Chapter Six

By the time Elijah left the office at the end of the day, Sanchez had got back to him about a few things. Apparently, Clayton had remembered nothing more about the voice which was driving her to distraction. The first two men on Bennett’s list still looked clean, other than a few harmless parking tickets. She found the same during an initial look at Bentley, but promised to look deeper the following day.

He went to bed early to catch up on his sleep and was glad he had when the phone rang at two a.m. A dead woman had been discovered in her parked car outside an upscale nightclub in the east end. He’d been contacted once the first officer on scene had found the body with three bullet wounds identical to Sylvia Bennett’s. Wishing for a break rarely worked. He sat on the side of the bed for a minute, trying to summon some energy.

Once in the car, it took him another frustrating twenty minutes to make it to the club. Even in the middle of the night, when most of the public were snug in their beds, the crime had attracted a lot of attention. Civilians and multiple news crews cluttered up the approach to the crime scene. Parking as close as he could, he climbed out of his car and headed over, ignoring the shouted questions as gathered reporters recognized him. He crossed the asphalt parking lot and ducked under the yellow crime scene tape.

A local patrolman he recognized hurried up to him. Tall and stocky, Seth Parker nodded a greeting, his uniform stretching over broad shoulders. A hard-working cop who’d been on the streets for a few years, he knew his stuff. “Seth,” he said, shaking his hand. “What have we got?”

“An anonymous caller phoned and told dispatch a lady in this parking lot needed assistance. We checked her pulse to be sure, but she’s been dead a while. When we saw her wounds, we called it in and waited for you. Crime scene is three minutes out, medical examiner right behind them.”

“Great. Thanks.”

“How’s Sanchez?”

“Not too happy to be left out of the action, but she’s doing well.” He walked and took a closer look at the scene, the other man at his side. He saw the blonde hair first, cascading down to end at the top of her breasts. As he moved closer, he saw she wore the quintessential little black dress with blood saturating the front. The glare from the light above allowed him to differentiate between black material and the blotch of dark red. He could barely see the details of her pale face because she had slumped forward from the impact of the bullets. “Anyone see anything?”

“Not that we’ve found thus far. It was getting close to closing when we arrived, and most people had already left.”

He turned to scan the crowd. “Were you able to catch any other patrons before they left?”

“There were only two customers left by the time I sent a man in. Both women. They’re waiting for permission to go home. Said they didn’t even notice her.”

“Check their identification, verify their personal information and let them go home. I’ll contact them tomorrow. Have the staff wait.” He knew they’d grumble and complain, but they might have noticed something important.

“Will do.”

The crime scene van showed up, disgorging three technicians who got right down to work. They were closely followed by the medical examiner who climbed out, an annoyed frown creasing his face. Who could blame him? Come dawn, he still had a full work day and a dozen corpses lying in wait for his arrival. He needed a new assistant.

Elijah stood back and allowed them to do their jobs. Before the doctor released the body, he had a final look. “She’s only been dead about an hour, Elijah,” Dr. Hayes said. “He’s getting cocky.” Her leather purse lay on the seat beside her where the technician had left it. After confirming they had dusted it, Elijah put on gloves and opened it. A slender wallet, a few makeup tubes and a cellphone waited there.

Inside her slim wallet, he found a few credit cards and her driver’s license. Her name was Alia Marks, thirty-eight years old. A quick online check proved his suspicion; another well-known professional woman. She was a successful fashion designer at the top of her game.

Not anymore.

He waited as the medical examiner released the body. The attendants loaded it on the gurney and trundled it away. A number of onlookers taking cellphone pictures of the poor woman’s body depressed him. When did people turn into vultures fighting over a corpse? It demonstrated an astounding lack of empathy that seemed like the norm these days.

He watched as her immaculate luxury car was loaded onto a truck bed, then, ignoring shouted questions from the press, made his way into the nightclub. The interior was almost glaring, but it might have been his tired eyes. Elegant black and white décor was everywhere, the stark colors broken only by vases of pale pink roses.

Seth waved him over to an imposing man who wore an expensive designer suit along with a pronounced frown. His slicked back hair and manicured nails equaled a professional appearance that made him the likely manager. “Black, this is Roger Corrigan. He’s the manager of this club. Mr. Corrigan, Detective Black is in charge of this investigation.”

The man gave him a once over, swiping a practiced hand over his platinum hair. “Detective Black.” He shook his hand. “I’m not sure how we can help you. Apparently, no one in here saw anything.”

“Did you know Ms. Marks personally?”

“Not well, but I recognize her. She’s a regular.”

“And she was alone tonight? She didn’t arrive with anyone?”

