I had just taken a bite of the last slice of bread when my cell phone rang. Hanna and I locked eyes for a second, then she smiled.
“Don’t worry. I’m getting used to it. Go ahead and see who’s calling.”
I pushed back my chair and stood then pulled my phone off the charger on the kitchen counter. “I’m sorry, Hanna.”
“No worries. Your job doesn’t have set hours.” She got up and began clearing the table.
I looked at my phone’s screen and knew it was Lutz since his desk and cell phone numbers were in my contacts list.
“Hey, Boss, what’s up?” It was a rhetorical question because he wouldn’t have called unless there was a problem.
“Something that seems very suspicious, and since you know the people firsthand, I thought I should call you.”
“What happened?”
“Mrs. Shapiro, the woman from Wicker Park Avenue with the camera, is dead.”
“What! How can that be?”
“We aren’t sure, but it’s as coincidental as hell, Jesse. There are patrol units at the house, and an ambulance is en route to pick up her body. I wasn’t sure if you wanted to get involved and speak to Mr. Shapiro or not. According to him, his wife was healthy, so her death may not have been anything medical-related.”
“How did you find out?”
“Heard it on my police scanner. The 911 caller gave the address, and I thought it sounded familiar. I spoke with one of the officers at the scene, and he confirmed it was the Shapiro house.”
“Jacob has to be beside himself.”
“I would imagine so.”
Saddened, I let out a breath. “Okay, I’m heading out right now. I’ll call you when I know more. If you can intervene, ask them to hold back on moving Rose until I take a look at her body myself.”
“Yep, I’ll make that call right now. I’m not saying there was foul play, but I am curious as to what actually happened.”
“And I am too. It’ll take me a half hour to get there.”
“Copy that,” Lutz said.
I hung up and apologized to Hanna one more time before I left. At least we were able to enjoy dinner together before the call. I climbed into my Camaro and headed out with a million questions on my mind. As I drove, I thought of Jacob and the story he told me about refinishing the floors in his office. He’d said that he and Rose had lived in that home for over forty years and made many wonderful memories there. I understood what he had to be going through, especially since they had been married for so long. His situation brought back the emptiness I’d felt when my parents died, but I was grateful to be living in my childhood home and often relived personal family memories.
It was eight fifteen by the time I pulled to the curb two houses down from the Shapiro home. Several squad cars and an ambulance took up the spaces closest to the house. Curious neighbors lined the sidewalk but were kept at a distance by the officers. I held out my badge to the nearest officer as I approached the residence, and he nodded me through the gate.
I continued down the sidewalk and up the four steps. “Is Mrs. Shapiro in the house?”
“No, sir, Detective McCord.” The officer tipped his head toward the end of the veranda. “She’s on the ground on the other side of the porch.”
I gave him a frown. “What?” I didn’t wait for a response and walked to the end of the veranda. Looking over the edge, I saw two EMTs standing alongside Rose’s body. “How did she end up down there? And what are her injuries?”
“By all appearances, she fell over the railing and cracked her head open on this decorative rock.” The EMT pointed with his flashlight at one of a dozen cantaloupe-sized border stones, and it was covered in blood.
“You guys have portable flood lights?”
“We do.”
“Can you set them up so I can get a better look at the scene?”
“Sure thing, sir.”
I walked back to the officer I had spoken to minutes earlier. “Who arrived at the home first?”
“I did.”
“And has anyone disrupted the scene?”
“Yep, her husband. He’s inconsolable, and his shirt is covered in blood. He said she took the dog out just like she does every night. They’re usually only in the yard for a few minutes, and he wondered what was taking so long. He opened the door to find his frantic dog running back and forth from the veranda to the side yard, yapping and whining. Mr. Shapiro called out to his wife but didn’t get an answer, so he went back inside and got a flashlight.” The officer jerked his head up at the single light fixture centered on the veranda’s ceiling above the door. “That light doesn’t illuminate much beyond ten feet.”
I followed his eyes. “I can see that. Then what?”
