by C. M. Sutter
“What do you mean?”
With a quick forward thrust, Vic drove the knife through Jill’s down coat and deep into her chest. Grinning with satisfaction, Vic gave it a couple of side-to-side twists. A grunt sounded, then a confused and pained expression spread across Jill’s face.
“Yes, that pressure you’re feeling is the knife I just plunged into your heart.”
Blood gurgled out of Jill’s mouth as she swatted at the knife that was buried to the handle.
“I’m much bigger and stronger than you are, Jill, so don’t fight it. Relax, and accept your fate. This is what you deserve, and you’ll be dead in a matter of seconds.”
Vic kept a close eye on the parking lot as Jill succumbed to her injury. Nobody was close enough to see what was happening, and most shoppers were oblivious to anything other than loading their purchases into their trunks.
Vic heaved Jill into a shopping cart, the knife still protruding from her chest, then returned to the car, cautiously stepping only where the snow had been walked on by dozens of other people.
That should make for some jaw-dropping newspaper headlines and get the tongues wagging on the local news stations. Now, to go home and relax with another name crossed off my list.
Chapter 16
We had reached the halfway point in the romantic comedy we were watching. The pizza box and two empty beer cans lay on the coffee table in front of us.
“Let’s pause the movie for a minute so I can clean up this mess,” Hanna said.
I pressed the remote’s pause button and rose from the couch. “I can do it.”
She smiled and gave me a kiss. “Okay, we’ll do it together.”
Hanna was easy to love and a beautiful woman, even with her nose slightly off-center after the killer Wesley Nash had broken it several months earlier. I thanked my lucky stars that Hanna had stuck with me and didn’t regret our relationship. Her abduction by that maniac was meant as a way to lure me to the Damen silos, kill me, and steal my Camaro, yet she was the one who’d suffered the consequences, and the guilt I felt still surfaced on occasion.
My phone rang just as I came in from taking out the trash. Phone calls at night usually meant my evening was about to be disrupted, and I grudgingly answered it—it was part of the job.
I recognized the number right away—Lutz’s cell. “Hey, Boss, what’s up?”
“Nothing good, that’s for damn sure. I hate to put you back on the clock after only being home a few hours, but this is a bad one, and as my lead homicide detective, you need to see it too.”
“Sounds like you’re calling from the scene.”
“I am, and it isn’t good. Come to the MaxMart on East Forty-Seventh Street and South Cottage Grove. Just look for flashing squad car lights in the parking lot. You can’t miss us.”
“I’m on my way.” I turned to see Hanna smiling at me.
“I guess we’ll finish watching the movie another time.”
“I’m so sorry, but it sounds like a bad one.”
She gathered her coat and purse then kissed me and said to be careful. I walked Hanna to her car and watched as she drove away. Back in the house, I grabbed my badge, service weapon, and jacket, then told Bandit to hold down the fort. I had a twenty-block drive to go.
I turned in to MaxMart’s parking lot at 10:25, and there was no mistaking where I needed to go. Four squad cars with blue lights flashing, the medical examiner’s van, the forensic van, and Lutz’s personal car sat near a shopping cart corral at the end of the lot that was lit up with portable lights. I parked next to Bob’s car and got out.
An officer lifted the police tape, and I dipped under it. “What’s going on?”
“A store employee was stabbed to death while she gathered the shopping carts.”
The gruesome scene unfolded in front of me as I got closer. I approached the commander and Don.
I scratched my forehead as I took in the sight. “What the hell?”
Lutz sighed. “There’s a first time for everything.”
I stared at the deceased woman, who was jammed into a shopping cart. Her red parka was stained with blood that still appeared wet even in the below-freezing temperatures, and a six-inch knife handle protruded from her chest.
“Looks like this just happened. Her blood is still seeping out.”
Bob jerked his head toward the building. “The store closes at ten, and one of the cart runners realized that all the carts weren’t accounted for. He saw them across the lot, dashed out to get them, and found his coworker like this. He said he ran like hell back to the store and called 911.”
