As I left the parking lot, my mind went to Hanna and how she’d recently been talking about putting her house up for sale. I was pretty certain her love of the home had waned after we were held captive by Josh Stevens there, not to mention the gunfire that ensued afterward. I couldn’t blame her, and since we’d designed the complete remodeling of my house together, she had a vested interest in living there. Ten minutes later, my ringing phone pulled me from my thoughts. I looked at the screen, and it was Lutz.
Why the hell is he calling?
I pressed the icon on my steering wheel and answered before the second ring. “Hey, Boss. Did you forget to tell me something?”
“No, but I’m ready to contact Gaines if you want to continue heading home.”
I knew what that meant—a case had come in, and I was about to turn around. I sucked in a deep breath and asked the next question. “What’s up?”
“A call just got patched through to me from Commander Lewis at the eighteenth district. A 911 call came into his precinct from the Gold Coast area, and he apparently wanted to notify me because of the similarities to our current cases.”
“Similarities? That doesn’t sound good.”
“There’s been another execution-style killing, Jesse.”
“What the hell is going on? All of these cases have to be related, Bob. We’ve never come across three murders in as many days that all have the same MO.” I heard Lutz’s sigh through the phone and knew he was on his way to the scene. There were many times I worried about my boss. He was in his mid-fifties, worked harder than necessary, regularly ate vending machine food, and got very little sleep. It all concerned me. “You’re heading to the scene, aren’t you?”
“I have to since the likelihood of all these cases being connected is high.”
“Then text me the address. I’m on my way too.”
I reached the scene on North Clark Street twenty minutes later. The nose of a Mercedes sedan was pressed against a tree in the green space between the street and the sidewalk. As I peered out my window, I saw neighbors standing in their yards and watching the commotion unfolding in front of them. Officers had already taped off the scene around the car, and as I parked and exited my truck, I scanned the area, looking for a familiar face. My name was called out, and I turned to my left. Lutz was with a woman inside a courtyard garden two houses beyond the spot where the Mercedes sat. I headed in their direction.
Lutz rose from the wrought iron chair and introduced me to the woman—the deceased man’s wife. “Mrs. Hunt, this is my lead detective, Jesse McCord. He’ll be working hand in hand with me on the case.”
I was surprised to see a woman who barely looked thirty yet lived in a multimillion-dollar mansion. What appeared to be confusion spread across her face, and then she spoke through her sobs.
“I don’t understand. The street is filled with local police officers, yet you two are from the Wentworth station, almost nine miles away. Why is your district taking over my husband’s murder, Commander Lutz?”
I gave Bob a side-eyed glance and kept quiet.
“Ma’am, there have been several similar cases in our jurisdiction, so Commander Lewis wanted our input. If your husband’s death isn’t deemed to be related, the case will revert back to the Eighteenth District Police Department.”
She nodded as if satisfied with that answer. Lutz tipped his head, and I stepped away with him. He spoke quietly as he updated me.
“Apparently, Mrs. Hunt was interviewed by the first responder a half hour ago. She didn’t even know what had happened until a neighbor banged on her door and said Mr. Hunt’s car had crashed against a tree several hundred feet away.”
“What’s the story with the neighbor?”
Lutz shrugged. “Just someone who went outside to walk their dog and recognized the car. They saw Mr. Hunt slumped over and called 911 as they rushed to the house to tell Mrs. Hunt about it.”
I looked around the well-to-do neighborhood. “I imagine it’s normally quiet and pretty safe in this neck of the woods.”
“Yep, and I was told they even have a private security company that patrols the area every few hours.”
“Humph. Wonder when they came by last.”
“I’ll check into it.” Lutz looked past me at Mrs. Hunt. “Anyway, I want you to get that neighbor over here and interview him and Mrs. Hunt together. I want specific details about every second until the police arrived.”
“Sure, not a problem.”
Lutz headed back to the Mercedes, where Don, Mike, and Danny were going over the scene. I found Crawford and asked him to locate the 911 caller and bring him to me. I tipped my head toward the victim’s home. “I’ll be in the courtyard with Mrs. Hunt.”
After taking a seat across from the distraught woman, I explained that we were waiting for her neighbor because I wanted to speak to them together. She asked me to call her Amanda.
I nodded. “Of course, if that’s what you’d prefer.”
