LIES OF THE PHOENIX (A Lieutenant Cassidy Mystery Book 1) (4 page)

A test,
she thought.
I better get this right.
“Possibly foreign born or raised. Looks like he led a violent life from all his injuries and he probably tried to obliterate some distinguishing tattoos that may help us identify him.”

“Anything else?” Alec queried.

She searched her brain hoping she didn’t miss something, but that was all she had. “Not that I can think of right now.”

“How about, why would an arguably violent criminal, raised possibly outside the United States want to disfigure himself with acid or abrasion to remove tattoos that would be hidden under his clothes?”

“I’m sorry, Lieutenant, I don’t think I know where you are going with this.” She didn’t want to admit defeat, but she didn’t want him to think she was afraid to ask for help when it was needed.

“I am thinking that our suspect may have once been part of an ethnic criminal element. I think he may have been trying to cover up his past affiliations by obliterating his skin ink. Now you have to ask yourself, why would a criminal who likely had those tattoos applied as a badge of honor among his criminal cohorts want to remove them? Maybe to fly under the radar with the police and make identification more difficult? Maybe to do work for someone who doesn’t want to be associated with our suspect’s past circle of friends? Or maybe—our guy decided to cut ties with his past and strike out on his own. A freelance criminal, so to speak, offering his skills on the open market to the highest bidder and not wanting to take a chance that his ink could lose him a job by offending a potential employer. The criminal underworld has many prejudices and a freelancer has to walk a narrow line to do business across multiple criminal networks.”

Nora was beginning to see how Alec Cassidy’s mind worked. She hoped that some of it would rub off on her.

Seeing that he had her attention, he continued, “It’s just a theory to think about. Now, there was something else that Dr. Samson mentioned that you should have picked up on. She said the first shot fired by Jordan Lawrence pierced our suspect’s heart and would have stopped him instantly. Yet, we have Lawrence firing a second shot to the suspect’s head at close range—almost execution style. Lawrence’s story was that our suspect kept charging forward and he had to fire a second time at closer range to stop him. It doesn’t jive with what Barbara just told us.”

Nora had missed that point completely.

They arrived at the precinct station and Alec told Nora, “I’d like you to go through all the crime scene and neighborhood canvas reports and get up to speed. We have a few more things to do, but then we are going to talk to Mrs. Lawrence without her husband present. I want you to sit in on the interview. If we get her alone we can build some trust with her.”

Nora was happy to be included in the Sarah Lawrence interview, but she wasn’t looking forward to trudging through all the reports. She knew Lieutenant Cassidy had already gone through them, and this seemed like busy work for a new detective.

She was about to leave, but Cassidy called her back. “Get the recording of Sarah Lawrence’s 911call down to Forensic Services. I want to know if the recording picked up the two gunshots and if so, how much time there was between those two shots.”

Nora silently chastised herself for not thinking of that.
She was learning. Being handed a neatly packaged crime with a nice respectable couple as the victims and the indisputable perpetrator killed in the commission of his crime doesn’t necessarily close your case.

T
HE WEEK AFTER
the break-in was hell. Sarah was back at her job as a junior accounts manager for an advertising agency and Jordan had left on one of his frequent business trips.

She was pressed by friends and co-workers to repeat the break-in story a hundred times. They pestered her for details, expressed disbelief at the shooting, and all agreed that Jordan was a hero and lucky not to have been hurt in the confrontation.

As the week wore on, things started to calm down and return to normal. She forced the nightmare images of the break-in to the back of her mind and focused on returning to the newlywed bliss she and Jordan enjoyed before that awful night. Jordan had been out of town on business for most of the week and was returning tonight. She was anxious to get home to prepare a nice meal before he arrived.

She made a couple of last minute calls to clients, faxed out an advertising campaign quote, straightened her desk and left for home. It was an hour earlier than normal. As she drove home, her mind was on dinner and a quiet evening with Jordan.

To access their garage, she had to drive past their street to the alley behind their townhouse. As she drove past, she mechanically glanced down the row of buildings to where their townhouse was located. A man was descending the steps to the sidewalk.

