End of the Line

by C. M. Sutter

  Minutes later, the officers arrived, and I told Beth to point out everything that belonged to Callie. I explained to the officers that her personal belongings had to go to the station with them.

  We thanked the kids for their help, and I reminded them not to forget about their pup.

  Chapter 4

  Frank and I returned to the university for the second time that morning. We needed Callie’s course schedules and planned to talk with the campus police to make sure she had never filed a harassment or stalking complaint against anyone.

  We crossed the parking lot and walked to Residence Hall with hopes that they had access to Callie’s class schedule.

  Frank popped a piece of nicotine gum in his mouth and pocketed the wrapper. “You know they aren’t going to have that information, right?”

  “I know, but maybe we can get something else from those ladies. They’d know who Callie roomed with when she lived at the dorm, and we need names, especially of her closest friends.”

  Frank pulled open the door, and I entered first. The two ladies appeared to recognize us, and Betsy spoke up.

  “Detectives, you’re back.”

  I lifted my sunglasses as we walked to the counter. “We have a few more questions, ma’am, if you don’t mind.”

  “Certainly. Go ahead.”

  I thanked Betsy and continued. “First, I know it’s probably a long shot, but do you ladies have access to Callie’s course schedules?”

  Dena spoke up. “Sorry, Detective, but no. You’ll have to wait until Monday, when the registration department opens. They have the records of the course schedules for each student.”

  I sighed. “Figured as much. Okay, then how about this. Who were Callie’s roommates when she lived here at the dorm?”

  Dena stood. “I’ll grab her folder again.” Back a few minutes later, Dena took her seat and paged through Callie’s folder. “Here we go. She roomed with Franny Kensington and Maria Lister.”

  I pulled my notepad from my inner pocket and wrote down those names. “Are they both still living here?”

  Betsy began tapping the computer keys. “They do. I’m just checking to see which room and floor. Their cell numbers are listed too. Would you like them?”

  “That’d be great,” Frank said, “but how about calling them and asking them to come down if they’re in their room?”

  Betsy smiled. “I’ll do that right now, Detective Mills.”

  “Appreciate it.”

  We waited as Betsy made the call to Franny’s cell phone. It went unanswered, so she sent a text but didn’t get a response.

  “She may be sleeping. I’ll try Maria’s phone.”

  I checked a text of my own that had just come in. Lutz said he’d left the crime scene and was back at the station. I responded with a quick “We’ll be there soon” then returned my focus to Betsy. She had gotten through to Maria.

  “She said she’ll be down in five minutes. Sounds like I woke her up.”

  “Thank you so much, ladies. You’ve been a lot of help.”

  We took seats in the two-couch lounge area just beyond the entry. We would be able to see somebody approach the front counter, and if it was Maria, the staff would direct her to us. While we waited, I reviewed the notes I had taken that day.

  Frank got my attention with a whisper. “That’s got to be her coming down the hallway.”

  A young lady who clearly looked like she’d just woken up—hair a mess and wearing flannel pajama bottoms, a T-shirt, and flip-flops—walked to the front desk then looked our way. It had to be her. I stood and nodded with an outstretched hand when she came toward us. Frank stood too.

  “Maria Lister?”

  “Yes, that’s me.”

  We shook her hand, introduced ourselves, and asked her to take a seat. We said we had questions about a former roommate of hers.

  Once she got comfortable, I took the lead. “We heard that you used to room with Callie Conway. Is that correct?”

  “Yes. She, Franny, and I roomed together last year as freshmen, but now she lives off campus.”

  “Would you consider yourself one of Callie’s best friends?” Frank asked.

  She rubbed her chin. “Well, as far as school friends go, I’d say we’re close, but not best friends. Her very best friend would probably be Danielle.”

  I smiled. “Danielle have a last name?”

  “Oh, sure, it’s Hughes. Is Callie in some kind of trouble?”

  I glanced at Frank before answering. I knew by the end of the day, word would have spread, and everyone would know what had happened to Callie Conway.

  “Maria, Callie is dead.”

  “Oh, no, no, no, that can’t be true. I just saw her last night at the Regency.”

  “The condos on Monroe Street?”

  Maria nodded. Her hands shook, and her eyes filled with tears.

  Frank handed her a tissue from his pocket. “We were told she was at a party. Is that where it was held?”

  She coughed into her fist. “Yes. Lindsay Grant turned twenty yesterday, but she lives here at the residence, and parties aren’t allowed. I’ll admit, there were plenty of underage drinkers at her parents’ condo, but they’re in France on an anniversary vacation and didn’t know anything about the party.”

  “How many people were there?”

  Maria rolled her eyes. “Way too many. There was hardly room to move. We had to keep the noise down, or somebody would have definitely called the cops.”

  “Did you see anyone bothering Callie?”

  “No. We weren’t really hanging out, but we talked a few times.”

  I continued. “Why didn’t you two go together?”

  She shrugged. “I wasn’t sure if I’d go or not, and when I did, it was pretty late. I only stayed for a few hours.”

  “So, do you have any idea how she got there? Someone pick her up?”

