Karen stared off into the distance for a moment. When she returned her attention to Jessie, it was clear that she had an idea.
“I don’t know about specifics about her day-to-day life, but I might have a thought on how we can learn a little more about how Addison fit into the organizational structure of the Realm, which is a start at least.”
“I’ll take a start,” Jessie said. “What did you have in mind?”
Before Karen could reply, Jamil shoved the courtyard door open. He was breathing heavily. It was clear that he’d been running.
“What is it?” Jessie asked.
“I’ve got something,” he said excitedly. “Addison Rutherford had a boyfriend. And he was at her hotel last night.”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Ryan regretted having that extra cup of coffee.
As he stood at the edge of the shower stall at the downtown YWCA, looking at the hacked-up body of the young woman, he felt his stomach churn uncomfortably. He’d seen hundreds of dead bodied, some mangled worse than this. But the combination of factors at play in this case was particularly unsettling. He looked over at his partner for the day, Susannah Valentine, and could tell that she was equally troubled.
“So,” he said, turning away from what remained of Kaylee McNulty to focus on the officer in charge, an older black sergeant named Moss, “you’re saying she volunteered here two to three times a week. What was she doing in the locker room?”
“Apparently she was also a member,” Moss told him. “The program director said she swam most days either before or after she did a volunteering session.”
“What kind of work did she do?” Valentine asked.
“Mostly legal services,” Sergeant Moss said. “She was in her second year over at Southwestern Law School. But the director said she’d help out anywhere she was needed: employment services, youth recreation. Apparently she was a delight to have around.”
“Wonderful,” Ryan said heavily, glancing back at Kaylee. “When is Forensics getting here?”
“I requested them a half-hour ago, Detective. Maybe a follow-up from you would expedite things. This girl shouldn’t have to stay like this much longer, if you ask me.”
Ryan didn’t disagree. Kaylee McNulty deserved better. While most of her body was on the floor of the shower stall, her feet had slid against the side wall, creating tension and preventing her upper torso from completely collapsing. As a result, her left arm and shoulder were pressed against the tiled shower wall and her neck was bent at an awkward angle.
Her blue, vacant eyes were still open and her wet, stringy blonde hair had fallen down to partially cover her face, but not enough to hide her beauty. From where Ryan stood, he could see six large slices, likely made with a large knife along the lines of a machete. None were above the neck. Two were to the chest and they continued down the body from there. One blow, to the back of her right forearm, had cut all the way through to the bone. That was almost certainly the arm Kaylee had raised in futile self-defense.
“And there are no cameras?” he asked Moss, tearing his eyes away from the girl again.
“Certainly not in here. There’s one in the main lobby and one outside the main entrance. We’re checking the footage on those now. But those are the only working cameras. All the others are fakes for deterrence. And there are multiple other entrances and exits to the facility. Unless whoever did this was dumb enough to enter and leave through the front door, we’re not going to have footage of them.”
“What about sign-in sheets?” Valentine asked. “Or witnesses?”
“There is a sign-in sheet at the front desk but they don’t enforce it. The pool only has a lifeguard during child lessons and free play so we don’t know if there was anyone around when she was swimming. And according to the recreation director, this area is pretty quiet on Fridays until after lunch. It’s possible that the victim and the assailant were the only ones in here at the time. Considering the ferocity of the attack and how loud it probably was, I’d say it’s likely they were alone.”
“I tend to agree,” Ryan said. “Even if there was someone else in here at some point, the killer would have surely waited until they were alone to do this. It’s a long shot but we should have the entire locker room fingerprinted, and especially the area right around this shower stall. Maybe the killer gripped the side for leverage.”
“As soon as Forensics arrives, Detective, I’ll make them aware,” Moss said, his eyebrows raised expectantly.
Ryan nodded.
“I’ll make the call,” he said before turning to Valentine. “While I light a fire under Forensics, can you start to pull up a list of family and friends? Maybe Jamil Winslow can help out with that. After we notify the next of kin, I’m thinking we should talk to some of her law school friends. It’s possible she mentioned someone who threatened her. Or maybe someone she did legal work for here wasn’t happy with how it turned out.”
“I’ll get on it, Ryan,” Valentine said. “Don’t worry, we’ll catch this bastard.”
He nodded hopefully. While he appreciated Valentine’s optimism, he wasn’t sure he shared it. This was the kind of case that gave him an unpleasantly familiar feeling. It was the kind that, if it wasn’t solved in the first few hours, it likely never would be. He stepped outside and called Forensics. Once he got the supervisor, he tore him a new one.
“You guys are literally a mile and half away from here,” he growled. “There’s a dead twenty-three-year-old good Samaritan lying naked and chopped up in a shower stall. The officer in charge called you a half-hour ago. It’s 9:53 a.m. right now. If there’s not a complete unit here in ten minutes, I’m going to make life very ugly for you. Get your ass in gear. Now!”
He hung up without waiting for a reply. After allowing himself a moment to regroup, he texted Jessie. Decker had assigned him and Valentine the case so quickly that he hadn’t had a chance to say goodbye before they left or even let her know his status.
He filled her in on the situation and concluded: Not many leads so far. Valentine is looking into close contacts. Hoping we get lucky with Forensics. Could be a late one for us. Will keep you posted. Love you.
He had just hit send when Valentine came outside.
“Jamil’s pulling up contacts as we speak,” she said. “I thought we could head over to the law school in the interim, see what we can turn up on our own.”
“Sounds good,” Ryan said. “We’ll go as soon as the Forensics unit gets here. I want them to see the steam coming off my head when they arrive.”
Valentine smiled.
“Whatever gets the job done,” she said.
Ryan was glad to see the newcomer got it. So far, she’d been a halfway decent partner. He hoped it stayed that way.
CHAPTER NINE
“His name is Josh Sawyer.”
Jamil had just punched up footage of Addison’s boyfriend walking into the hotel at 9:36 p.m. That was thirty-nine minutes before the cameras went down at 10:15 but well within the 9 p.m. to midnight estimated window of death.