Date With the Devil by Don Lasseter

Author:Don Lasseter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Kensington Publishing Corp.
Published: 2012-04-19T04:00:00+00:00

While Vicki Bynum visited one hotel, Tom Small made a longer trip to another one. He drove to Newport Beach and arrived at the Island Hotel, just before seven o’clock that morning.

Small initially contacted desk manager Greg Squires and showed him the recent mug shot of Mahler taken at the Hollywood Station during the booking process. Squires’s face lit up with recognition, not so much from Mahler’s May visit to the hotel, but from last night’s television news program that had covered the arrest. The desk manager escorted Small to an office, where the detective met security officer Jonathon Thompson, who described his duties as assisting guests with hospitality services, in addition to being responsible for safety and security of patrons, as well as staff. Both employees recalled that Mahler had arrived quite late on May 24 in a “blue expensive vehicle.” He had been accompanied by a “thin, blond girl.” They also had observed the couple teaming up with a husky, bald man, who arrived in a separate car.

Another matter had stuck in the officer’s memory for a very sound reason. He said that Mahler and the girl with him had a “violent altercation” in their room. Security personnel had made several visits up there to quiet the situation, and Mahler had trashed the room. As a result, Mahler and his friend had been asked to leave the hotel.

Small asked to have a look at tapes made by hotel security cameras on or about May 24. The trio reviewed the videos and found a segment that Small had hoped for. Grainy color images showed David Mahler with a woman, presumably Kristin, at the check-in desk. An inviting bowl of apples could be seen on the countertop. A burly, balding man wearing a Hawaiian shirt entered the scene. The trio appeared to have a conversation with the check-in clerk in the silent tape. Then, as they walked into the expansive lobby, Mahler put his left arm around the woman’s shoulders in what appeared to be a show of affection. All three of them went to an elevator and entered it.

Hotel records showed that Mahler had checked in at twelve thirty, Thursday morning, but not under his own name. The room had been assigned to someone named George Goldberg (pseudonym), who had presented a gift certificate issued by a local automobile dealer. It covered the cost of the room for one night.

It didn’t take Small long to find that Goldberg was a businessman who lived a short distance from the hotel. In a subsequent interview, Goldberg would acknowledge an arrangement to meet Mahler at the Newport Beach Marriott Hotel on the evening of Wednesday, May 23. Goldberg had arrived at about seven thirty to entertain another man, a client of Mahler’s. Three hours later, at about ten thirty, Mahler showed up, accompanied by a woman he called Kristi.

Describing himself as Mahler’s commodities broker, Goldberg estimated he and David had been linked in that business for about six months. They had conducted at least two or three transactions per week, by telephone, during that time.

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