Deadly deception, p.10
Deadly Deception, page 10
Lutz set down his pen and looked across the table. “Okay, what about Tom’s wife and son?”
The night shift guys were long gone, but before they clocked out, they’d passed on what they had learned to Tony. He spoke up.
“The son, Morgan, was a student at City Colleges. He’d just started his second year and was given a bid to join one of the fraternities. He was accepted and had begun the initiation period when he died. We were emailed the campus police report, and it appears that they did a thorough investigation. There wasn’t any proof that Morgan died of a hazing incident. Chances are he just drank far too many shots that night.”
I cut in. “Fraternity members stick together, so who actually knows if they’re telling the truth or covering it up.” Something about Tony’s account sounded familiar. I pulled my notepad from my pocket and began flipping pages.
“Something pop into your mind?” Lutz asked.
“Not sure.”
“I’ve got it,” Frank said. “It’s that City Colleges connection. Rita and George told us that Lucas went to City Colleges too.”
I slapped the table. “Yep, that’s what I couldn’t think of. We need to interview all of Lucas and Morgan’s friends.”
Lutz turned to me. “We took all the cell phones from the Ramsey house, correct?”
“Yep, except for Cassidy’s.”
“Okay, start going through Lucas’s contacts and text messages. Have Tech get into his social media account too.” Bob sighed. “I don’t know how we’ll find out about Morgan. Everyone in that family is dead, and who knows what happened to his cell phone during the last few months.”
“Let’s take it one step at a time. I know we’ll connect the dots before long. Frank and I will head to the college as soon as we wrap up this meeting.”
“So, any details about Anne Wallace?”
Tony shrugged. “Stay-at-home wife. Didn’t socialize much unless it was at events with Tom. That information came from Tom’s buddy Chad. He said Anne was prescribed painkillers three months ago for a leg injury and was still taking them. Recently, her doctor gave her antidepressants because of Morgan. Sounds like she took all the opioids and antidepressants at the same time and did herself in.”
I shook my head. “And there’s always that chance when one’s left alone. Tom was pissed, Anne was heartbroken, and maybe they withdrew into themselves instead of supporting each other.”
“Sounds logical,” Frank said.
“Okay. Let’s not overload our plates. Shawn and Henry, I want you to go to the college and find out who the friends were for those young men. Frank and Jesse, stay put and work with Todd on that mystery man, and Tony and Kip, pull the bank records for the Wallace household. The warrant was already approved.” Lutz pushed back his chair and stood. “Let’s make the rest of this day as productive as possible.”
Chapter 23
As much as I wanted to interview people at the college, I knew Henry and Shawn were fully capable of doing a good job. Lutz had made the right call. Frank and I had been to Wicker Park and spoken with Jacob and Rose. If the news channels needed more information, we were the go-between with the Shapiros, and we’d do whatever we could to help Todd find the best shot possible of the man from the bench.
We headed downstairs to see what progress Todd was making with the video. Entering through the double glass doors, we found Todd and Billy hard at work. They both sat at one computer and studied the footage I’d sent them earlier.
“Getting anywhere?”
Todd stretched and rubbed the back of his neck. “I see what you mean about the man never facing the camera. It’s doubtful he even saw it, though, and he seems to be acting normal enough, not nervous. The best images we have of him were when he looked to the right a few times, but of course those are just side views, and him having a stocking cap pulled down to his eyes doesn’t help.”
“What are the chances that he’d be recognized by somebody who knows him?”
Todd groaned. “Not very good in a seated position. If we aired the video of him walking, instead of using still shots, we might get a caller who recognizes his clothing or his stride, something like that.”
“Humph. I wonder if that’s a better idea. I’ll have to see what Lutz suggests.” I glanced at Billy, who was still deeply focused on the video. “Too bad the guy’s car wasn’t parked within the camera’s range. That could have given us a plate number.” I jerked my head toward the door. “I’ll call you if Lutz says okay to the video instead of a still shot of the side of the guy’s face. Either way, we need to get something on the news today.”
We headed out, and just as I pushed the door open, Billy yelled. Frank and I stopped in our tracks and spun around.
“Hold up, guys! You have to see this.”
We rushed to his side. Todd had already reclaimed his seat, and Billy was backing up the footage.