“That’s correct. She had drinks with a few of our other regulars, then left. That appears to be her normal routine.”

He scanned around for cameras, not seeing any. “Do you have any security measures?”

“No cameras inside. Our patrons expect us to provide the highest level of privacy.”

“How about outside?”

“Yes, we have a camera on each corner of the building and one by the entrance.”

As he wondered how to best deal with them, Seth stepped up. “If you like, I can take care of them for you. I’m a bit of an E-geek.”

At least he wouldn’t have to worry about fumbling along without his partner. “That would be great. Let me know if you find anything worth pursuing.”

While Seth took charge of the electronics, Elijah spoke to each of the eleven staff members left waiting in the staff lounge, but none had anything interesting to contribute. With help from Seth’s partner and a few others, he processed everyone and let them go home. The usual grumbles followed them out. When he turned a few minutes later, Seth was waiting, a DVD in his outstretched hand. “I got a copy for you to check out, but all you can see is a figure dressed in black, head to toe. The entire attack took about thirty seconds before he made his escape.”

“Thanks. We’ll let the technicians take a look at it. Maybe they can enhance it and see something that might help.”

At just after seven a.m., they wrapped up the scene and he and Seth headed to a nearby breakfast joint for some food. He treated, because he was happy Seth had been around to help keep things together. They relaxed in a back booth and ignored the other diners. “Thanks for logging in the overtime on this. I appreciate the help.”

Seth rested his forearms on the table. “You’re welcome. You got much on this guy yet? He seems to have a major grudge against the ladies.”

“Still in the early stages, but, no, not much yet.”

“We can at least estimate his height from tonight’s footage.”

He was impressed Seth had caught that. “You’re right. That’s something at least.”

They ordered eggs, bacon, and toast, avoiding the temptation of more fattening options. A waitress left them with a jug of coffee to save herself extra trips. The piping hot food appeared within ten minutes, and they dug in. Pausing between mouthfuls, Seth said, “I heard your partner got engaged. What, did getting shot rattle her?”

“I think she just realized she was wasting precious time. Ray’s a good man for her.”

“Big Italian guy, right? Wasn’t he on the force for a while?”

“Yes. He has a job as head of hotel security now.”

Seth poured them each more coffee. “Did I hear you paid a visit to Jarvis Bentley the other day?”

The question caught him by surprise. “Is that what you heard?” He met the other man’s gaze, curious about the reason for his question.

“Hey, you don’t have to tell me anything about your case. I know it’s high profile.” He met his gaze. “The thing is, I have a friend who mentioned she saw you going into his office. I was thinking about calling you, but things have been hectic. I didn’t want to butt in when it might not mean anything.”

“Do you know something about Jarvis Bentley I should be aware of?”

He shrugged. “My sister manages a nice restaurant downtown, and she had a run in with him. I had to have a little talk to him, man to man, to straighten him out.”

Interesting. “Can I assume this was a no-fists conversation?”

He grinned. “You can. It was tempting, though. He’s a slimy sonofabitch, despite all the fancy clothes.”

“What exactly did he do?”

“He was at the restaurant for a lunch meeting with some other men. After they left, he asked her out for dinner. She said no, thanks, she was involved with someone.” Anger made his jaw tighten.

“Did he push his luck?”

He nodded. “When she left to go home that night, he followed her to her place. She told him to get lost, and he shoved her up against the car. Held her so tight, she had bruises around her arms.”

“Did she call 911?”

“Nah, she kneed him in the gonads.” A smile glimmered, lightening his expression. “My sister’s nobody’s fool. Anyway, she told me, and I felt the need to intervene. I just had a pointed conversation with him and told him to back off.”

“That’s more restraint than most brothers would have shown under the circumstances.”

“Thanks. If he hadn’t stopped, I might have reported him whether she liked it or not.” He shrugged. “Anyway, you can see why I wasn’t sure I should say something. Women deal with this shit every day, but, if you’re looking into him, I thought I should give you a heads up.”

“I appreciate it, Seth. I’ll get Sanchez to delve a little deeper.”

Driving back to the precinct, he thought about what Seth had told him. Was Bentley a strong suspect or just another sex-starved moron?

He arrived back at his desk and took a moment to text his partner this new information. Right after that, he received a text telling him the autopsy would take place at two p.m. They had been pushed almost to the front of the line because of the likelihood of another connected murder soon.

Tracking down leads took most of the afternoon. As before, the results from the autopsy were depressing. These scenes were so clean, as if they’d been sanitized. Other than determining the killer’s approximate height, five-nine to five-ten, from the security footage, there was nothing more to be found.