  “I really don’t know, Detective McCord, but Callie would have told Danielle about the party. Maybe she’d know.”

  “And Danielle wasn’t there?”

  “I didn’t see her, but I’m not sure either way.” Maria dabbed her eyes. “I just can’t believe Callie is dead. How did it happen?”

  “It’s early in the investigation, Maria, and we don’t have a lot of information yet. Do you know where Franny is?”

  “Yeah, she went home for the weekend.”

  I checked my notepad. “And home is where?”

  “Milwaukee.”

  “Okay, I have her number. I guess that’s all we need for now.” We rose from the couch, and I handed her my card. “Thanks for your time, and you have our condolences.”

  I gave the ladies at the counter a head tip before we walked out. The university police building was southeast of us, and they were next on our list.

  Frank and I entered that building and caught the attention of the first officer who happened by. Frank took the reins.

  “Excuse us.” He pulled out his badge. “We’re Homicide Detectives Mills and McCord from the Chicago PD and need to speak with someone who can give us information about a student.”

  “Sure, right this way. Officer Matthews can help you with that. Our department is in the second office suite on the left down this hallway.”

  We followed Officer P. Jones, entered a large room, and were introduced to an officer who busied himself at his desk, tapping computer keys. He stood and shook our hands.

  “What can I help you with, Detectives?” He pointed at a couple of chairs and said to slide them over. We did and sat down.

  “A student was found murdered this morning about a mile north of here and a block from her residence. We need to know if she’s ever filed a report with you as far as harassment, bullying, stalking, threats, and that sort of thing.”

  “Sure. Her name?”

  “Callie Conway. She was a sophomore here, not that it matters anymore.”

  “Yep. Give me one minute to enter her into the system. If she ever came in with a complaint
, it would be documented, even if it seemed trivial.”

  “Good to know,” Frank said.

  Officer Matthews looked at the screen. “Here we go. Nope, she’s never filed a complaint with us. Her name shows zero results.”

  I let out a slow breath. “Okay, then it’s probably a random murder—wrong place at the wrong time.”

  “Late-night attack?”

  “It appears that way.” I knuckled the desk as we stood. “Appreciate the help, guys. We’ll show ourselves out.”

  Frank and I headed to my car. For as long as we’d been at it, it seemed like it should be noon, yet it was just a little after ten o’clock.

  “I’ll drop you off at your truck and then see you back at the station.”

  At Frank’s truck, he climbed out of my car and stuck his head in the window before I pulled away. “Don’t forget to give Todd that computer.”

  “Yep, that’ll be my first stop. See you in a bit.” I pulled away from the curb and headed to the precinct.

  Chapter 5

  Through the glass doors, I saw Todd working at a bank of computers. I entered the tech department and headed his way. He spun his roller stool around to see who had come in.

  “Jesse, what can I do for you?”

  I set the laptop on the table at his side. “This belongs to the college girl we found nearly decapitated this morning.”

  Todd grimaced. “Jeez, that’s terrible.”

  “It sure is. Anyway, I haven’t opened it and don’t know if it’s password protected, but we need all the help we can get. Her social media pages might give us a better indication of her plans last night other than just going to a party at the Regency condos.”

  “Sure thing. I’ll get right on it.”

  “Thanks, man.”

  I continued to the stairs, and as I passed Lutz’s office on our floor, he called out to me. “Jesse, I need an update.”

  I stepped inside and took a seat. “We’re not making a lot of progress yet. I have a few names to follow up with, and I spoke with the university police. They said Callie never filed a complaint with them.”

  Lutz rubbed his right eyebrow. “Humph. Henry and Shawn are still looking at the security footage from the Red Line, but they haven’t identified Callie as a rider yet.”

  “Yeah, and it doesn’t help that the train dumps off passengers all night long. I did ask the roommates, and nobody knew if she rode the train last night or caught a ride to the party she was at. Maybe we should determine that before Henry and Shawn waste more time with the terminal video.”

  Lutz waved off my comment. “Nah, that wouldn’t make sense. If she rode with a friend, they would have dropped her off at home. She had to have taken the train.”

  “True enough. I’ll cross that off my list of things to check into. Did you get through to her parents?”

  Lutz let out a deep sigh. “Yep, and it wasn’t good. She was their only child.”

  “Jesus. That’s never easy. Are they on their way?”

  “Yeah, they should arrive by noon. I told Don to hold off with the autopsy for the time being. It’s obvious how Callie died, so I don’t even know if one is necessary, and I want her available for the parents to ID.”

  “Sure.” I stood up. “Anything else before I contact her best friend? There’s a chance she was at that party last night, and if anyone would know if somebody was paying Callie too much attention, it would be Danielle.”

  Lutz pointed at the door with his chin. “Go ahead. For all we know, it could have been a robbery and nothing personal at all. A crime of opportunity.”

  I winced. “The perp could have robbed her while wearing a mask. Why butcher someone like that if all they wanted was her purse and phone?”

  Lutz answered with a shrug. “You and nine other detectives need to figure that out.”

  “No pressure, right?” I slapped the doorframe then continued on.

  Frank had arrived while I was in Lutz’s office, and he glanced my way when I walked into the bullpen.