“What is it?”
“You aren’t going to believe what I just saw.”
We crowded at his back, and I spoke up. “You’re right, so show us.”
Billy inched the footage forward. “This is after the mystery man walked away. I’m assuming he’s going back to his car beyond the camera’s reach.”
“Okay, I’m following. So what did you see?”
“Watch closely. The camera still has him in view. Ready—there!”
I frowned at Billy. “What?”
“He turned his head slightly to the left, and that park systems trash cart caught his reflection in its side window.”
I leaned in, only inches from the screen. “No way.”
Billy pointed. “Look at the driver’s-side glass. The man must have seen or heard something that got his attention for a split second, but that’s all it took to capture his full face as a reflection.”
Todd studied the image. “I think I can work with that by reducing the sun’s reflective glare and enhancing the man’s face.”
I patted Billy on the back. “Great catch, man.” I looked at Todd with renewed hope. “How long will it take? The sooner we have something to give the news stations, the better.”
“Call me in an hour. I should have it done by then.”
Frank and I raced upstairs. I could barely contain my excitement before telling everyone the news. Finding that man’s reflection in the glass could possibly break the case wide-open since somebody had to know him, and thanks to the local evening news, everyone in the Chicagoland viewing area would see him. The chances of a viewer calling our tip line and telling us who that man was had just gone up exponentially. If we found him, he could tell us what he and Tom were arguing about and if that argument had anything to do with Tom’s murder.
We burst into the bullpen, and every head snapped in our direction. I dropped down in my chair and dialed Lutz’s phone.
“Boss, we have news to share with everyone. Frank and I are back in the bullpen.” I hung up, and for the first time since learning of the Ramsey murders, I sighed with relief.
The sound of footsteps in the hallway got closer. Lutz reached the bullpen in less than a minute from when I ended our call.
“Okay, where’s the fire?” He took a seat at Chuck’s desk and bore a hole through me with his eyes.
“Billy caught it, and I swear I would have never seen it.”
Lutz swatted the air. “Just say it. Seen what?”
“The man’s face. He turned toward a park cleanup cart, and his reflection was caught in the window glass.”
“And the camera got that?”
“Yep. Todd is doing what he can to reduce the sun’s glare, and he thinks he can enhance the image enough to air on the news stations.”
“That’s fantastic. How soon will it be done?” Lutz tipped his wrist and checked the time. “One forty-five. We’ll still be able to get it on the local evening news if he hurries. The deadline to submit something for a news segment is three thirty. We need to include what the man was wearing and our best guess for his height and weight.”
“Frank and I can work on that while we’re waiting for Todd.” I took a seat and powered up my computer, and Frank pulled my guest chair around the desk and sat next to me.
“We’ll head to the college.” Henry grabbed his jacket, then he and Shawn left the bullpen.
Tony and Kip busied themselves with phone calls to the banks of both Tom Wallace and the Ramsey family.
Lutz told me to call him the second Todd was done with the man’s image, then he walked out.
“Okay, partner, let’s try to figure out how tall that guy is,” Frank said.
“Hold on. It’ll be a lot easier if Mike does it. They have the right software that’ll give them an accurate height and weight for the guy. All we need to do is describe his clothing.” I forwarded the footage to our crime lab and powered down my computer. “Come on. Let’s see what they can do for us.”
Chapter 24
The clock was ticking, and we needed all of our ducks in a row before contacting the TV stations. The viewers wouldn’t be told we were looking for a man connected to a crime, and at that point we didn’t know if he was, only that he might have witnessed an event the police needed to discuss with him. Hopefully, that would eliminate the barrage of kooks who called the tip line whenever something was aired about one of our cases. We needed the right caller, and it had to be a person who actually knew the man, not somebody who’d only seen him at the park.
Mike had come up with the man’s approximate height and weight, and his software’s approximation would be far more accurate than our best guess. The mystery man with Tom Thursday was between five foot ten and six foot tall and around one hundred seventy-five pounds. With a jacket on, the weight could vary, but it would only be a few pounds either way of what the software calculated.