“I bet. The perp could have still been in the area, but the scene doesn’t make sense to me. This seems like killing someone just for the sake of killing. No employee would be gathering carts with a purse in hand, so that rules out robbery.”
Lutz shook his head. “Unless the perp thought she might keep her car keys in her jacket pocket.”
I raised my brows. “A carjacking in a mega store parking lot?”
Doing a slow three-sixty, I took in the area. We were at the cart corral farthest from the store entrance. I had to admit that I kept my car keys in my jacket pocket—it was convenient in the winter months. So a carjacking could make sense, but then why kill the employee and take the time to lift her into a cart and leave the knife protruding from her chest? It seemed like time wasted. Knocking her unconscious and taking off in her vehicle could have given the perp the same end result.
“Don, have you checked her pockets?” I asked.
“Not yet. I’m waiting until Justin and Brian finish taking pictures before I move her.”
I turned to Lutz. “Who arrived on scene first?”
“That would be me,” Officer Crawford said.
“Did you interview the 911 caller?”
“Foxworthy is doing that now in his squad car.”
“Walk me through everything from the moment you arrived.”
“Sure thing, Detective McCord. I saw a handful of employees standing at the front entrance. I pulled up next to them, asked where the victim was, and they pointed to this cart corral. I told everyone to stay put and took off in this direction. With my spotlight on the deceased, I saw the knife sticking out of her chest and notified Commander Lutz immediately.” Crawford rubbed his brow. “It was obvious that we had a homicide on our hands. Seconds later, Foxworthy arrived, and then Paulson and Thompson after that. We taped off the area while we waited for everyone else to get here.”
“And all the employees are still in the building?”
“Yep, and we have a unit at the back exit and loading docks as well.”
“Okay, thanks.” I nudged Lutz. “I’m going to sit in on that interview for the time being. I’m sure we’ll be here for a few hours.”
Lutz called Thompson and Paulson over. “Go talk to the remaining employees in the building. There’s no need to keep everyone here if they didn’t witness anything. The door cameras will tell us who walked out and who didn’t.”
The two officers headed to the building, and I took a seat in the passenger side of Foxworthy’s squad car. I gave him a nod as I pulled out my notepad and pen. “Tim.”
“Detective McCord.”
“What have we got so far?”
Foxworthy introduced me to the rattled employee, a young man by the name of Connor Whitley. I reached over the seat and shook his hand.
“Connor, thanks for doing your civic duty. I’m sure tonight is very stressful for you. How long have you worked here?”
The eighteen-year-old high school graduate said he was only in his second week of employment at the store, and I doubted that he would continue working there after his folks got wind of the murder. His voice cracked as he walked me through the discovery of Jill Blass’s body.
“I don’t know everyone by name, but I knew Jill. She acted like a second mom, always giving me advice, telling me to stay focused on what I want in life and to go to college.”
“Good advice. What else?�
�
“I was still folding jeans that had been tossed on the shelves, and Jill said she’d start bringing in the carts. When I finished what I was doing, I went to see if all the carts had been collected. There were still a number of them missing, so I walked outside and saw that the corral at the far end of the lot was full. I figured Jill got called to help with something else, cleaning out the ladies’ dressing room or something like that, so I ran out to get the carts.”
Connor wiped his eyes, and his words caught in his throat. I told him to take his time.
“I saw something in one of the carts, and I thought it was a full trash bag. It wasn’t until I was just a few feet away that I realized what I was looking at.” Connor stared out the car window. “There isn’t a lot of light over there.”
“Understood. Go ahead.”
He sighed. “I think I screamed, but it’s hard to remember. I do know I spun around, didn’t see anyone, and then ran like hell for the building. I thought I could be next.”
Foxworthy added a side note. “There’s a spot in the lot that looks like a scuffle happened there, but Connor admitted he slipped on the snow and fell. The knees of his pants are all wet.”