“He said he found her in the side yard, and the back of her head had a huge gash from the rock. I believe he cradled her in his arms while he waited for us to show up, which would explain his bloody shirt.”
“Jesus.”
“And the EMTs pronounced her when they arrived?”
“They did, Detective.”
I looked to my right, and the portable lights were being set up. “Thanks.” I rounded the yard and knelt next to Rose. She was cold to the touch, and her scalp was covered in blood. I whispered as I shook my head. “What happened to you, Rose?” I looked at the EMTs. “She could have had a stroke or a catastrophic heart attack, right?”
“At her age, sure. Her husband did say she was in pretty good health, though.”
“But anything unexpected can happen. Can you give me a second to take a few pictures?”
“Sure thing.”
The EMTs backed away, and I took a half dozen pictures of Rose, the rock, the railing, and a five-foot area around the scene. I nodded. “Okay, I’m going inside to talk to the husband.”
I entered the house to find an officer sitting in the living room with a broken man. Jacob looked like he had just aged ten years. His white T-shirt had deep-red stains, and the color had drained from his face.
“Detective McCord.” Jacob stood and wobbled.
“Please, don’t get up, Jacob. You’re too distraught.” I took a seat next to him and put my arm around his frail shoulder. “I’m so sorry for your loss.” I glanced at the officer. “Can you get him a glass of water?”
“Sure thing, sir.”
I waited until the officer had walked out then returned my attention to Jacob. “Do you have any idea what happened?”
His hand shook as he dabbed his eyes with a tissue. “No. It was just like any other night. Midge needed to go out, and Rose usually took care of that. Five minutes tops on most nights. When I realized ten minutes had passed, I opened the door, and Midge was running around like crazy, but Rose wasn’t with her. That’s when I got the flashlight—” Jacob’s voice caught in his throat. “I found her on the ground on the other side of the veranda. She was unresponsive.”
I patted his back. “I know. How old was Rose?”
“Eighty-one, but she was healthy, Detective McCord.”
“Even healthy people can have a sudden heart attack or stroke. Did you see anyone outside or hear Rose yell?”
“No, but I was in the kitchen, and this stone house has thick walls. I wouldn’t have heard anything.”
“Why would Rose be on that side of the veranda if she normally takes Midge out to the front of the courtyard?”
“I don’t know. Maybe she heard a noise, or possibly Midge was taking too long and Rose decided to sit on the love seat while she waited.”
I nodded. “That makes perfect sense. She could have stood too quickly and felt dizzy then grabbed the railing for stability and fell over it.”
Jacob sighed. “I guess that’s possible.”
The officer returned with a glass of water and handed it to Jacob. I thanked him, and he left. The outside camera popped into my mind, and I remembered how much of the veranda and courtyard it caught. As fragile as Jacob was, I wasn’t sure if he’d want to look at the footage to see exactly what had happened. I knew the camera wouldn’t catch Rose’s fall since it was a few feet in from the railing, but it would show her walking toward the love seat.
“Jacob, do you mind if I take a look at your camera footage? Maybe I can figure out what happened.”
Jacob stood and tipped his head toward the hallway. “I need to see it for myself.”
I held his arm and steadied him. “Are you sure?”
“I am, and I owe it to Rose.”
We walked together to his office, and Jacob took a seat at his desk, just like he had the day before when all was well. I wondered if we were to blame for Rose’s death. If Frank and I hadn’t come calling yesterday, would Rose be dead?
That would only be true if she was murdered because the killer realized whose camera we saw his image on.
I shook off my thoughts of guilt and watched as Jacob logged in to the security system.
“She went outside around six thirty, so should I start it then?”
“Let’s go a little earlier, more like six fifteen.”
Jacob buried his face in his hands and let out gut-wrenching sobs. “I haven’t told John yet.”
“Where does John live?”
“Not far away, in Lincoln Park.”
“How about we have a unit go to his house and bring him here? You two can talk face-to-face then instead of over the phone.”
Jacob nodded. “Thank you, Detective McCord.”
“You’re more than welcome.” I excused myself for a minute and passed John’s address to one of the patrol units. He said he’d contact his commander and have him send an officer to John’s home immediately.
