The next morning Jake and Frank made a trip to the Lake Bluff Country Club. They had reviewed the list of past and current employees but had not found Donna’s name.
Collin greeted them in his customary golf attire. “Gentlemen, please have a seat.” He motioned to the chairs in front of an ornately carved desk. All of the desk accessories were of the same dark wood and there was an expensive-looking crystal golf ball that served as a paperweight. “I hear you have identified the body.”
Jake set a photograph on the desk in front of Collin. “Donna Oberweiss. Do you recognize her?”
Collin shook his head. “Sorry. She doesn’t look familiar.”
“Here’s an extra copy. It would help if you could post it somewhere, have your employees take a look. They might remember her stopping in for lunch, maybe even applying for a job here. She has been a waitress for a number of years.”
Collin studied the picture, his trimmed brows furrowed. Jake thought he was either putting on a good act or he was truly trying to jog his memory and be of some help. “I’ll certainly have everyone on staff take a look. I understand she was strangled. A horrible way to die.” He set the picture down, then poured himself a glass of water. He held up the pitcher but the detectives declined. “Unfortunately, I didn’t even do the interviewing of all the applicants. I was mainly concerned that the grounds crew was top notch. I knew what questions to ask them to verify they knew what they were doing. But kitchen staff, waitresses, pro shop, I left that to others. I hired the managers but let them pick their staff.”
This got Frank’s attention. “You have a very good grapevine, Mister Revere.”
“Right to the mayor’s office. He was concerned the minute he heard about the body being discovered, especially during a police and fire department golf outing. So I asked him to keep me updated on the case and he has. Trust me, I haven’t told anyone, not even my wife.”
“Is she a golfer?” Jake asked, trying to keep the conversation light.
“Just now taking it up. She was always a tennis player but the principle of the swing is basically the same. She says she likes the size of the tennis ball better,” he added with a smile. Behind Collin on his credenza was a photo of an attractive blonde woman with a son and daughter in their teens.
“Does she stop in on occasion? Might she have had the opportunity to run across the victim?” Frank flashed a congenial smile that didn’t say, “Did your jealous wife kill your girlfriend?” But they already knew a woman couldn’t have had the strength needed to strangle the victim as Donna had been strangled.
“I doubt it. She will be in today and she will see the photo on the board so I’ll definitely ask her.”
Jake patted his pocket, then turned to Frank. “Damn, left my cigarettes in the car.”
“Here.” Collin opened his desk drawer, pulled out a pack of Winstons and shook one out. “Take one of mine. Smoking is only allowed in the bar, though. And, of course, outside.”
“Well, that was as smooth as the wax on your ‘57 Chevy,” Frank said as they headed to the parking lot.
Jake checked the cigarette. “Same brand found near the victim.” But, as Sam had said, anyone could have picked it out of the trash and tossed it there. He was still waiting on a report from the telephone company to see if Donna made or received any calls to Collin Revere.
<><>
“Hey, Sam. How’s it going?” Benny signed a report on a clipboard, then led Sam into his office.
“Fine. Captain Robinson asked me to follow up on a closed case.”
“Closed one?”
“Closed in the department’s eye. Not so closed for the deceased’s husband.”
“Forrest Johnson. I remember that case.” He walked over to a wall of filing cabinets and pulled out a drawer. “Hope you don’t want to see autopsy photos because they weren’t pretty. She was hit by a truck doing seventy. Broke just about every bone in her body, collapsed her lungs, ruptured organs, you name it.”
“I just want to read your report. Please, no photos.”
Sam reached into the pocket of her tunic top and pulled out a packet of crackers, then stared as though wondering how they got there. Did she grab them on her way out this morning? Was she going through pregnancy motions without realizing it? She hadn’t even had a twinge of morning sickness but for some reason she had grabbed the packet before leaving the house. Was it something to curb her hourly hunger pains? She quickly tossed them into the garbage can next to Benny’s desk.
“Here you go. She was just twenty-six years old. I’m sure what you are looking for is the tox screen.”
“Any drugs at all in her system?”
“Nothing. No stomach contents either. She hadn’t had breakfast much less a cup of coffee.”
“What about any bruises?”
Benny stared at her over the top of his bifocals. “Did I mention she was hit by a truck?”
“Other bruises. Maybe older, maybe healed fractures.”
“You looking for spousal abuse?”
“I’m looking for a logical explanation.”
“This,” Benny waved the file folder, “is the logical explanation. Your specialty is finding the illogical. I read the police report thoroughly as well as the eyewitness reports. Everything just seemed too surreal about the case. She didn’t stagger when she walked. She moved with a purpose, the one beat cop and several onlookers reported. I even did a second tox screen to pick up any anomalies but that came back negative too. Wish I could be of more help.”
An Asian woman in a lab coat walked in with a package. “Excuse me, Doctor Lau. This is the evidence bag from the Oberweiss case.”
“Thank you, Anya.” Benny placed the bag on his desk. It contained a purse, wallet, as well as credit cards and a driver’s license. He pulled latex gloves from a box on his desk, and slipped them on. Then he opened the bag and spilled out the contents.
“Nice purse.” It was a small shoulder bag in a leopard skin pattern.
“That strap is what was used to strangle the victim.”
“The killer used her purse?” Out of instinct, Sam grabbed a pair of latex gloves and slipped them on. This was Jake’s case. She shouldn’t be injecting herself into it but if she could glean any insight that would help him, she doubted he would mind. There was a faint rush of sounds as Sam closed her hand around the purse. Benny’s voice faded into the background as he described the Camaro and Suey’s findings. But Sam paid little attention because as her fingers clasped the strap of the purse, the strap that the killer had slipped around Donna’s neck to strangle her, Sam heard a whisper, just one word, but it was clear and distinct—destiny.