by C. M. Sutter
“So why the policy on her?” I asked.
“Because they threatened her too. If they killed both of us, at least the kids would have something.”
“So, you’re confident it was them who killed your wife?” Lutz asked.
“To prove how serious they were, yes. Who else would it be?”
I sneered my disgust for the man as I pulled a blank sheet of paper out of the folder. “We need their names and the locations where the poker games took place.”
“I don’t know their names. They only used nicknames and never mentioned last names, and the poker games were always held at low-rent motels that were paid for with cash.”
“Then start writing down everything you do know.”
We spent another half hour with Blass and his attorney and found out he did hide his knives.
“I only did it because I knew they made me look guilty. I didn’t want them or my guns confiscated, but that doesn’t make me a killer.”
Lutz rebutted Mitch’s justification. “Right. It just makes you a liar, which won’t look good for you if you end up in court.”
We stood to leave. What Mitch had written would be tough to follow up on, but we had to do our best. I couldn’t—with a clear conscience—try to get him convicted of murder when there was the chance he was actually innocent. He was far from innocent of stupidity and making bad decisions, but that didn’t mean he killed his wife.
With the little he gave us, we left the jail wing. I tipped my chin toward the hallway that led to our forensic lab and tech department.
“Let’s see if Todd made any headway with that recording before we go upstairs.”
Chapter 34
We entered the tech department and found Todd and Billy hard at work. Both sat at the bank of computers centered in the room and tapped away at their keyboards.
I headed directly for Todd. “Got anything on the Wi-Fi location for that tip-line call?”
“Yeah, actually I think I do, but you aren’t going to like it.”
I rolled my eyes and felt more legwork and phone calls headed our way. “Go ahead. Just say it.”
“The Wi-Fi IP address belongs to the Hall Library on South Michigan. Everyone in there would have been using the library’s Wi-Fi, and with the caller having their own laptop to run the voice-altering software through, it’s anybody’s guess who that person could be. The library is open until eight o’clock on Tuesday nights, and the call came in at seven thirty. It’s doubtful that people would have been paying attention to each other at that time, and they were probably trying to wrap up what they were doing before the doors closed for the night.”
“Do you know if the library has a camera system?”
“I’ll check, and I’d venture to say they do.”
I gestured to my mouth and ear. “Call me when you find out.”
“I will.”
Lutz and I discussed our options as we walked up the two flights of stairs to our unit.
“If we get the library footage, Blass can watch it with us. He might not know the poker players by name, but he’d recognize their faces if any walked in front of the library’s camera,” I said.
“Good idea, and we’ll arrange that as soon as we know for certain they have a surveillance system.”
I parted ways with Bob at the bullpen and returned to my desk. I thought about Mitch’s story, and while I didn’t like the guy, it made enough sense to be believable. I’d give him the benefit of the doubt unless he proved me wrong. Tipping my wrist, I checked my watch—11:02.
“Shit.” I’d completely lost track of the time. Lisa and Skyler wanted to see Jill before Don placed her in one of the morgue drawers. I called the apartment, and Lisa answered.
“Blass residence.”
“Lisa, it’s Detective McCord. Sorry I didn’t call earlier, but we were talking to your dad. I can meet you and Skyler in our medical examiner’s office whenever you’re ready to come in.”
“Is Dad all right? When can he come home?”
“Not sure yet, but we’re getting more information from him, so that’s a good thing.”
“Okay, thanks. We’ll have to order a driver to get to your station. Dad’s car keys aren’t here, and Mom’s car is nowhere to be found.”
I explained that her dad’s keys were with his personal effects at the station, and Jill’s car and keys were at our evidence garage.
“I’ll send out an officer to pick you up. Expect him in fifteen minutes.”
“Thank you, Detective McCord.”
“No sweat, and I’ll see you soon.” I hung up and called Don right away. “Hey, Don, it’s Jesse. The Blass kids want to see Jill’s body. Can you have her presentable in fifteen minutes?”
“Yep. I’ll put her on a roller table and take her to the viewing area.”
“Thanks, and I’ll bring them down as soon as they get here.” I called out to Officer Blair, who didn’t look extremely busy at the moment. “Hey, Dennis. Can you pick up the Blass kids and bring them here?”
“Sure, I have time. All I need is the address.”
I gave it to him, thanked him, and asked if he’d drop the kids off downstairs at Debra’s counter. I’d let her know to call me as soon as they arrived. Seconds later, my desk phone rang. It was Todd, and I hoped he had good news.
“What have you got, buddy?”
“The library has cameras, and they said they’d be happy to send over yesterday’s footage, but they can’t cut it down into sections. We have to go through it, midnight to midnight.”
“Okay, that’s still better than nothing. Where are they sending it, and when?”
“To your in-box. You should see it in less than ten minutes.”
