We entered Residence Hall, and to our surprise, employees were behind the front desk. I assumed they were the building’s gatekeepers, which was perfect for us. That was a start and would give us somebody to talk to who might recognize our Jane Doe. Frank and I approached the counter and pulled out our badges. A perplexed expression crossed the face of the redhead on our left.
“Hello, Detectives. I’m sure you’re looking for the university police. Their department is in the Physical Plant Building southeast of us.”
I spoke up. “Actually, we aren’t looking for the police, but we may speak to them before we leave. The reason we’re here is because we need to track down a possible student.”
The redhead smiled. “That doesn’t sound too difficult. All I have to do is enter her name in the student database and see if she pops up.” She stared at me and waited.
I rubbed my chin. “There’s a slight problem. We don’t know her name, but we do have a photograph of her.”
A confused look spread on the face of Dena, a woman with black hair. “I guess we don’t understand. Do you actually know she’s a student here?”
Frank took over and tried to make the explanation clearer. “We don’t know that definitively, but she looks to be of college age, and she was found between the school and the CTA terminal.”
“Found? What—”
I interrupted. “What that means, ma’am, is that she’s dead, and there wasn’t any identification on her body.” I hated to sound so blunt, but tiptoeing around the subject wasn’t getting us anywhere. We needed to find out who she was as soon as possible so we could contact her family. “Can you look at the picture and tell us if she seems familiar to you?”
Both women nodded, and the dark-haired woman held out her hand. I placed my phone in her palm, and she looked at the photograph of the Jane Doe.
“Oh my Lord! That’s Callie Conway. She’s in several classes with my niece and is well-known on campus. Callie was an honor student and studying to be a nurse.”
I took notes as fast as Dena could talk.
“Does she live here, at Residence Hall?” Frank asked.
The redhead, Betsy, took her turn. “She stayed here during her first year, but now she rents a house off campus with three other girls.”
“Thank you. Now, would you happen to have that address?”
Betsy rolled back her chair and stood. “Give me a minute to pull her file.” We waited as Betsy walked behind the counter and entered a room that had Student Records centered across the door. She returned within a few minutes, carrying a folder. “Here we go. Callie Conway lives in the lower unit of a duplex just south of East Ninety-Sixth Street on South Prairie.”
We thanked her and left with the address in hand. Frank and I would check in with the roommates then talk to the university police if we felt it was warranted.
Five minutes later, we exited my car in front of a well-kept two-story brick house. Two doors stood side by side on the porch—the left went to Callie’s unit. Frank rang the buzzer, and we waited. The high-pitched barking behind the door made me groan.
“That’s an ankle-biter if I’ve ever heard one.”
Frank chuckled. “About the size of a football, I’d say.”
I had to laugh too. “Knock it off. You’d never punt a pup.”
After the dog’s barking ended, I heard the sound of approaching footsteps. I assumed the dog was placed in a different room.
Seconds later, the door opened until the chain lock stopped it at six inches. From the half of a young woman’s face that was visible, and her puffy left eye and tangled hair, we likely had woke her up. I glanced at my watch as Frank introduced us and showed her his badge. I imagined that at eight thirty in the morning, most young adults—especially after a Friday night out—were still asleep.
“Sorry to wake you, miss,” Frank continued, “but there are questions my partner and I need to ask you and your roommates.”
Her voice cracked when she spoke. “Why?” She looked over her shoulder. “Everyone is asleep as far as I know.”
“And we’d appreciate it if you’d wake them up. It’s important.”
She groaned then rubbed her eyes. “I’ll see what I can do.”
I held up my hand before she turned away. “Miss, this isn’t a request. We need to speak to everyone in the house now, so would you mind letting us in?”
“I guess.” After closing the door so she could disconnect the chain lock, she pulled it open. She gave the living room a frown. “Go ahead and sit if you can find a spot.”
I glanced at the mess. “We’re good, thanks.”
“Suit yourself. I’ll be right back.”
Frank and I waited silently. I wondered if all college kids were that indifferent to the appearance of their living quarters. Three open pizza boxes lay on the coffee table and couch, with pizza slices still in each of them. Booze bottles, beer cans, tipped-over plastic cups, and overflowing ashtrays indicated that a party had taken place the night before. Blankets that were wadded up on the floor began to move, and a groan sounded. Somebody had been sleeping under them.
“Hey,” Frank called out, “let’s see your face.”
A young man uncovered his head and peered out at us. “Who the hell are you?”
“The police, so wake your brain up. We have questions for everyone in the house.”
Moments later, the girl who had answered the door, three other females, and two males stumbled out of the bedrooms and entered the living room.
“Everyone have a seat.” I scanned the faces, and as we already knew, none were Callie Conway.