I returned to the office and took a seat next to Jacob. “Are you sure you’re up to looking at the footage?”
With a stiff upper lip, he said he was. Jacob pressed Play, and we began to watch from the six fifteen mark. From the camera’s angle, we saw people packing up their cars and leaving the park. A man who appeared to have a slight limp passed through the footage and disappeared from sight. After that, darkness took over, and even seeing across the street proved difficult. I glanced at the time stamp in the bottom right corner—it showed six twenty-seven—then the screen went black. I gave Jacob a concerned frown.
“What was that?”
“I don’t know. I’ll fast-forward it. Maybe it was some kind of glitch.”
Jacob moved the footage ahead five minutes, then ten, but nothing changed. Blackness had taken over the monitor.
I rose from my chair. “Stay put. I’ll be back in a minute.” As I walked to the front door, I saw the flashlight Jacob had used earlier sitting on a side table. I picked it up, went outside, and crossed the veranda then pointed the light at the camera situated in the upper corner. As I got closer, I saw that the cable going into the house had been cut.
“What the hell.” My mind was filled with doubt that Rose’s death was due to a stroke or heart attack. Somebody had cut that cable, and because of bad timing, Rose might have come face-to-face with that person.
That cable was cut for a reason. Was it so the perp could get to the front door without being recorded, break in, and kill both Rose and Jacob because of the footage we aired?
I needed to discuss the possibilities with Lutz. Remaining on the porch, I made the call.
“Bob, it’s Jesse.”
“Yep, what have you got?”
I let out a deep sigh as I began the explanation. “I assumed Rose had a sudden heart attack or stroke and fell over the porch railing and landed on a boulder in the flower bed below. The back of her head had a pretty good gash in it, according to the EMTs. They said that blow was what killed her.”
“Okay, so why does it sound like a but is coming?”
“Because I’m staring at the camera right now, and the cable that goes into the house has been cut.”
“Son of a bitch. I better get Forensics out there.”
“I think that’s a good idea. Bob, what if the perp was there to cut the camera feed and then go in and kill both Jacob and Rose, but Rose just happened to go outside when he was in the process of cutting the cable?”
“And then a fight ensued and he tossed her over the railing?”
“Possibly.”
“Hang tight. I’m on my way.”
I ended the call and checked the time—it was after ten o’clock. I returned to the house and told Jacob what I had found. “There could have been someone outside, lying in wait when Rose took Midge out. The reason the monitor went black is because somebody cut the cable going into the house. My commander is sending our forensic team out here to fingerprint everything on the veranda.”
Jacob covered his face with his hands. “My sweet Rosie. Why wasn’t it me instead?”
“I’m so sorry, Jacob. We’ll take Rose’s body to the medical examiner’s office to see if any foreign DNA was found under her fingernails, and then our medical examiner can take a closer look at her head wound.”
“Detective McCord, my wife has gone through enough. I don’t want her body violated. It goes against our religious beliefs. Besides, I need to bury her, but I want John to be able to say goodbye first.”
“I understand. May we very carefully do a fingernail scraping? That’s all we’ll do, I promise you. After that, the EMTs will take her to the hospital’s morgue, and that’s where you and John can go to say your goodbyes. You can go ahead with funeral arrangements in the morning.”
He nodded. “If you promise me that’s all you’ll do.”
“You have my word.” I waved over the officer standing at the doorway. “Tell the EMTs that Forensics is on their way. They’ll scrape Mrs. Shapiro’s fingernails for DNA, and then they can transport her to St. Mary’s Hospital. There won’t be an autopsy, but I’ll make sure Don arranges everything with the hospital’s personnel.”
He gave me a nod. “You got it, sir.”
“We’ll take good care of Rose, Jacob. You don’t have to worry about that.”
Moments later, John entered Jacob’s office. “Dad? What the hell happened?” He rushed to his father’s arms and held him tightly.
I offered my condolences to John then walked to the door. “I’ll give you two some privacy.” Back outside, I paced the veranda while waiting for Lutz and the forensic team to arrive.