, you know they give cops partners for a reason.”


“What are you talking about?” asked Jeffries.


“I’m talking about how you completely dominated the interview with the Pressmans,” said Miller.


“I didn’t exactly hear you chiming in,” Will said shortly. “We have Rosa in the box. Are we doing this or what?”


The pair entered the gray holding room and Will threw down a file in front of Rosa. “Have you ever sued anyone before?” asked Will.


“What?” asked Rosa.


“We’ve been talking to your friends the Pressmans, and after that we did a little research on you,” Will added as he opened the file. “These are your bank records; they indicate that you have been receiving structured monthly deposits from a trust since early 2001. This trust was set up by a company called Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to compensate people who experienced the highly dangerous side effects of a weight loss drug called Fen Phen. But I’m thinking you already knew that.”


Rosa shook her head. “Yes, in October, 2000 I lost my mother due to complications from primary pulmonary hypertension, a side effect of Fen Phen use. But I don’t see what that has to do with Julie.”


“Rosa, drop the act! Brent Pressman told us everything! He told us how he tutored you in Chemistry, he told us how you used your mother’s pills, and he told us how you threatened Julie when she found out!” Will shouted.


Rosa threw her hands up in the air. “I was angry; I thought she was just trying to scare me. My mother took those pills for years with no problems. She didn’t receive the diagnosis of PPH until 1999. Maybe I should have listened to Julie after all.”


“But back then you didn’t believe her! She tried to warn you; that failed! So then she kicked it up a notch and made a speech at the pageant exposing your little habit to an audience!” Will replied. “Is that why you did it, payback for embarrassing you?”


“I don’t understand; I thought DNA cleared me!” Rosa insisted.


“Actually, the blood sample we found was a match for Julie; it’s looking like she clawed herself by accident during the attack! But I’m guessing you already knew that!” insisted Will.


“I didn’t kill Julie! I left after that pageant was over; I wasn’t really in the mood to see Julie again after that point!” insisted Rosa.


Will slammed the table in front of Rosa into the wall scattering the papers across the floor. “STOP WASTING OUR TIME!”


“Will, what are you doing?” asked Miller.


But Will didn’t hear her. “You were in the perfect mood; you wanted revenge! You had motive, means, and opportunity because you knew that the Pressmans were putting in a pool next door and all you had to do was dig that hole a little deeper to bury your handiwork forever!”


“I didn’t kill Julie!”


“NO MORE LIES! YOU KILLED HER! JUST CONFESS! YOU KILLED HER! WE KNOW IT WAS YOU! CONFESS! ...”


The door flew open and soon Will found himself being dragged out by Vera and Valens. He thrashed and threw a few elbows along the way, but they extracted him from the room all the same. “What the hell was that?” asked Scotty.


“Doing my job!” Will responded.


“That’s doing your job! What the hell is up your ass lately? You don’t show up for days at a time, then you do show up and spend all your time snapping at everyone, and now this meltdown in the interview room! We’ll be lucky to get anything out of her now!” yelled Scotty. All eyes were on the scene now.


“Like you’ve never had to go hard on a suspect before! What about that Russian convenience store clerk from your first year, Scotty? Or you Vera, let me ask you something, does the name Joe Don Billingsley still ring any bells?” Will shouted.


“Hey Will, I’ve been on your side this whole time! I’m about the only one here who doesn’t want to kick your ass right now! If you want to keep it that way, shut up!” Vera spat back.


“So you want to fight me? Go ahead, because I’ve got a royal newsflash for you! I’m the only one trying to—“


John slammed his hand into one of the metal desks. “That’s enough!” A hush fell over the office. “Rush, get in there with Miller and see if you can salvage this interview. Nick, Scotty, back to your desks. Will, my office.”


Everyone scattered. Scotty returned to his desk. “Jackass,” he muttered under his breath.


Vera approached Scotty’s desk. “You know, you might want to ease up on Will.”


Scotty shook his head. “Sorry Vera, but I’m all out of sympathy for that psycho.”


“Look, I don’t blame you, but I’ve been talking to Will recently. He swore me to secrecy, but I think you need to know. Will is thinking about leaving…”

[valrush]

Lilly entered the interview room where Kat was attempting to reassemble the scattered papers. Rosa stood statue-like in the middle of the room. “I’d like to revisit the concept of suing someone please!”


Lilly picked a chair up off the floor and took a seat. “I can assure you that detective is being read the riot act as we speak. I don’t know what’s gotten into him, but he’s really taking this case personally.”


“Well, I’m not confessing just to make his life easier. I didn’t kill Julie; I’m telling you it was that b*tch Kelly Pressman,” insisted Rosa.


“But we talked to that b*tch Kelly Pressman and she put it all on you,” explained Miller.


“I’m not surprised, you can’t trust a word she says,” Rosa replied.


“Tell us about the speech Julie made; the one that Kelly says exposed your drug use to the world,” said Rush.


“That’s exactly what I am talking about; that girl doesn’t tell the whole story. For starters, she didn’t technically expose me; Julie had enough sense not to use names. Secondly, I am not the only one Julie took a piece out of that night…”

[valrush]

Mariah Carey: “Hero”


 

“I remember how all of the girls were lined up on stage. One of the judges called Julie’s name and she stepped forward. ‘Julie Garret, your question is this. What does the title of Miss Philly Princess mean to you, a young lady of the 1990s?’


“For a moment Julie didn’t say anything; I thought we were about to have a repeat of the previous year. But then she finally moved her lips. ‘That’s an interesting question, and one I’ve actually given a lot of thought to recently. I could just tell you that it would mean the world to me if I was named the next Miss Philly Princess, but the truth is I’m not really sure if this pageant means that much to me anymore. I started doing this because I just thought it would be fun for my mom and me to play dress-up for one night a year, and I once thought that I'd do anything to wear that sparkly silver crown. But I’ve come to realize what the word ‘anything’ truly entails. Over the few short years that I’ve been doing this I’ve heard rumors of money changing hands between contestants and judges, I’ve been a victim of espionage, and most recently I have witnessed a fellow contestant taking a potentially lethal weight-loss drug just because she thought it would make her more beautiful and give her an edge in the contest.’ The audience was stone silent; I don’t think they blinked for the entire length of this thing. ‘I won’t tell you who; I’m not doing this to get anyone in trouble. I’m doing this to get people’s attention, and to let everyone know what really goes on behind the scenes. Furthermore, as much as I like dressing up like this, if things do not change this will be my last pageant.’


“A slow clap started to develop from the stunned audience as Julie went back to her place beside Kelly. That’s when I heard Kelly whisper in Julie’s ear, ‘If I was you, I’d watch your back when this is over.’.”