****

Saturday night, Elijah didn’t have as much time to get ready for his date as he wanted. He had spent most of the day either working or studying the material on his six possible donation options. While he had a few minutes, he set up a visit to the first facility.

After grabbing a quick shower, he climbed into the freshly ironed khakis and blue polo shirt he’d chosen the previous night. He’d forgotten to buy a gift bag for the wine, but he didn’t think Sanchez would care. With one last check in the hallway mirror, he left the house.

Arriving at Dayle’s stylish apartment complex a few minutes early, he was surprised to find her already waiting in the lobby. Pleasure flickered through him at the sight of her as the doorman opened the door and she came outside. She wore a simple turquoise cotton skirt that brushed her ankles paired with a white silk blouse. Silver earrings hung from her earlobes. Her long, dark hair hung down around her shoulders, tamed by a simple band.

He exited the car and strode up to her. “Hi. You could have waited upstairs.”

“I’m always early.” She smiled. “It’s a curse or a gift, depending on your perspective. I thought I may as well save you the trouble of coming up.”

Taking the plastic covered plate of cookies she carried, he placed it on the floorboards in back. He opened the passenger door for her, surprised at the case of unfamiliar nerves dancing up his back. On the short drive to his partner’s place, they talked mostly about the engaged couple and how Sanchez was feeling.

“Ours isn’t a gentle world, is it?” she said.

“I’m afraid not.”

By the time they arrived, they could hear laughter guiding the way down the hall. The party had already started. Inside the open door, they found Sanchez perched on the sofa, like a queen surrounded by her subjects. She looked less pale and better rested, the shadows gone from under her eyes. Dressed head-to-toe in bright orange, she kept everyone’s attention from her nest. He worked his way to her, pulling Dayle along by the hand. He introduced them and saw Sanchez eye her. “Nice to meet ya. Like your skirt.”

“Oh, thanks. I wanted something comfy and fun.” She stopped to admire his partner’s ring which sparkled under the lights. The single diamond was surrounded by a swirl of gold. “It’s beautiful.”

“Thanks. He did a good job pickin’ it out.”

He glanced around. “Where’s Ray?”

“In the kitchen. You can leave the wine and dessert there. He’ll take care of it.”

Some other women showed up to inspect her ring, so they moved to the kitchen. Ray kissed Dayle on each cheek with an enthusiastic smack, startling her. “Look at this beauty!” he said, holding both her hands. He looked at Elijah. “Man, your taste is improving.”

“It certainly is,” he replied, handing him the cookies and wine to add to the other plates and bottles on the crowded counter. Ray gave Dayle the third degree until another arriving couple distracted him.

The party proved to be everything he expected: loud and fun. Surprised to see how easily Dayle fit in, he stayed at her side as they worked her way around the crowded room. Knowing he had a tendency to sit and study rather than participate, he tried his best to take part for her sake. It ended up to be quite relaxing. They drank lightly, sampling several dishes and desserts throughout the evening.

They left around midnight when the booze-inspired singing started. If the neighbors weren’t in attendance, the noise level might have been a problem. He realized Dayle was humming one of the songs blaring out as they rode the elevator down. “I hope I didn’t drag you out of there too early,” he said. “My ears were starting to ring.”

“Oh, no, it was perfect. They really are a fun group of people.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed yourself.”

“I especially liked your partner and Ray. She seems like such a firecracker, but her eyes are so expressive. And Ray, he just likes everyone, doesn’t he?”

“Yes. They’re good people. It was nice not to have work interrupt for a change. I guess miracles happen now and then.”

Reaching ground level, they strolled outside and down the street. They transitioned from bright light to dim on the way to his car. Elijah’s eyes scanned their surroundings from habit. He noticed she did the same thing, and he mentioned it as they climbed into the car. “You can never be too careful,” she replied. “I guess our jobs teach us that every day.”

They discussed the constant demands of their careers on the short drive home. Although she said he could drop her off at the entrance, he insisted on seeing her to her door. She greeted the doorman with a smile as they moved past him to the elevator. The trip to the seventh floor was quick. After she opened the door to her apartment, he leaned to kiss her cheek. “I hope we can do this again soon.”

Her gaze met his. “I’d like that very much.”

He watched as she closed the door, waited until he heard the lock slide shut. That had been the most relaxed date he’d had in years. And, better yet, she’d said she’d be willing to do it again. Simple chemistry had been there in the way she smiled at him.

He mused about it on the drive home. His heavy workload might be easier to handle if he actually had some kind of social life outside the job. And her hours were as exhausting as his, so she shouldn’t find the constant interruptions out of the ordinary.

Smiling, he realized Sanchez would call him in the morning, asking how the date went.

For a change, he would have positive news to tell her.