The chicken salad sandwich and bag of chips from the vending machine would hold me over until supper. I tipped my wrist and checked the time—Callie’s parents were due to arrive any minute, and Lutz wanted me to sit in on their meeting. With my notepad securely tucked in my pocket for reference, I wolfed down my food then walked the hallway to my commander’s office.
Mr. and Mrs. Conway hadn’t arrived yet, giving Lutz and me time to discuss what we had on the investigation up to that point—Callie’s family would definitely ask.
“When was the last time you spoke to Henry?”
With a twist, Lutz cracked open the plastic bottle top and took a swig of water. “Ten minutes ago, but I better check again. They need to locate Callie and follow her out of the terminal until the camera range ends. Somebody saw her on the L and realized she was half in the bag, which made her an easy target.”
“Or it was a random person who saw her walking alone and jumped at the opportunity.”
Lutz furrowed his brows. “Do murderers walk around in the middle of the night, hoping to come across someone to kill? My money says they ride the rails and pick the victim in advance.”
“Sure, but I can see both scenarios working. The killer doesn’t know if the woman will exit the train alone, if she’ll catch a rideshare, or if somebody is waiting to walk home with her, but if they see her alone a few blocks from the station, then all bets are off. She’s easy pickings.”
Lutz groaned. “Yeah, it could go either way.” He picked up the receiver, stretched the cord across his desk, tapped Henry’s number, and pressed Speakerphone.
“Anything yet?”
“Boss, we just spotted Callie exiting the train. Shawn has eyes on her right now.”
“What’s the time?”
“Hang on.”
We heard Henry talking to Shawn, then he returned to the phone. “She got off the train at two forty-seven.”
“Yep, and that fits with Don’s TOD estimate.”
I cut in. “Henry, it’s Jesse. Does it look like anyone is following her?”
“Not really. About ten people exited her car, and they all went separate ways.”
“Shit. Then maybe a random person did see her walking alone and decided to rob her. She may have resisted and he killed her—a robbery gone bad.”
“Bad for her, yes, but not for him. I’d say if it was an intended robbery, the crook got away with exactly what he was after.”
Lutz took over. “Keep following her with the cameras until you can’t see her anymore. Take note of her route, and then we’ll look for more cameras beyond the terminal.”
“Roger that.”
We heard voices getting closer. Debra was leading Mr. and Mrs. Conway to Lutz’s office. When they entered, Bob and I rose from our chairs. Debra made the introductions and left. We shook their hands and said our condolences. I pulled a folding chair from the coat closet and offered the guest chairs to Callie’s parents.
“Please, folks, have a seat.” Bob dropped to his chair with an audible sigh. “I’m sure you have questions that we can’t answer yet, but we’ll share what we know.”
“And we appreciate that, Commander Lutz,” Dan Conway said. He squeezed his wife’s hand as they appeared to brace themselves for the worst.
Lutz repeated the short version of what he’d told them over the phone earlier that day. Now, the details came into play, and they weren’t what any parent wanted to hear, although people always demanded to know everything.
“Callie was discovered by a jogger early this morning around daybreak. She was lying on the sidewalk just over a block from home. Since our earlier conversation, we’ve learned that she attended a party at the Regency Condos at Millennium Park last night and then took the Red Line home.”
Christine cried into her hands. “We’ve warned her that riding the L late at night is dangerous.”
I took my turn. “We don’t have evidence yet that the attack came from another passenger. Somebody walking at that time of night could have seen an opportunity to rob her, and the fact that she didn’t have a purse or a phone on her body when she was found leads us to believe that robbery could have been a possible motive.”
“As opposed to what?” Dan asked. “Is there a murderer roaming the streets near the university that the public hasn’t been told about?”
Lutz raised his hands. “Not at all, sir. We’re checking every possibility. That’s all.”
“How did she die?” Christine asked. “I want the truth, not the sugar-coated version.”
I glanced at Lutz and waited for his response.
“Callie was stabbed, and she’d lost too much blood by the time she was discovered. I’m so sorry.”
“Do you have any leads, Commander?”
“Not yet, sir. It’s very early in the investigation, but I have my best detectives working the case.”
Christine dabbed her eyes. “We need to see our daughter, and I want to take her home.”
“I’ll call downstairs and have our medical examiner get her ready to ID, and then he’ll make the arrangements to have Callie transported to a funeral home of your choice.” Lutz stood. “If you’ll excuse me for just a minute.”
As we waited for Bob’s return, I thought of recent murder cases that involved stabbings. As soon as I got back to the bullpen, I’d go through our records to see if any of the murders were similar to Callie’s.
Bob was back in minutes. “Right this way, folks. I’ll take you downstairs, and the medical examiner will show Callie to you. There will be papers to sign, and he’ll go over that afterward in his office.”
As they walked out, Bob turned back and whispered for me to stay put, so I did and took that time to call Frank.
“Henry spotted Callie getting off the train,” I said as soon as Frank answered.
“That’s good news. Finally, we have one thing we can cross off the list. And then what?”
“And then nothing yet. Henry didn’t see anyone following her. Lutz said to keep their eyes on her until they run out of camera real estate. That’s where a handful of officers will come in and help check the neighboring streets for cameras. If somebody was following her, they’d be caught on a camera as they passed.”
“Hell, I’ll take that task since I’m not good at sitting around anyway.”
I knew how Frank felt. I’d rather be pounding the pavement and talking to potential witnesses, too, instead of pushing a pen, and as soon as Frank returned, I would let Lutz know we’d be happy to volunteer for that assignment.
“Okay, I’ll keep you posted.” I hung up when I heard footsteps closing in on Lutz’s office.
Seconds later, Bob walked in and dropped down in his chair. “That’s never easy.”
I had to agree. “So why did you leave the room to call Don?”
Lutz rubbed his forehead. “I wanted to make sure Callie was only exposed from her chin up. I explained that her folks hadn’t been told she was nearly decapitated. I also wanted to make sure Don informed the funeral home of Callie’s condition, too, so there wouldn’t be any surprises.”
“Got it. Frank and I will volunteer to walk the neighborhood once Henry pinpoints a location where they lose track of Callie.”
“Chair getting uncomfortable?”
“Damn right it is.”
Lutz tipped his wrist—12:49. “Let’s get an update from Henry and Shawn.” He dialed Henry’s phone and set the receiver back on the base after pressing Speakerphone. “Did you run out of cameras yet?”
“Yeah, unfortunately, we did. She disappeared into the darkness on Ninety-Fifth Street just before State.”
“Okay, logically, she’d take Ninety-Fifth to South Prairie and turn right. Her house is a block and a half down.”
I checked the distance on my phone as Lutz talked. “It’s just over a half-mile walk, and I’m sure she’d want to stay in the better-lit areas.”
Henry added his opinion. “At that time of night, there isn’t much open, and the area around the terminal isn’t that great. People could be driving around looking for opportunities, especially if they see a young woman walking by herself.”
“There have to be plenty of cameras along the way on Ninety-Fifth Street,” I said.
“Sure, at corner stores and fast-food joints, but she was found on her own quiet street, where there aren’t people or much traffic out at that time of night.”
Lutz groaned. “True enough, but we have to check all possibilities. I’m sending Frank and Jesse out to help you and Shawn. I want every working camera along Ninety-Fifth Street up to South Prairie checked out. Callie’s assailant came from somewhere.”