Sam sat in her Jeep in the parking lot of Precinct Three. Since leaving Flo’s apartment she had re-read the police report on Nina Logesta and couldn’t believe the investigating officers had never questioned Flo much less knocked on her door. Even when she offered them information, according to Flo, Detective Sal Marino had dismissed her. Marino’s partner at the time was Reese Banks. Although she didn’t know Marino, she could recognize Banks. He played racquetball with Andy Brainard, or at least he used to when she had worked at the Sixth. He was the only guy with a full head of white hair at the age of thirty. He also drove a yellow Charger, the vehicle that was parked next to her Jeep. A quick phone call to Andy confirmed that Reese was no longer partnered with Marino. He was now with the swat team.
At fifteen minutes after, a cluster of cops erupted from the side door. Sam could spot the full head of white hair. Reese was walking with two uniformed police. He had a gym bag in one hand. As he approached his car, Sam pressed the button for the passenger window to roll down. Reese caught the action and peered in.
“Hey, Reese. Gotta minute?”
Reese looked puzzled for a few moments, his eyes glancing at her legs, then her face. “Must be my lucky day.”
Sam leaned over and pushed the door open. “Sam Casey. I used to work at the Sixth with Andy. Climb in.”
Reese looked around the lot for some reason, then climbed in.
“I need to ask you a few questions about the Nina Logesta case.” The file folder was propped up on the center console.
“I’m not in that department anymore.”
“I know, but you worked the case. Or I should say Marino worked the case and you tagged along.”
Not quite the way Sam meant for it to sound. Whatever trust she had hoped to cobble together was starting to spring leaks. “I know Marino’s type. Grab and Slap. Isn’t that what they call him?” Reese still didn’t seem convinced. He was sticking to the code of not speaking ill of a partner. “I’m working another suicide case to see if there are any similarities.”
“How did you get involved?”
Sam handed him her business card. “Captain Robinson asked me to look into one of the cases which led me to others.” She opened the file folder with copies of the Logesta investigation. “Can you tell me why Florence Dempsey, the neighbor across the hall, wasn’t interviewed?”
“Marino didn’t think it was necessary. Miss Logesta’s roommate confirmed the deceased’s state of mind. She was working at the casino as a way to pay back money she owed them. She did have a gambling problem.”
“DID is the operative word. I have it from the casino owner that Nina had been attending her GA program and doing great. Fiona claimed Nina owed her three months rent. Nina had paid in cash so couldn’t prove it but, according to a neighbor, Fiona had expensive taste in clothing and jewelry.”
Reese remained quiet. Either he was digesting everything or was waiting to hear more. “Fiona is a very beautiful woman. Did Sal have a reputation for getting overly friendly with witnesses? Is that why you transferred to another department?”
Reese pressed his lips together. He didn’t have to say anything. Sam could read it all on his face. “Maybe you can just nod.”
“I don’t think I should be talking to you.” Reese opened the door and climbed out. He didn’t slam the door and didn’t tell her to go to hell. Sam wondered how long until word made it back to Sal Marino.
<><>
“Here.” Davey walked off of the shoulder of the road and into a wooded area running along the side of the golf course. “I was a little, uh, tired.”
“You mean buzzed?” Frank asked.
“Well.” Davey’s head did a little bob back and forth. “Kinda. Anyway, my truck wouldn’t start so some guy gave me a ride but he had to make a stop first to pick up some money.”
“What time was this?” Jake knew bars had two o’clock liquor licenses but what time the bar closed and what time the patrons staggered out were two different things.
“Right at closing because the guy offering the ride had to leave. He was headed to Chicago to make a score.” He gulped, aware he might have just blurted out a possible drug deal. “I didn’t want to go to Chicago, I wanted to go home. So when he stopped at a light, I climbed out.”
“You were going to walk home.” Jake looked skeptical. “That would have been about a three mile walk for you.”
“That’s why I had to sit down for a few minutes to sleep it off.” He slogged through the underbrush to an oak tree and plopped down. “See here? These are my cigarette butts. I had a couple cigarettes while I thought about what to do next. That’s when I heard a car coming down this back road.”
The two detectives ambled over to where Davey sat. Frank bent down to inspect the brand of cigarette. He held it up, pulled out a zip lock bag from his pocket and dropped it in. “Same brand we found by the body,” he told Jake. And the same brand Revere smoked.
“What kind of car?” Jake asked.
“How the hell should I know? It was dark out, he didn’t have his headlights on. The car crept up, like it didn’t want to make any noise. I watched as it kept crawling on the side of the road for another fifty or so feet. It stopped by that big tree up there, the bent one that leans over the road. I could see it from here.”
“Did the interior lights come on when he opened the door?” Jake imagined what visibility would be like at two or three in the morning in a moonlit sky.
“No lights. Couldn’t see him. He opened the back door and dragged something out. I could see him lift something, walk further into the woods. Then I couldn’t see a damn thing other than a figure walking back to the car empty handed. He shut the back door, climbed into the car and took off.”
“Did he turn his headlights on after that?” Frank asked.
“A couple blocks away.”
“How long did you wait until you checked out what he dumped?” Jake took a step back and gauged how far away they were from the dump site.
“I waited til I couldn’t see the taillights anymore. Then I kinda crawled over there on my hands and knees. Wasn’t sure what I was going to find. Practically fell over her.”
“So you checked the pockets for money and didn’t think to call the police.” Jake moved toward the dump site while Davey scrambled to his feet. “Show me.”
Davey wrapped bony arms around himself as though attempting to hold everything in. His eyes jerked left and right, and if Jake didn’t know better he’d guess Davey was wondering how far he could get if he made a run for it. Jake lifted his jacket and placed a hand on his gun, a movement not missed by the skinny suspect.
Davey looked toward the road where the bent tree was. “Right about here.”
“Close enough.” Although the crime scene tape was gone, there was no mistaking the trampled ground where all of the investigators and police had worked. “Then what,” Jake barked.
“I, uh, checked her pockets.”
“Before or after you rolled her over?” Frank asked. “Was she laying face up or down when you found her?”
“Face up. I found the ATM card in her back pocket, but that was all. You can’t pin me for anything else taken from her.”
“How did you get home in your condition?” With all the talk of cigarettes, Jake was having a weak moment. He pulled one from his shirt pocket and lit up.
“Well, I uh…” Davey’s face couldn’t get any redder if he had been left in the sun for three days. “I was really tired.”
“Ewwwww, gad. You slept next to a dead body?” Frank took a step back from Davey. “Were you out of your fuckin’ mind?”
“It was cold out and she was still, you know, warm.”
“Christ. Let’s get him back to the precinct.” Jake placed a hand on the bony shoulder and gave it a shove.