Is Jordan home?
No, not tall enough, too thin. She didn’t know who it was. Images of the break-in and the dead burglar flashed back into her head and she shuddered.
Stop it! Not every person that comes to your door is there for evil purposes,
she chastised herself.

The man hurried across the street and continued down the sidewalk. He then entered a car parked at the curb and drove away.

Sarah drove to the alley and pressed the remote control opener for the garage door. The bumper of Jordan’s car peeked out from under the rising door to her great relief. She parked her car next to his and hurried into the house. All thoughts of the visiting stranger were pushed to the back of her mind as she anticipated seeing Jordan.

He was standing in the kitchen when she entered. A sudden look of surprise flashed across his face and then vanished into the casual warm smile that Sarah knew so well.

“What are you doing home so early?” he said as he slipped an arm around her waist and gave her a kiss.

“I thought I would sneak out early and make us a nice dinner, but you beat me home. I thought you weren’t going to be home until tonight.”

“I finished early and wanted to get home to my lovely wife. Don’t let my coming home early ruin your plans. I’m still up for one of your great home cooked meals.”

Sarah laughed. She loved the fact that Jordan appreciated her cooking. “O.K. Get out of my kitchen so I can get to work.” She gave him a small nudged toward the living room and started rummaging through fridge for the items she would need for dinner.

Jordan went into the living room and his cell phone rang. He answered and began talking in low tones. Soon he had his laptop up and running. Sarah could tell that there was a heated discussion going on, but she couldn’t hear what was being said. She assumed it had something to do with his work.

She put together a quick chicken and vegetable stir-fry, prepared a salad, and sliced fresh bread for their dinner. She set the table and poured some wine. When everything was finished she called to Jordan that dinner was ready.

“In a minute. I’m on a business call,” he answered.

Sarah went to the living room and nodded her okay to Jordan. She returned to the kitchen and started cleaning up as she waited for Jordan to finish with his phone conversation. Five, ten, then fifteen minutes went buy, but Jordan remained engrossed in his call and focused on his computer.

After twenty minutes she went to the living room hoping that her presence would hurry him off the phone. Jordan’s only response was to hold up his hand in a
stop
gesture to her. He didn’t even look up from his computer screen. She despondently went back to the table and returned the food to the kitchen. She put the salads in the refrigerator, set the stir-fry on the stove for reheating and covered the bread so it wouldn’t dry out. Then she waited. After forty-five minutes of waiting Jordan came into the kitchen.

“Sorry. That was really important. It was an international call. I needed to take care of it immediately. Hope I didn’t ruin dinner.” He gave her a repentant smile and all was forgiven as far as Sarah was concerned.

“That’s O.K. I think I can salvage everything. Have a seat at the table and I’ll have everything there in just a minute.”

Sarah quickly reassembled the dinner and placed it on the table. She then took her seat opposite Jordan ready to eat and enjoy a quiet meal together. Their plates were filled with food and they were about to take their first sip of wine when Jordan’s cell phone rang.

“Let me just get this. I promise I will only be a minute.” He slipped from his seat and walked into the living room before Sarah could answer.

She could hear him talking in low tones and then changing to an angry tone. Jordan then reappeared at the table a minute or two later.

“See, all done! Now, let me try this delicious dinner you’ve made.” He picked up his napkin and took his fork in hand ready to eat.

Sarah was not happy about all the interruptions. “Could you turn your phone off—just until we finish dinner? I feel like I am competing with a bunch of unidentified strangers for your time.”

“I’ll put it on vibrate and I won’t answer it, O.K?” He muted the ring on his phone, but placed it within view so he could see the caller I.D.”

Sarah sighed and nodded an O.K. Jordan’s phone buzzed in silent mode three times as they ate. True to his word, he checked the caller I.D., but didn’t answer it.

During dinner Sarah continued to voice her concerns, “I think you are working too hard. Your job seems to be consuming all of your free time lately and we have no time together anymore.” She knew she sounded like a whining child looking for attention, but she didn’t know how else to broach the subject with him.

