‘So, are we definitely saying this is a two-man job?’
Detective Montgomery’s question was a good one. She was relatively new to the team, but Gabrielle had a good feeling about her.
‘We’re saying it’s a possibility,’ Gabrielle responded, turning to face the phalanx of detectives crammed into the briefing room. ‘This was a clean abduction and a brutal murder. Maybe it’s a solo killer, maybe Wojcek has an accomplice, what we are looking for at the moment is connections.’
The sea of heads nodded gently. Gabrielle was pleased by their rapt attention and their resolve. She had already had Superintendent Hoskins on the phone – who himself had been called by the Mayor – demanding progress, so she’d called the entire investigative team together in the run-down, peeling briefing room. All their preliminary findings were in and when it came to assimilating it and assessing the possibilities, twelve heads were definitely better than one.
‘You’ll all have had updates from pathology and forensics. You should also have digested Kassie Wojcek’s charge sheet and the witness statements. Detective Miller and I spoke to Jones’s fiancée, Nancy Bright, earlier. She was unable to point the finger at anyone, so it’s up to us to find the links. Suarez, how are you getting on with Jones’s court history?’
‘I’m still working the gang angle. Maybe the Cobras weren’t involved specifically, but Jones has put a lot of guys away in his time. Maybe someone wanted revenge? Maybe he was actually compromising their operations? Andre Hill is a possibility, working out of Humboldt Park. Four of his runners were sent down last month – Jones was the prosecutor on every one. Hill has got form for aggravated assault, assault with a deadly weapon, likes to carry a big-ass hunting knife around with him.’
‘Find him,’ Gabrielle responded quickly. ‘See who he’s running with now, if he can offer up a decent alibi. Detective Miller?’
Her deputy stepped forward, as Gabrielle turned to her.
‘My guys have been chasing down leads from the Joneses’ personal life. Jacob’s former partners were all on good terms with him, but Nancy Bright has an ex who didn’t take kindly to her engagement to Jones. I don’t think he’s a fit for the attack itself, but he has motive and his best buddy has form. Dale McKenzie, former gym instructor turned bouncer. Numerous busts for drugs, verbal and physical abuse, plus he once took a tyre iron to a love rival, beat him half to death.’
‘Might be a bit of a stretch,’ Gabrielle replied straight away, to Miller’s evident disappointment. ‘Whoever did this was careful and precise – Aaron Holmes has confirmed that Jones was allergic to latex, so we know his attacker was wearing gloves. But talk to the ex, anyway. See if you can gauge the extent of his anger. And check out his digital footprint. Be good to know how involved he was in Nancy Bright’s life. What else?’
‘Jones has got a brother he doesn’t speak to,’ Detective Albright answered, keen to get in on the action. ‘Seems to have vanished off the face of the earth though. Last sighted in Minneapolis four months ago.’
‘Keep on it.’
‘We’re also running the rule over recent releases from Cook County, guys who’ve done long stretches, who still have mental health issues, who enjoy this kind of thing,’ Suarez interjected. ‘It’s possible that Jones was targeted at random.’
‘Possible, but unlikely given the level of planning that must have gone into this. I’m guessing there was some reason he was targeted, however twisted. Anything else?’
‘I think I might have a name …’ Montgomery offered, a little diffidently.
‘Go on,’ Gabrielle replied encouragingly.
Montgomery cleared her throat.
‘As you know, I’ve worked through Kassie Wojcek’s charge sheet. They were all solo arrests, solo offences, and there’s no obvious record of affiliations to gangs. This kid has few friends and seems to prefer her own company.’
‘Agreed.’
‘But she has had contact with some pretty bad boys and girls at the Juvenile Detention Center. She’s been in and out of that place for years …’
‘And …’ Gabrielle prompted, intrigued.
‘And I was wondering about this guy,’ Montgomery went on, handing Gabrielle a sheet of paper. ‘Kyle Redmond.’
Gabrielle looked down at the photocopied charge sheet and the full-colour image of a surly young man. He was shaven-headed, which only made the livid birthmark stand out more. Tattoos partially concealed it on his neck, but it drew your attention to the right side of his face, where the birthmark tugged at his lips and flirted with his nose and ear. He had a septum piercing and his ear was dotted with studs, making his appearance even more startling. Gabrielle drank in his features, especially his eyes – was that anger she saw there? Or something else?
‘They overlapped when Redmond was fifteen and Kassie was eleven. We know this because of an incident report from the time. You can see a photocopy of it on page four.’
Gabrielle flicked to the relevant page, as Montgomery continued:
‘One of the male inmates was bothering Kassie, hitting on her. Redmond took issue with this, put the guy in hospital. Now Redmond’s a thug – maybe he just wanted a fight – but the warden felt that Redmond might have had feelings for Kassie, hence his desire to protect her.’
‘And she would presumably have been grateful to her guardian angel, especially in a place like that,’ Gabrielle added.
‘Back in the day, we had people getting pregnant in there, knife fights, you name it,’ Detective Albright agreed, cheerfully.
‘So maybe they formed a friendship?’ Montgomery continued. ‘A relationship even? Anyhow, Redmond is nineteen now, but he’s been busy.’
Gabrielle digested his arrest history – false imprisonment, torture, actual bodily harm and – intriguingly – alleged sexual assaults against men and women. His ‘CV’ smacked of a man who enjoyed power and had sadistic tendencies. She passed the sheet on to Miller, who whistled quietly at the extent of his misdemeanours.
‘Sick puppy.’
‘Where is he now?’ Gabrielle demanded.
‘No idea. He went off the radar five weeks ago. He’s supposed to check into Central once a week as part of his bail conditions, but they haven’t seen hide or hair of him.’
‘Then we need to find him. Miller will coordinate, aided by Montgomery and Albright.’
The trio nodded, but didn’t move.
‘What are you waiting for?’ Gabrielle barked, aiming her question at all the detectives. ‘Get moving.’
The team obliged, scurrying away to their desks. Gabrielle watched them go, her spirits buoyed. For the first time since that awful discovery in the trunk she felt they were making progress. And not before time. The Chief Super was anxious, the media shrill and inflammatory, and the citizens of central Chicago edgy and unnerved. But the fightback started today.