  “Whatcha doing?” I dropped down on my chair.

  “Working on a probable timeline of events. We need to know when Callie left that party and who she hung out with while she was there.”

  I had to agree. “That’s why I’m about to call Danielle. We need names of the people who attended that party. Maybe somebody rode the train back with her.”

  “Meaning they could be a suspect.”

  “Damn straight they could.” I picked up the phone and dialed her number. As luck would have it, she picked up right away.

  “Hello.”

  “Danielle Hughes?”

  “Yep. Who’s this, and why are you blocking your number?”

  She was outspoken, and I appreciated that. “This is Detective Jesse McCord from the Chicago Police Department. I have questions to ask you about Callie Conway.”

  She laughed. “Callie is an angel, so if you think she did something illegal, you’ve got the wrong person.”

  “Danielle, we know Callie went to a party last night at the Regency condos. Did you happen to be at that party too?”

  “Yeah, but I thought this was about Callie. Why are you asking if I was there?”

  “We’re trying to establish a timeline of events. Did you ride the train into the city together?”

  “Of course. We do everything together. We did get separated at the party for an hour or so, but we connected again before we left.”

  “Good, and what time was that?”

  She chuckled. “We were pretty drunk, Detective, so—” The line went quiet, then she spoke up again. “Shit, I didn’t mean to say we were drunk.”

  “That isn’t important right now, Danielle. What is important is the time you boarded the train to come home, which station you got on at, and where you got off.”

  “Okay, let me think. Everyone was getting shooed out of the condo at the same time, so I guess the party ended around two or so. Lindsay would know for sure since it was her party.”

  I wrote down to call Lindsay. “But two o’clock is your best estimate?”

  “Uh-huh, and then we walked to the station, which took about ten minutes. Oh yeah.” She chuckled. “I almost forgot that Brandy Andrews was with us. We boarded the train as soon as it got there.”

  “Good. Where did Brandy get off at?”

  “Um, let me think. Brandy lives north of us. That’s right, she exited at Garfield, and I got off at the Eighty-Seventh Street stop since I live on Eighty-Eighth and Wabash. I told Callie to call or text me if she wanted to go out for lunch today, but I haven’t heard from her yet.”

  “So after that, she was alone?”

  Danielle smirked. “Yeah, other than the rest of the drunks on the train.”

  “Right. Did anyone come on to you girls as you rode home?”

  “Not that I remember.”

  “Okay.” I looked over the notes I’d taken. “Do you know Brandy’s phone number?”

  “Yep.”

  I took down the number as she read it off to me.

  “Detective McCord, why did you call? You started by saying you had questions about Callie.”

  I steeled myself to break the news to Danielle. It was never easy, especially when telling family members or a best friend that their loved one was dead, and saying they had been murdered was the worst news of all.

  “Danielle, there’s no easy way to tell you this, but Callie was found dead this morning.”

  “What! How? Why? She was fine when I got off the train. Her stop was the next one, and then all she had to do was walk home. What do you mean she was found dead? In bed or what?”

  I heard panic in Danielle’s voice, then the sobs began—uncontrolled, gut-wrenching sobs.

  “We’ve been friends since high school. She can’t be dead!”

  “I’m so sorry, but it’s true, and unfortunately, I can’t go into the details with you. Take down my name and number, and if you can think of anything that’ll help our investigation,
please don’t hesitate to call.” I gave her my contact information and hung up. As I rubbed my forehead, I added the times in my mind—two o’clock, plus a ten-minute walk, the wait for the next train, then a half-hour ride. I logged onto the CTA website to get the times the trains reached the Ninety-Fifth Street terminal. I stopped before I went any further since I needed to confirm with Lindsay Grant what time the party had ended before I would know definitively which train Callie had been on. The time had to be in the ballpark of what Danielle had told me.

  Frank walked over to my desk and took a seat on my guest chair. “Let me handle some of the calls. Who’s next?”

  I rolled my kinked neck and appreciated his offer to help. “We need to know exactly when the party ended. That’ll tell us which train Henry and Shawn should focus on. Don’s TOD window says Callie died between one thirty and three thirty a.m., give or take a little on either end. We have to know which train she rode back, or they’ll be watching videos all day long.” I dialed the number for Lindsay Grant and handed the receiver to Frank, then I slid a clean sheet of paper and a pen to him.

  He nodded when she answered the phone. “Lindsay Grant?”

  “Speaking. Who’s this?”

  Frank tapped Speakerphone and continued. “This is Detective Mills calling from the Chicago PD.”

  “Crap. Did someone call in with a noise complaint from last night? I swear we weren’t that loud.”

  “No, there wasn’t a complaint, but we do know there was underage drinking going on.”

  Lindsay didn’t respond.

  “Miss Grant?”

  “Yes?”

  “I need to know when the party ended, and I don’t mean a rough estimate. I want the time everyone left, especially Callie, Danielle, and Brandy.”

  “I mean, um, probably around two, two thirty or so.”

  “Those aren’t exact times, but what I can do is interrupt your parents’ vacation and have them question you if that’s more to your liking.”