He took her hand and said in a soothing tone, “Don’t worry, this is just temporary. I’m under a lot of pressure. Several financial transactions are coming together at the same time. These international things can get very complicated. I promise, things will settle down soon and I will make it up to you.”

He slowly kissed each finger on her hand and then reached into his pocket, pulled out a small wrapped package, and placed it in her palm.

“What is this?” she said.

“Just a little something I picked up for you when I was out of town.” He punctuated his statement with an award winning smile and leaned back in his chair. “Open it.”

Sarah carefully unwrapped the package and found a small box. Inside the box resting on a satin pillow was a small delicate golden heart on a matching chain. It was beautiful.

“Here, let me put it on for you.” He lifted the necklace from the box, placed it around her neck and secured the clasp.”

Sarah now felt thoroughly embarrassed that she had said anything to Jordan about the amount of time he spent on work. His job in international finance carried a lot of responsibility. She knew he couldn’t control the demands being placed on him. If he had the power to limit those demands, he would have done it already—she was sure of that. She resigned herself to be a more understanding wife.

* * * * *

The following morning she was running late for work. As she rushed out the door she searched her purse for her car keys. In the center pocket she found a small box tied with a ribbon. It was from a local confectionery. Inside was a luscious strawberry dipped in chocolate with a note that said,
Love you.—J.

J
ORDAN SPENT THE
weekend at home with Sarah, but he was on the phone or glued to his computer constantly. She had resigned herself to be patient, hoping that his time would free up after these business transactions closed. On Sunday night Jordan again announced that he would be out of town on business for most of the week.

Sarah awoke at 7:00 a.m. on Monday. She reached over to Jordan’s side of the bed. It was empty. She rolled out of bed and hurried downstairs, but he was already gone. She had missed him. He must have taken great care not to awaken her. She felt bad not having said goodbye before he went out of town. In the kitchen she found the coffee maker carafe filled with fresh brewed coffee. Leaning against it was a note,
Enjoy your coffee. I’ll call you tonight. –Love, J.
The note made her feel even worse.

She dressed and went to work, but her heart wasn’t in it. She kept watching the clock waiting until she could go home. That night Jordan called and they talked for about fifteen minutes. The call ended when Jordan had to take another call. Tuesday and Wednesday were the same.

On Thursday Sarah was on her way to lunch when her cell phone rang. She hoped it was Jordan. She fumbled through her large saddle bag style purse looking for her phone. Her purse had become a bit of a joke among her friends, but it was her signature accessory. Short of formal dinner parties, it went everywhere with her. She bought it a year ago because of all the pockets, zippered compartments, interior sections and partitions. Her best friend, Ruth, teased her that her shoes and purse never matched, but Sarah didn’t care. The purse kept her organized and all the things she considered essential were readily at hand.

She found her phone in one of the interior compartments and looked at the caller I.D. It was Ruth Abbot.

“Hi! Sarah. Did I catch you at a bad time?

“No, I’m just running out to get some lunch. What’s up?

“A group of us are planning to go out to dinner on Saturday and then to my house for dessert. Thought maybe you and Jordan would like to join us.”

“Sounds like fun. I think we can make it, but Jordan is out of town on business until Friday. Can I give you a call back after I talk with him? He’ll probably call me tonight.”

“Sure, just let me know so I can make reservations for the right number of people. O.K., I won’t keep you. Enjoy your lunch.” Ruth hung up and Sarah tossed her phone back into its cubby hole in her purse. Just as she zipped the pocket, the phone rang again.

She unzipped the pocket and pulled the phone out again. This time the caller was Lieutenant Cassidy. He wanted her to come to the station for more questions. “Yes, I can come in this afternoon. About 4:00 p.m. would work for me. . .By myself?. . .I guess so. My husband is out of town.”

She dreaded the thought of going to the police station by herself. Despite what Lieutenant Cassidy said, she wished Jordan could be there with her.
What could Cassidy possibly want? I told him everything I know at least ten times already. Going over it again won’t change anything.

She had lost her appetite for lunch. She stopped for a coffee and bagel and took it back to her office to eat at her desk. The rest of the afternoon dragged on. She watched the clock until it was time to leave for her meeting with Cassidy. She neatened up her desk and then left.

