“Don’t beat yourself up, Matt.”
“I’m not—I’m just angry that Hart got away with this for so long.”
Me, too.
Alex looked at Jim through the window. On the surface, he looked like a nice guy. A handsome guy. A good cop. She’d been deceived. So had many other people. But she’d been the one who’d lived with him. Cared about him. Slept with him.
It would be a long time before she would find peace with that time in her life.
Jim continued.
“Eighteen month ago, Hart killed Mariska Tshvich while having sex. He contacted Mariska’s manager, who called me. Just one more in a long line of dead and damaged whores by the hand of Travis Hart. But what happened to Mariska ... it was a sign to watch him closely. I knew his days were numbered.”
Jim didn’t say anything for a long minute, and Dean prompted him. “Mariska Tshvich was the murder victim found in the river, correct?”
“Yes,” Jim said. “I suspect that as Hart grew increasingly violent, he started using prostitutes who were less likely to report. When Mariska’s manager contacted me, I went to the scene. Hart had already left. She was dead. Strangled. However, he’d left behind his condom in the motel trash can. Idiot,” Jim added with a sneer. Then he put on his game face again, all professional and smooth. “I preserved it as evidence—it has both Mariska’s DNA and Hart’s DNA on it.”
“Where is this evidence?”
“I have a safe deposit box with everything on Hart. It was the best way to keep him under our thumb. He was well aware that we had incriminating evidence on him, but he didn’t know specifically what.”
“And did you dump her body in the Sacramento River?”
“No. I collected the evidence and her manager took care of the body, cleaned up the motel room, paid off the staff, took care of the situation.”
Jim drank more water, but he didn’t appear to be at all remorseful or nervous. “He’s a sociopath,” Alex said, then realized she’d spoken out loud.
“I’ve faced men like him before,” Matt said, “but not with his level of ... I don’t know. Professionalism? Arrogance?”
It made Alex sick. Matt rubbed her shoulders. “Alex,” he whispered. He didn’t have to say anything else. Just having him here, with her, while they listened to Jim Perry’s interview, calmed her. Comforted her. Matt was solid. Her rock when she needed someone to lean on.
Dean prompted Jim. “And the other victims?”
“As it is with sexual predators, Hart couldn’t stop his perversion from controlling him. I saw the pattern—when he had a set-back professionally, he took it out on whores. The first time, five years ago with Daphne, I don’t know specifically what happened to him, but it must have been serious. But three years ago—he’d just lost the race for D.A. Elsa paid the price. Even though he was panicked that he would be caught, he couldn’t help himself. Two prostitutes disappeared the next year after being sent to meet with him. It took me awhile, but I discovered he took them to a cabin in Camino, above Placerville. I have documentation of his trips, evidence that the girls were in the cabin, but I never found their bodies.
“The organization cut him off after Mariska because I determined he was unreliable and unpredictable.”
“And you can provide proof for everything that you’re saying,” the AUSA interjected.
Jim gave her a blank stare. “That’s the agreement.”
Dean said, “Continue, please.”
“The last girl he killed was six weeks ago. He strangled her to death during sex.”
“You just said you’d cut him off. What changed?” Dean asked.
“It wasn’t my decision. Some people felt he was too valuable to the operation, and he’d promised to behave. For awhile, he did. A few bruises, but nothing serious. But I was tracking him closely. I wanted to cut him off permanently. Hell, I wanted to put a bullet in his head for being a dick. But truly, he was instrumental in some legal matters over the years, and he helped legitimize many of the businesses. Unfortunately, one of his staff members had seen him with the girl the day before she disappeared. I didn’t think anything would come to it—it’s not like the whore would be reported missing, and the staffer didn’t really know what he saw. But Hart panicked.” Jim rolled his eyes. “It was suggested that he take care of his staff himself if he was concerned.”
“By whom?” the AUSA asked.
“According to our agreement, I do not have to provide that information,” Jim said. He continued. “Hart wanted someone else to clean up his mess, like always. He came up with this insane plan to stage an assassination attempt. He told Vlad Genkin—the kid we found dead in Discovery Park—where Eric Huang would be and when. I wanted to quash the plan, but Hart was adamant.”