“Great. Thanks, Todd, I owe you one.” I wouldn’t have time to start looking at the video before going downstairs to meet Lisa and Skyler, so I passed that task on to Henry. “Hey, Johnson.”
“Yep.”
“Busy?”
“Depends.” He grinned. “What do you need?”
“I’m expecting an email from the Hall Library that has a video attachment. It probably won’t have anything we need until late afternoon, but if you could open it up and start running through it for me, that’d be great. As a matter of fact, if you could speed it up until five o’clock and just pause it there, that’d be even better. That’s if you’re able to.”
“Yep, I’ll watch for it to come in. You got your in-box open?”
“I will in a second.”
I set up my computer just as my phone rang. It was Debra saying that Dennis was back with Lisa and Skyler and they were waiting at her counter.
“Thanks, Deb. I’ll be right down.”
I took to the stairs, rounded two corners on the first floor, and ended up at the counter of our desk sergeant, Debra Blake. Standing side by side were two terrified-looking siblings who shouldn’t be going through what they were about to face. Nobody their age ought to be viewing their deceased mother, especially under the horrific circumstances of her death. It was obvious that the reality of being at our precinct was setting in, and they looked like they were about to break down. I thanked Debra and approached them. Once again, I offered my condolences. Giving both of them a shoulder squeeze, I asked if they were certain they wanted to go ahead, and they nodded. I was sure their voices would have cracked if either of them had spoken. I led the way down the flight of stairs to our lower level, and Lisa paused when we reached the glass door with the name and title Donald J. Lawry M.D. - Medical Examiner written across it in black lettering.
“Sky, I’m not sure.”
“Lisa, Mom would want you to be close to her one last time, so be strong. She expects that of us.”
I waited for confirmation from Lisa before entering. She tipped her head, I knocked, and Don called out from the other side to come in. We crossed the threshold, and I made the introductions.
After offering seats in his office, Don explained to Lisa and Skyler what their choices were. T
hey were allowed to go into the viewing area if they wanted and spend some time with Jill, or they could look at her through the window and leave it at that. “You can touch her, kiss her forehead, hold her hand—whatever feels right to you. She won’t break. Your dad has already signed the papers necessary to hold her in our morgue for the time being, and then she’ll be cremated, according to her will, and placed alongside her folks at the cemetery they’re buried at. I imagine it’ll be up to you two to handle those arrangements unless your dad is released before then. Is there anyone else I should have listed as a spokesperson or power of attorney for the family?”
“No. Nothing like this was ever thought of or planned in advance,” Lisa said.
“Unfortunately, it usually isn’t. Have you decided what you’d like to do?”
“I want to spend some private time with her,” Skyler said.
“Me too.”
“Okay, I’ll show you in.”
I walked with Don, Lisa, and Skyler through the door to the viewing area. Attached to the autopsy room by another door, it was a private space around the size of an average bedroom. Don had already brought several chairs in as a courtesy. I told the kids I would be upstairs and to have Don call me when they were ready to leave. I’d wait with them until an officer could take them home.
Don and I left the room and gave Lisa and Skyler the privacy they needed.
With a headshake, Don commented on how difficult that had to be for the kids, even though they were grown up.
“It’s never easy, no matter how old you are.”
Don patted my shoulder. “And you would know that firsthand.”
Leaving Don’s office, I asked that he call me as soon as the kids were ready to go home. I needed to get upstairs to see if the video had arrived and if Henry was making any progress with it.
Henry sat at my desk with his left fist propped under his chin as he held down the forward arrow on the scrubber bar.
“How’s it going?”
“Slow. I can only advance the speed one and a half times normal play.”
We both glanced at the time stamp at the bottom corner of the screen—9:17 a.m. I groaned knowing it would be an all-day process just to reach the time we cared about.
“I guess I can let it run in the background as I go about my day.”
“Doesn’t seem like you have much choice.”
With a slap to his back, I thanked Henry, and he returned to his desk. I needed to focus on Charlotte and Jeff Vaskey’s murders since we were making progress on Jill’s but were in a holding pattern at the moment.
Is there a connection between the three, or was each one killed by a different person?
I thought back to Charlotte’s journal and the notes I had taken as I read through the daily entries. I never had time to go through it entirely—it had more than five years of pages, but I did take notes on the activities I hadn’t known about. Although Charlotte had a library in her home, and I did know she enjoyed reading novels, I didn’t know she was a beta reader and that she posted reviews of every book she read. She was actually documented online as a top reviewer.
So there is that, and the fact that Jill worked in a bookstore, as a common denominator, but they didn’t know each other. I wonder what Jeff’s backstory is.
I called Lutz’s office. “Hey, Boss, what did the officers find out about Jeff Vaskey from his neighbors?”
“Nobody saw anything if that’s what you mean.”
“No, I mean who he was, what he did, who his friends or enemies were.”