After driving around the block several times, Sarah finally found street parking not too far from the police district station. She entered the building and approached an information window, “Excuse me, I have an appointment to meet with Lieutenant Cassidy.” The person behind the window took her name and told her to have a seat. Someone would be down to escort her to an interview room.

A few minutes later a young man appeared at a side door to the waiting room and called her name. She followed him through the door, down a hall, and up an elevator to a bare room furnished with only a table and four metal chairs. The young man told her to have a seat and that Lieutenant Cassidy would be in shortly.

A minute later Lieutenant Alec Cassidy followed by Detective Nora Castle entered the room. He gave Sarah a friendly smile and she felt herself relax just a little. He put a file stuffed with papers on the table and sat down across from her. Nora Castle took a seat at his side.

“Mrs. Lawrence, thank you for coming in today. We appreciate your cooperation. How are you doing?”

“Things are starting to get back to normal. Thank you for asking.”

“We just have a few more questions for you—routine housekeeping stuff,” Cassidy said in a casual matter-of-fact manner. “So, the investigation into the break-in at your house is continuing and we are still working on identifying the intruder that your husband shot. We are reviewing all of the details of that night to see if there is anything that will help us do that. Your first hand observations are very important to us.”

“I think I’ve told you everything I can remember. I don’t know how else I can help.”

“Yes, you have been very cooperative in providing information. But sometimes people remember things as they talk about an incident and then there may be things that you originally thought were unrelated that could be important in the case.”

Cassidy was using a calm, almost paternalistic tone with Sarah, and Nora noted that Sarah’s body language was not as tense as it had been.

“When we talked the night of the break-in, you said you didn’t think you had ever seen the man that broke in, but you also said that you didn’t take a good look at the body.” He sorted through the file and pulled out a photo. “I’d like you to take a look at this photograph and tell me again whether you recall ever seeing this man.”

Sarah looked at the image of the dead man. There was something familiar about him, but she didn’t know what. She could not recall ever meeting or seeing him. “I don’t think so. He looks a little familiar, but maybe he just looks like someone I’ve seen on TV or something.”

“We have reason to believe that he may have been watching your house for a period of time before he broke in. There’s a chance he may have been hanging around your neighborhood sometime before that. Do you recall seeing any strangers—maybe a home delivery person, a meter reader, utility worker, or unfamiliar mail person?”

Sarah thought again. She was trying to recall if she had seen anyone walking on the street or in any of the yards, but nothing came to her. Just as she was about to say, no, she remembered something, “I saw a cable TV guy on the street the day before the break-in. He was working on the cable box next-door.”

“Do you recall what he looked like?”

“Not really. He had on coveralls, maybe blue or grey, and a hat with a patch of some sort on it. He was turned away from me, towards the building. I just remember glancing at him.”

Alec looked at Nora. She nodded and then scribbled on the pad of paper in front of her.

“Could it have been the man in the photograph?” Cassidy asked.

Sarah looked at the photo again, but her frustration was starting to show. “I don’t know. I wasn’t really paying attention. It was just a cable guy.”

“That’s alright. We’re just interested in what you do recall. Sometimes going over things jogs a memory lose that you didn’t know you had. What time was it when you saw this person?”

“It was when I came home from work—about 6:00 p.m.”

“Now, let’s go back to the night of the break-in. Did your husband, Jordan, tell you to call 911 before he went downstairs?”

She had to think for a minute. “No, he told me to stay upstairs. He was going to investigate a noise he heard downstairs. I told him not to go—that I would call the police.”

“Is that what he told you—that he heard a noise?”

Sarah thought again. “He said he thought someone was in the house.”

“Does your husband own a gun?” Sarah gave a slight start that did not go unnoticed by Lieutenant Cassidy.

Why was he asking that again?
thought Sarah.
Jordan already told him he didn’t have any weapons in the house!
“We’ve only been married a couple of months. It’s not something I’ve ever thought to ask. I’ve never seen a gun in the house,” said Sarah.

Cassidy knew that he had hit a nerve. “Have you ever come across anything that indicated to you that he owned a gun or knew how to use one?”