“Before anything, we need a name and address for each of you.” I pointed at the young man beneath the blanket. “Let’s start with you. Do you live here?”
“No. I was just too drunk last night to go home.”
Frank smirked. “So you’re all over twenty-one?”
Eyes darted from one to another.
“Um, no, but—”
“Don’t worry. We didn’t show up to bust you for underage drinking. What’s your name?”
“Jack Simpson.”
“So, who actually lives here?”
Three girls, including the one who answered the door, raised their hands. The rest of the group sat solemnly.
“Okay, names, please.” After collecting the names of everyone, and the addresses of the visitors, I asked if Callie Conway lived there.
Alisha, the girl who answered the door, spoke up. “Uh-huh, but she isn’t here.”
“Do you have any idea where she is or where she may have gone last night?”
Lilly added her two cents. “She went to a house party where her friend’s parents live. Apparently, they’re on vacation.”
Frank took over again. “Any idea who that person is or where the parents live?”
Everyone shrugged.
Lilly continued. “All I know is that the girl is somebody from one of Callie’s classes, but she lives in the dorm. She obviously couldn’t have the party there. I remember Callie saying it was her twentieth birthday.” Lilly looked to her friends. “She must have crashed there.”
I sucked in a breath and pulled my phone from my pocket. “Can all of you confirm that this is Callie?” I walked the room with my phone in hand.
Beth, the third roommate spoke up. “Yes, that’s Callie, but why do you have her picture on your phone?”
Alisha began to cry. “Why do you think, Beth? Callie is dead.” She wiped her eyes and stared at Frank and me. “Right? Callie is dead, isn’t she?”
I nodded. “I’m sorry to tell you, but yes, she is.”
The young men cursed, and the girls cried.
Frank raised his palms. “We need help from all of you. Do any of you have Callie’s parents’ phone number or know their address?”
They said they didn’t and only knew that the parents lived in Kenosha.
“Okay, how about their first names?”
Alisha remembered the mother’s name was Christine, but she couldn’t recall the father’s name. “We were housemates and had a few classes together, but none of us were best friends. I’m originally from Iowa, but the state university has a great nursing program. That’s how Callie and I got together.”
I wrote that down. “The university staff told us Callie was in the nursing program and that she was an honor student.”
Beth mentioned how bright Callie was. “She was way smarter than the rest of us and she always had the answers to everything.”
Jack took his turn. “How does somebody our age die? Callie wasn’t sick.”
“We’re homicide detectives, so I guess that explains things, but that’s all we can tell you. Did Callie mention anyone being angry with her?”
“Dude, we’re kids. Everything rolls off our backs.”
I smiled. “My name isn’t dude, son. It’s Detective McCord.”
“Sorry, man—I mean, Detective McCord.”
“So, that’s a no? Nobody has threatened Callie that any of you are aware of?”
They said no and had nothing more to add.
“Does Callie have a tablet or a laptop here?”
Alisha stood. “I’ll get her laptop.” She took the hallway to the last bedroom and retrieved the computer.
“Does she share that bedroom with one of you?”
Beth nodded. “Me.”
“Okay. I’m going to have some officers stop in and collect Callie’s personal effects. Until then, I don’t want anybody going in that bedroom. Understood?”
They said they did, and I stepped outside for a minute to call Lutz. He answered right away.
“Jesse, what have you found out?”
“We have her name, Boss—it’s Callie Conway—and right now, we’re at the house she shares with three other girls. We’re just down the street from you guys. Frank and I are going to take her laptop back to the station with us and have Tech take a look at it. We’ll need a few officers from the scene to come here and clear the bedroom of her personal items and bring them back to the station too. Since she shared a bedroom with another roommate, we don’t want anything of Callie’s to go missing.”
“Understood. Text me the address, and I’ll send a few officers over right away. I’m about to head back to the precinct myself. So, where was Callie from?”
“Her parents live in Kenosha. One of the roommates said her mom’s name is Christine, but they didn’t know the dad’s name.”
“Okay, I’ll track them down and give them the bad news.”
I ended the call by telling Lutz we’d wait at the house for the officers to arrive. I swiped the screen and disconnected the call. Back inside, I had a few more questions for the kids. “Does anyone know how Callie got to that party last night? Did she get picked up?”
Nobody knew for sure, but they did say that all of them used the L often, and from the Ninety-Fifth Street station, the only way to go was north.
“Does anybody know what time she left?”
Another round of shrugs and head shakes were aimed our way. Those kids weren’t making our job easy. That was a fact. As we waited for the officers to arrive, I handed out my cards, and Frank asked more questions about Callie. We needed to know who her closest friends were since there was a chance that they could have gone to the party with her. We’d make another stop at the university before heading to the precinct.
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.