I made sure to add that to my notes. “Anything else you can remember?”
“I ran to the service counter and dialed 911. My cell phone was too far away in my locker at the back of the store. I yelled out to everyone about what I saw.”
“Did anyone else go out there?”
“No, I’m pretty sure everyone was too scared to move. It only took a few minutes before we heard the siren and saw the flashing lights coming our way. That’s when the first officer arrived, and I pointed out where Jill was.”
“Okay, I really appreciate your help, Connor. Here’s my card in case you think of anything else.” I climbed out of Foxworthy’s car and returned to the scene.
Don had taken a position at the body, and Brian and Justin had moved on with their flashlights and were pointing the beams at the area around the cart corral.
Lutz spoke up. “Check her pockets for the keys, Don. We need a motive.” Bob jerked his head at Crawford. “Radio Paulson and tell him to gather Jill’s belongings. Maybe the keys are in her purse. Also, locate the store manager. We need to talk to that person and find out who Jill’s emergency contact is and her address, that sort of thing.”
“On it, sir.”
Don looked over his shoulder at us and shook his head. “No keys in any pockets. I’m going to leave the knife intact until I get her on the table. I’ll put an evidence bag over the handle for now, but I highly doubt that the perp forgot to remove it. It’s winter, and everyone wears gloves. I’ll have the boys dust it for prints once she’s in the autopsy room, but they probably won’t find any.”
“What the hell is going on?” Lutz looked at the sky. “No full moon, yet we have murdered women two nights in a row.”
Chapter 17
With the car parked across the street alongside a gas station, Vic watched through the windshield as the scene unfolded a half block away. MaxMart’s parking lot was a sea of flashing blue lights, and officers skittered about. Several people appeared to be calling out orders as Vic looked through the binoculars. People scratched their heads, so it was obvious that they had no idea what was going on, and they would never come up with a motive. Law enforcement wouldn’t put it together—nobody would. That thin thread of a connection would slip past every one of them, and the murders would go unsolved. Soon, the victims would be nothing more than cold cases stacked in legal boxes while collecting dust on shelves in the police department’s storage room.
It looks like that older guy is calling the shots. Other than him, the detective, the ME, and the forensic boys, everyone else is in uniform. Vic chuckled. Man, that kid ran for his life when he saw Jill. Leaving the knife jammed in her chest made for a great visual effect. I think I’ll sit here and enjoy the show until they call it a night.
Vic set the phone’s playlist to smooth jazz, reclined the seat slightly, and pulled a protein bar from the console. It could end up being a long night.
Chapter 18
It was nearly one o’clock in the morning when I finally climbed into my Camaro and drove home. Four and a half hours of sleep—if I was lucky—was better than nothing. I wondered how Lutz did it. He was over fifty and had a family, yet he put in as many hours as I did, if not more.
Dedication to keeping Chicago safe, I guess. He’s definitely a diehard, that’s for sure.
By the time I got home and climbed into bed, it was pushing two o’clock. I barely remembered my head hitting the pillow.
When I reached our precinct the next morning, Lutz looked the way I felt—haggard—and heavy bags sagged in the skin beneath his lower eyelids. I took a seat in his guest chair.
“You look the way I feel.”
“Like shit?”
“Yeah, like shit. What was that comment you made again last night? Oh yeah, picking it up today with fresh eyes and fresh minds. Apparently, that didn’t happen.” I gave my boss a suspicious frown. “How long did you stick around after I left?”
Lutz waved away my comment. “A few minutes.”
“Right. More like a few hours, I bet.”
“I was home by three. I’ll sleep once I retire.”
I gave him one of my best smirks. “I have my doubts. So, was Jill married?”
He nodded. “Yeah, her husband’s name is Mitch, and they have two grown kids in college. Apparently, Jill worked at Reader’s Nook for years.”
“The bookstore on South Lake Park Avenue?”