There was a long pause, and then Sarah answered. “No, nothing.” Lieutenant Cassidy was starting to make her nervous.

Cassidy quickly changed the subject. “Now, you were upstairs on the phone with the 911 operator when you heard the gunshots, correct?”

She was relieved to be moving on to something else. “Yes. Two gunshots.”

“So tell me what was happening when you heard the gunshots.”

“I was talking to the 911 operator. I heard a crash. Then I heard the two shots and went downstairs to see if Jordan was O.K.”

“Were the shots you heard in rapid succession? Like—
bang, bang?

Sarah had to think for a moment. “Uh, no—I was sitting on the bed talking to the 911 operator, I heard a shot. I ran to the bedroom door and called to Jordan, but he didn’t answer. Then I heard another shot and ran downstairs.”

Cassidy changed the subject again. “What does your husband do for a living?”

Sarah’s radar went up again.
Why was he asking questions about Jordan again?
“Why? Is that important?”

“There is a possibility that you, or your husband, may have come in contact with this person at your place of employment. We’re just covering all the bases.” Cassidy gave a very business-as-usual tone to his voice and Sarah again relaxed.

“He works in international corporate finance and investments — he’s an accounts manager at J.K. Reston Global Securities.”

“And what type of work do you do?”

“I manage small accounts at Marston & Clark Advertising Agency.”

“Knowing our victims’ background can sometimes help us piece together information on an assailant. How long have you and your husband been together?”

Cassidy noted that Sarah shifted in her seat and began to unconsciously toy with her wedding ring.
Another sensitive topic,
he thought.

“We met about six weeks before we were married. I know that it sounds crazy, but in our case we were sure of our relationship and we couldn’t see any reason to wait to get married.” As she said it, she knew it sounded foolish, but it was true. “We’ve been married a little over two months.”

“How did you meet?”

Sarah again moved in her seat. She didn’t like having to justify her relationship with Jordan. “Uh, we met on-line. He had just moved to Chicago from L.A. and didn’t know anyone.” She braced for some negative comment about her lack of good judgment or something, but it never came.

“O.K., Mrs. Lawrence. I think that is all we need from you right now. We appreciate you coming in today. We may ask you to come in again as things progress in the investigation.” Cassidy showed Sarah the way out of the interview room and a clerk took her back downstairs.

After Sarah was gone, Lieutenant Cassidy turned to Nora Castle, “So, what do you think?”

“About what?”

“About our victim.”

Another test,
thought Nora. “Well, she may be a little naive marrying a man she met on the internet after only knowing him for six weeks.”

“True. Did she tell us anything we didn’t know?” he queried.

“She saw a cable service person near the house the day before the break-in and we know where she and her husband are employed.”

“You’re looking at the trees, not the forest.”

“What?”

“It’s an old saying,
You can’t see the forest for the trees,
meaning the details are getting in the way of you seeing the picture as a whole. You have to start thinking creatively. Try to come up with scenarios that allow all of the pieces to fit together. The scenarios may change and even be totally rejected during the course of an investigation. If you eliminate one, all the better. That’s one less possibility that you have to pursue.”

“So, what am I missing here,” she was ready to surrender.

“Mrs. Lawrence told us her husband works in finance and investments—but not just local bank stuff, he works with international corporate accounts. He’s recently relocated from the West coast to Chicago. Then we have our dead intruder. Dressed too well for a typical burglar, picks a lock rather than breaking in, passes up easy pickings of cash and credit cards and goes for the desk. We also have issues with the timing of the two shots. Sarah Lawrence just established that they weren’t in rapid succession. She had time to go from the bed to the doorway, call to her husband and wait for a response before she heard the second shot. Think about that and then think about the story her husband told us.”

Nora had the feeling of running as fast as she could, but not keeping up. She was going to have to sharpen her game if she was going to stay on Alec Cassidy’s team.

“We have a lot more work to do. I’m not ready to run a full investigation on Jordan Lawrence quite yet, but he’s on my radar.” Cassidy leaned back in his chair and looked like he was sorting through the notes he kept in his head.