Chapter 27
The detectives were back in the squad room, with the exception of Wilson and Johannson, who were still at Western monitoring the professor's whereabouts. Janssen and the Flamingo Kid had done their work at the crime scene and, with the help of an ambulance, had transported the body and all the evidence back to their lab. Janssen promised to keep the Inspector apprised of her findings as soon as possible.
Standing in front of the murder board, Caruso turned to face the rest of the team. McTavish, Pepper, and Wallace all seemed to have cooled off. "Okay, if this murder follows the Yvonne Redmond killing, that means Alicia Skinner would have been taken Saturday night. Who was on Drummond Saturday?"
"We were," Dicicco said, Harris standing next to him.
"Did you see anything out of the ordinary?"
"He had a few people over, but that was it," Harris said.
"A party?"
"Not really a party, but there were a few people coming and going during the evening."
"Coming and going? How many people?"
DiCicco and Harris looked at each other before DiCicco continued. "I'd say five or six."
"Did you ever see Drummond go out in his car?"
"No, the garage door stayed shut all night. We checked the plates on the other cars, but nothing popped on them. We have the owners' names in our report."
"Did you ever see Drummond go out of the house? Maybe he went out with someone else in their car, or borrowed someone's car and went out on his own. Could that have happened?"
DiCicco and Harris remained silent as they looked at each other questioningly. DiCicco finally spoke. "It was dark, and pretty much everyone had coats on, plus a few with hats. So?"
"Ah shit," Caruso said, taking off his glasses and pinching the spot between his eyes.
"Do we know if Drummond owns any other properties in town?" Pepper said. "If he's the guy, maybe he's not doing it at his own house. He's pretty smart, maybe he's found some deserted house or something. Maybe he has access to a car somewhere else."
"Good point, Tee. I wouldn't put it past this guy to have every potential scenario planned out to the nth degree," Caruso said.
"The taxation records don't show anything listed under his name other than that house on Hampton Crescent," McTavish said. "And we haven't turned up any family connections that he might have in town, like parents, or an uncle or cousins."
"As far as vehicles actually registered in his name, the silver Honda Civic was the only one listed with the DMV," Chin said.
Caruso tugged at his tie as he listened to Chin. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean he doesn't have use of some other vehicle that belongs to a friend of his, or maybe even another one of those sick bastards he may have met through that website."
"Boss, what do you think about this situation of Drummond showing up at the university so early on the same day this happens?" Harris said.
"I'm sure I'm thinking what the rest of you are, that's it too much of a coincidence. That's why I've left Wilson and Johannson up there to keep their eye on him." He turned to McTavish. "Ian, you never really got any straight answers out of those people he used to work with in Toronto, did you?"
"No. It was almost like they'd been put on a gag order. There was a little humming and hawing, but nobody came across with anything of any use."
"Okay. I want you to drive down there and meet with these people face to face. Maybe seeing a cop up close and personal will loosen their tongues a little."
"I'll head down there right now," McTavish said, holding out his hand for Chin to pass him the keys.
"Keep us in the loop," the Inspector called to his retreating back.
"Do you want me to go with him?" Chin asked.
"No, Ian can take care of that on his own. I've got something else I want you to do since you two are the only ones Drummond's met with so far. I want you and Pepper to pay the professor another visit. Wilson and Johannson had him at home last night, but check to see what he has to say about having an alibi for last night." He turned to Pepper. "Tee, I want you to push this guy, try and get under his skin. If he's The Sandman, and those notes he's been sending us about wanting to get caught mean anything, maybe he'll slip up. See what you can do." He turned back to Chin. "And Elizabeth, while Pepper's doing that, you'll probably have to play good cop. Can you set aside that bad-ass attitude of yours and do that?" This comment by the Inspector helped to momentarily relieve the tension that had blanketed the squad room like a fog.
"Yes sir," Chin said with a smile. "I think I can do that."
"Speaking of notes, I've just solved his latest riddle," Wallace said, looking up from the notepad in front of him. He'd gotten a photocopy of the latest coded message before Janssen took it for analysis, and had been pouring over the list of paired digits at the bottom of the page.
"What's it say?" Caruso asked, all of them turning to Wallace, ears tuned in.
"I've tried some different combinations of the letters, but I'm pretty sure this is the right one. What I've got is: A DAY WILL COME or WILL COME A DAY."
"Will come a day, a day will come? Neither way makes much sense," DiCicco said, eyebrows knitted. "What did the first note say again?"
"The first note said: I WILL HURT YOU," Wallace continued. "But with this one, A DAY WILL COME, it almost sounds unfinished, like there's more to follow."
They all looked at each other, knowing exactly what Wallace meant when he suggested The Sandman's messages were unfinished.
"Okay, let's just take a deep breath and do our jobs," Caruso said.
Harris' phone rang and he looked at the caller. "It's downstairs," he said, referring to the police station front desk as he stepped away and took the call.
"Wallace," the Inspector said, "we haven't sent anything back to The Sandman since that message came in at four fifty-one this morning, right?"
"No sir."
"I want you guys to come up with a reply to him from Sting. We now know our killer has a type. These two girls could be sisters. Let's see if we can find out what makes him tick. He went dark there for so long, at least we've got him back talking. Maybe he'll feel like bragging, or something. See what you can do."
"Got it."
"The girl's car's been spotted," Harris said, stepping back in amongst them. "It's in the parking lot of the Valu-Mart on Oxford Street at Richmond. The doors are unlocked and there appears to be a bag of groceries visible through the hatch window. The patrol cops haven't touched it."
"Okay, Jock. You and Tony go and check it out. See what you can find out. It sounds like that's likely where the girl was taken. Be back here as soon as you can."
"Yes sir."
"Okay Chin," Pepper said as he reached over to his chair and grabbed his jacket. "Let's go pay a vis-"
The Inspector's cell phone rang, cutting Pepper short. "Hello." His eyes darted to the murder board, looking at the new picture that had been posted of Alicia Skinner. "Okay, we'll be there." He turned to Pepper, Wallace, and Chin. "It's Janssen-she wants to see us right away."
Every Breath You Take Page 42