Several minutes passed, then I saw Crawford and another man coming our way. The neighbor was introduced as Matt Henley, and I didn’t see a dog with him. I figured he’d taken it home.
I pointed at the vacant chair next to Amanda. “Have a seat, Mr. Henley.” After he sat and appeared comfortable, I pulled my notepad from my pocket. I looked from one face to the other and began. “I’d like to hear the details of tonight to the best of your recollection, and we’ll start with Mr. Henley.” I gave him a nod to go ahead.
“Oh, um.”
“Take your time, sir, and just say what happened when you left your house.”
“Okay, that should be easy enough. I walk Snickers around the block every night between seven thirty and eight. After that, he settles in for the evening.”
“Sure, and then what?”
“We were only outside for a few minutes. I live four houses down on the opposite side of the street, and as soon as we cleared the yard, I saw the car smashed against the tree. I didn’t know Ted well, but we did chat now and then when I walked the dog. Usually, it was when he slowed to turn in to the driveway, and that’s why I recognized the car.”
“So you approached the vehicle as soon as you saw it?”
“Yes, since it was obvious something was wrong. When I reached the car, I saw Ted slumped over the console. With the window halfway down, it was easy to see that he was injured.”
I frowned. “The window was halfway down?”
Matt rubbed his chin. “Maybe a little more than halfway, but yes, that’s correct. The window was lowered.”
I placed a check mark next to that notation since it was worth checking into. The lowered window could mean Ted was talking to someone.
Matt continued when I looked up.
“As soon as I realized he was badly injured, I called 911 and ran to their house. From the Hunt home, you wouldn’t be able to see where the Mercedes came to rest.” Matt looked at Amanda then shook his head. “That’s when I told her what had happened.” Matt stared at his folded hands and spoke quietly. “It was obvious by the blood that he was in bad shape, but I didn’t know he had already passed.”
I glanced at Mrs. Hunt, who was dabbing her tear-stained cheeks. “And then what happened, Amanda?”
“What? Oh, I’m sorry. I guess I’m still in a state of disbelief.”
“And that’s completely understandable.”
“Okay, so I heard a banging on the door and went to answer it. I thought Ted might have locked himself out. Instead, I saw Matt yelling frantically about the car being smashed against a tree and saying that Ted was injured. I assumed he had gotten hurt from the collision. I grabbed my phone to call 911, but Matt said he already had.” She shook her head. “It’s all a blur after that. I think I slipped on my shoes and ran outside to the car. There was so much blood on the seats, I knew that couldn’t have come from the crash. I mean the front bumper was pushed in and the hood was crunched, but Ted’s injuries were far more serious than anything that accident could have caused. The police showed up within five minutes and walked me back here, and I haven’t left this spot since.”
“Do you and Ted have children together?”
“No, but he has two adult children I’ll have to notify. Ted and I had only been married for three years. I know you’ll check into it, anyway, so I’ll tell you now, we had a prenup. His kids insisted on it given the fact that I’m the ‘much younger’ wife.”
“So they weren’t pleased about the marriage?”
Amanda shrugged. “What spoiled rich kids ever are? They always assume the marriage is about the money. Sure, Ted was twenty years my senior, but we were deeply in love.” She wiped her eyes again. “Detective McCord, you will find my husband’s killer and bring him to justice, won’t you?”
“Our police force is going to do everything in our power to make sure that happens, ma’am. Meanwhile, I’d like you to stay here, at your house. Our crime lab and the medical examiner have the area around the car blocked off so they can conduct their preliminary exam.” I handed both her and Matt one of my cards and thanked them for their input. “I’ll have an officer sit with you, Mrs. Hunt, and if you need to notify family and friends, go ahead. I’ll give you a call in the morning with updates and likely a few more questions.”
“Detective McCord, how exactly did Ted die?”
“We don’t have that information yet, ma’am, and we can’t release specific details during an ongoing investigation. The medical examiner will complete his report and make it available to us sometime tomorrow. I’ll call you and share what information I can as soon as I have it.”
She nodded and thanked me. I walked with Matt in the direction of the Mercedes. He’d pointed down the street.
“That brick house there with the porch light on is mine. I’m available anytime if you need to speak to me again.”
I thanked him and turned in the direction of Lutz, Don, and our forensic guys. I needed to hear what Don had to say.