“That’s the one. She retired for a while but quickly got bored. Last year, she picked up a weekend job at MaxMart, stocking shelves, putting shit away, and unfortunately, collecting carts before the store closed. I spoke to the husband briefly, and he was too distraught to talk, so he’s coming in at nine o’clock to have a sit-down with us.”
“Understandable. Were Jill’s keys found?”
“Yep, so if it was an attempted carjacking, it was a failed one. The keys were found in her purse, and her car was right there in the lot. One of the employees described it, and when we found the keys in her purse, it was confirmed. I clicked the fob, and the headlights flashed.”
“Hopefully, the husband can shed some light for us later. Maybe someone had threatened her in the past and finally made good on it.”
Bob gave me one of his signature frowns. “So the killer was lying in wait? How would he know she’d come out to collect the carts?”
I didn’t know more than anyone else, but I was throwing out ideas. “We’ll see what Mr. Blass can tell us.”
Lutz agreed. “I have officers heading to MaxMart right now to go over last night’s security footage. I don’t know what the video can catch that far out in the lot, but at least it’ll show if any of her coworkers followed her outside.”
As we waited for Jill’s husband to arrive, I called Steve. I wanted to meet him at Charlotte’s apartment that day on the off chance that I might find a clue to the killer’s identity. I’d have to do a thorough search of her home and look for any notes she might have taken. I planned to have a deeper conversation with Steve about everyone Charlotte knew and had dealings with, and I would also ask if she’d kept a journal.
I left Lutz’s office and made my way to the bullpen with intentions of talking to our night crew before they headed out. When I walked in, Tom Roberts and Chuck Gaines were still there.
“Did you guys get in touch with Charlotte’s best friend?”
Tom took a gulp of their night shift coffee, which I assumed was either cold or stale by that time of morning. “Yep, and she was a mess. She said she was about to file a report with us since she hadn’t been able to get Charlotte on the phone and couldn’t find her at home.”
I spoke up after listening to Tom’s account. “Rachel Meadows wasn’t home when we got to her place, and there was no way I’d leave that kind of news on her voicemail.” I jotted a
note to myself to talk to her that day too. I knew I’d be dividing up our growing to-do list with the rest of the detectives, but going to Charlotte’s apartment and speaking with Steve again would be my responsibility.
The roll call and updates took place at eight thirty, and Lutz informed everyone of last night’s murder. “Get out there and talk to employees at neighboring businesses. Maybe somebody saw something that looked off last night. Pound the pavement, guys, and dig up some leads. That’s it.”
Lutz adjourned the meeting, and we had fifteen minutes before Jill’s husband was due to arrive. “Is the husband going to identify Jill’s body while he’s here?” I walked the hallway to the bullpen with Bob at my side.
“I talked to Don when I got in this morning. He’s in the process of cleaning up Jill and getting her height, weight, and appearance documented. He hasn’t written his report or started the autopsy yet, but he said Mr. Blass could come down and make the ID. He’ll have her ready to present by the time our meeting with him is done.”
“I’m going to check out Charlotte’s apartment today and hopefully find something we can use as a lead. I need a more rational conversation with Steve, too, since he still couldn’t think clearly yesterday.”
Lutz rubbed his forehead. “Good idea, and take Mills with you. I’ll let you know when Mr. Blass arrives, then we’ll speak to him in the conference room.”
I jotted down a few questions to ask the husband, then I put that list and several blank sheets of paper into a folder. I would be ready to go as soon as Lutz called me.
Minutes later, I checked the time. Nine o’clock had passed, and Mr. Blass hadn’t arrived. I called the commander.
“Nothing yet?”
“Debra just called, and she’s showing him upstairs.”
“Okay, I’m on my way.”
The bullpen was closer to the conference room than Lutz’s office, so I was the first to arrive. I placed my notepad and pen, along with three water bottles, on the table. After opening the cabinet at the wall, I pulled out a box of tissue and placed that on the table, just in case tissues were needed. I prepared to watch as a spouse experienced the worst day possible, but as tough as it was, we still needed to rule out the husband as a suspect.
