“Too early to tell. We’ll know more tomorrow.”
“We should definitely talk to the roommate soon,” Ryan said. “Maybe she can let us know if Michaela had received any threats recently.”
Jessie nodded in agreement as she looked more closely at the knife puncture wounds. There were five in the chest and another four in the abdomen.
“Did anyone find the murder weapon?” she asked.
“There’s a butcher knife missing from the kitchen set,” Officer Lester, who had overheard the question, volunteered. “But we haven’t been able to locate it.”
“That’s weird,” Ryan noted.
“What?” Lester asked.
“Well, if this was a robbery gone wrong, you’d expect the perpetrator to be surprised to find Michaela in her room. The general disarray in this room suggests a struggle. But if the perp didn’t know she was here, how did he get the knife? It’s hard to believe he ran back to the kitchen to get it and then came back to the bedroom again.”
“Maybe he knocked her out and then got the knife?” Lester offered.
“But if he knocked her out and this was a robbery, why not just take the stuff and go?” Jessie wondered. “There wouldn’t be any resistance at that point. To go grab a knife, return to the bedroom, and stab an unconscious girl nine times. That doesn’t sound like typical robber behavior. That’s cold-blooded. And yet…”
“What?” Lester prodded.
“A laptop was taken,” she said, nodding at the empty desk. “And we don’t have her phone here. So she was robbed. The question is: was that an afterthought? Was it staged or were those things taken for a specific reason? Whatever the case, it’s hardly open and shut.”
That last comment made Costabile, who’d been standing quietly in the corner for the last few minutes, perk up.
“I thought you were done casting aspersions for a few minutes,” he said acidly. “But I guess it was too much to hope for.”
Jessie was about to retort when Ryan stepped in.
“We’ll let it lie for now,” he said. “After all, we still need to talk to the roommate. Come on, Jessie.”
They started for the door. But Ryan stopped just as they were leaving. Leaning in so that only she and Costabile could hear him, he muttered one last thing to the man.
“But I have to tell you, Sergeant, if you think we’re done asking why you’re handling this case in such rushed, slipshod fashion, you are sadly mistaken. I don’t know what you’re hiding, but this case stinks. If you think you can keep a lid on it, you’re kidding yourself.”
Costabile didn’t reply. But he did give Ryan a big, toothy, malevolent grin that suggested he felt otherwise.
CHAPTER SIX
For a second, Jessie thought Michaela’s roommate was dead too.
Despite the EMTs’ assurances to the contrary, she was unresponsive when they opened the ambulance door and tried to get her attention. Even after they called her by what the EMT said was her preferred name, Lizzie, she didn’t stir. It was only when Ryan pulled off the thermal blanket she was wrapped in that she gave them the time of day.
“What?” she demanded in a tired, surly voice.
The girl looked to be in her late teens. Even if she hadn’t seen Lizzie’s room, Jessie would have guessed she was a more restrained personality than her roommate. Her brown hair was tied back tight and her makeup was subdued to the point of unnoticeable. She was dressed conservatively in a zippered CSUN sweatshirt and pants. She wore a crucifix necklace.
Jessie frowned at Ryan, not pleased with his tactics. But he shrugged as if to say he was done being patient.
“Lizzie,” Jessie began, using her most sympathetic voice, “we’re investigating what happened and we need to ask you a few questions.”
“They gave me something,” Lizzie said. “I’m feeling a little loopy.”
“We understand,” Jessie assured as she helped the girl up to a seated position. “And we’re going to have you go to the hospital to get checked out momentarily. But we need to get some basics from you first, okay?”
“I guess.”
“How did you know Michaela?” Jessie asked.
“We went to high school together,” Lizzie said, speaking slowly as she focused on each word. “She left early but we stayed in touch. When I graduated we decided to become roomies. She was a good roomie.”
Jessie glanced over at Ryan. The girl was really zonked out. Getting much out of her would be hard. He raised his eyebrows in frustration. Jessie tried again.
“Lizzie, did Michaela have family in the area?”
With much effort, Lizzie shook her head.
“What about a boyfriend or someone she recently broke up with?”
“No boyfriend,” Lizzie answered lazily.
“Maybe a co-worker she had problems with?”
Lizzie’s eyes, which had been glazed over, briefly focused.
“Mick was a waitress,” she said adamantly.
“Okay,” Jessie replied, surprised by the intensity of the response. “Did she have any issues with anyone at work?”
“She was a waitress,” Lizzie repeated vehemently.
Jessie gave up and turned back to Ryan.
“I think we’re going to have to wait to talk to her. This is pointless.”
“That would be my preference anyway,” said the EMT, who had been standing nearby. “After what she’s been through, and with the medication she’s on, I’d really like to get her looked at.”
“Go ahead,” Ryan told him. “We’ll come by to talk to her tomorrow.”
They watched as Lizzie was strapped into a stretcher and the ambulance doors closed. As the vehicle pulled away into the dark night, something occurred to Jessie.
“The Valley detective still hasn’t showed up.”
“I’m actually not sure we want to be here when he does,” Ryan noted. “I don’t want him peppering us with questions about the ‘investigation pattern’ we’re pursuing.”
“You don’t want to ask him why he showed up so late?” Jessie asked, surprised.
“I do. But I have a feeling we’d hit the same brick wall that we got with Costabile. We need to know more before we start coming at these guys.”
“I get that,” she said. “But just to be clear, we’re in agreement that something seriously shady is going on here, right? I mean, that Costabile guy seems more like a mob capo than a police sergeant. Or maybe he’s the Don Corleone of Valley Bureau.”
Ryan looked over at her, clearly uncomfortable with her words, though he didn’t try to argue. She decided to let him off the hook and continued speaking before he could answer.
“I don’t think we’re likely to get anything useful tonight.” She sighed.
“No. We may have to pick this up tomorrow morning. By then, Lizzie will be coherent. Caldwell might have something definitive on a potential sexual assault and we can see if someone tried to pawn Michaela’s laptop or phone.”
“Okay,” Jessie said reluctantly. “One thing we know for sure. Your Chatty Cathy was right. Something definitely isn’t right with this case.”