“Tony and Kip are tracking down all of that information and setting up interviews with friends and family members. Got something in your craw?”
“Not yet, but I’d like to know without a shadow of a doubt that there is, or isn’t, a connection between the three murders.”
“The manner of death and locations are so different, Jesse. I doubt if they were killed by the same person. Is there something that leads you to believe they were?”
“I haven’t dug into Jeff’s life yet, but Jill did work in a bookstore, and Charlotte was an avid reader, did beta reading, and reviewed books.”
“True, but they didn’t know each other.”
I sighed. “I realize that, but I’d still like to see if there’s anything in Jeff’s life that leaned in that direction too.”
“Sure, go ahead and see what Tony and Kip have found out so far. How did it go with the kids?”
“They’re still downstairs. Don said he’d call me when they’re ready to leave. I have to find out who the nearest family member is that will take the reins as a guardian of sorts—at least until Lisa turns twenty-one.”
“They don’t have family in Illinois.”
“I know, and I also know it isn’t our job to handle those duties. I’ll call Ann Stratton in Family Services and talk to her about it. Maybe she’ll pay the kids a visit today.”
Chapter 35
I called Ann Stratton in Family Services, and she agreed to have a sit-down with Lisa and Skyler Blass that afternoon. I gave her their home address, thanked her, and hung up. Giving the video running in the background on my computer another glance, I saw it now showed 11:47 a.m. We had a long way to go.
I’d walked out with the kids a half hour earlier and told them to expect Ann at two o’clock. It was obvious that neither of them were in a good mental place, but I was sure Ann’s visit would help.
With a fresh pot of coffee brewing, I asked Kip and Tony to sit at the back table with me. I needed to hear everything they knew about Jeff Vaskey.
I took a seat with my paper and pen in front of me. Tony had a folder of notes. “Who have you interviewed so far?”
Tony began as he opened the folder. “We spoke with Jeff’s ex-wife, Melinda. They’ve been divorced for six years, so she wasn’t currently in his life, and they never had kids together.”
“Did she give a reason for the divorce?”
Kip shrugged. “The usual. They grew apart. He put all his time and energy into getting that newspaper to succeed, but it never went far. She said she was tired of spending most evenings alone while he worked in his office until bedtime. She started spending more time with friends, and they gradually drifted apart.”
I took notes as they talked. “Anybody she could remember during their married years who had a volatile relationship with Jeff?”
Tony spoke up. “She said she couldn’t recall anyone who stood out. He had a few confrontations with their neighbor at that time, but that house was sold during the divorce.”
“So that probably isn’t relevant anymore. How about family squabbles?”
“He had two sisters, one in Nebraska and one in Iowa, and both parents are dead.”
I tapped my pen against the sheet of paper. “How about a best friend? Did Jeff spend time with anyone when he wasn’t working? Possible hobbies in common, ballgames, hanging out at the bar, that sort of thing?”
“Sounds like he was a social recluse, in person, anyway. Other than keeping the Windy City Coffee Break afloat, he had an online book blog where he posted his favorite books, ones he recommended and ones he didn’t, as well as a star rating he gave them. It was fashioned like movie reviews, and he made some side money from the ads that showed up on his site.”
That comment piqued my interest. It was close enough to what Charlotte did to consider it a connection. I needed to know if Jill had also done that type of thing when she worked at the bookstore or even after she quit. I had to ask Mitch, which would require his attorney’s presence, or I could call Lisa and ask her. I picked up the receiver from one of the tip-line phones and dialed her number.
“Hi, Lisa, it’s Detective McCord. Just checking to see if you’re doing okay and to ask a simple question.” I pressed Speakerphone and listened.
“We’re doing all right, considering.”
“Well, Ann should be there soon. She’s a very nice lady who will go over everything that’s available to you and Skyler until yo
ur dad is released.”
“Will he be?”
“If we can find your mom’s killer and your dad wasn’t involved, yes. He’ll go back home and continue life with both of you. Lisa, I need to know if your mom enjoyed reading.”
“Well, sure. She wasn’t just a cashier at the bookstore, she was really involved in the daily activities.”
“Like what?”
“Public relations, mostly. She’d set up author book signings and interviews, hold promotions for writers who were up and coming, and on Wednesday nights, the book club would review the book of the week and have a discussion about it—that sort of thing. She ran most of those events.”
“Okay, thanks. That’s what I needed to know.” I hung up with the feeling I was onto something. There was a connection of sorts, not on a personal level but in the interests shared by Charlotte, Jill, and Jeff. I wondered if the killer shared those interests and was somehow the nexus that connected them to each other.
After thanking Kip and Tony for the information, I returned to my desk and got busy writing down everything that was spinning through my mind. I couldn’t risk losing any of it. I still needed to review the library footage, but from what I’d just learned, I doubted that the poker players who’d strong-armed Mitch actually had anything to do with Jill’s death.