Back in the bullpen, I stared at the video. Something nagged at me as I wrote down Frank’s description of how the man was dressed. According to the footage, and even from the distance between him and the camera, it was clear that he wore a black or navy-blue stocking cap, a dark-blue jacket, possibly denim, and dark pants. The pants could have been black or navy blue. That much, we couldn’t tell.
“Hang on a second. I have to look for something in my notepad. Call Don and confirm Lucas Ramsey’s height and weight again.
“Sure thing.”
Frank ended his call with Don almost at the exact time I found what I was looking for.
“Don said Lucas was five foot ten and one hundred seventy-seven pounds, but he’s told us that before.”
I nodded. “I know, but it’s faster getting the information from him than looking for it.”
“So where are you going with that?”
Turning to Frank, I read the notes that I had written down from Cassidy on the morning she called 911. “Cassidy said the man who killed her family was built like Lucas.”
Frank rubbed his brow. “Yeah, I remember that.”
“She also said the perp was bald and wore what she believed to be a denim jacket and dark pants.”
Frank snapped his head toward the video. “Son of a bitch. I’m no expert, but that guy could be wearing a denim jacket, and the pants are definitely dark. According to Mike’s software, the guy’s height and weight are dead nuts on.”
“Yeah, but so was Ross Booth’s, and dark clothing is worn every day by millions of people. It isn’t enough to confirm that the man at the park is Tom Wallace and the Ramsey family’s killer.” I reached across my desk for the receiver then dialed the tech department. “Todd, tell me you have the guy’s face as good as you can get it.”
“I do, and I’m emailing it to you right now. Just an FYI, I ran it through the facial-recognition program and didn’t get any hits.”
I was disappointed yet excited at the same time. “Thanks, buddy.” I hung up and opened my email. Seconds later, a new message arrived in my in-box. “This has to be it.” I clicked on the attachment and opened it. “Damn, look at that. The guy’s face is distinct enough for someone to recognize. I better call Lutz since we have plenty to tell him.”
I called Lutz, and he said he’d be right in. I glanced at Tony and asked how the bank record search was going.
“We’ve found something that could be considered suspicious in Tom’s account.”
“Really?” I crossed the bullpen to his desk and looked over his shoulder. “Show me.”
Tony pointed at a ten-thousand-dollar withdrawal dated earlier in the week.
“That is interesting. He withdrew the money in cash rather than writing a check to whatever it was for.”
“Maybe he put that money in his safe so he’d have cash on hand, and the thief found out about it.”
“Maybe. Or it was a payment for something that he didn’t want traced. Was there anything in the Ramsey account that seemed off?”
“Not that I noticed. No large deposits or withdrawals. Just everyday bills paid with their joint checking account.”
“Humph. Okay, let me chew on that for a while.” When Lutz walked in, I turned around.
He crossed the room to my desk. “Got the guy’s face?”
“Yep. Todd did an excellent job enhancing it, and I think we’ll get some calls. I have a theory to run by you, though.”
“Not yet. That picture and the man’s description need to go to the TV stations before anything else. I don’t want to miss the deadline. You have his height and weight as well as the clothing description?”
“Right here.” I handed Lutz the sheet of paper with the description.
“Email me that still shot. As soon as all of this is in the news station’s hands, I’ll be back to listen to your theory.”
I couldn’t take up any more of the commander’s time. Getting the information to the TV stations took priority, and I would go over my thoughts with him later. I watched as he walked out, then I addressed my colleagues. “Did anyone check the local pawnshops for someone trying to dump jewelry yesterday?”
Frank chuckled. “That was a note you wrote to yourself to take care of.”
“Oh. That’s right, damn it.” I typed “Chicago pawnshops” into the search bar and waited a few seconds for it to complete the results. “Shit. There’s damn near sixty pawnshops in the greater Chicago area.” I let out a discouraged groan. “This is going to take forever.”
“Why don’t we hold off on that for now? We may get exactly what we need from the news segment without putting in a lot of tedious work.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Minutes later, Lutz returned to the bullpen. “Okay, the news stations have everything they need. Hopefully, after the segment has aired on the early news, the tip-line phones will start ringing.”
I hoped for the same thing. “Boss, do you have time now to listen to my theory?”
“Yep, my ears are all yours. Go ahead.”
I waited until Lutz took a seat and gave me his full attention. “A thought came to me after we had Mike figure the man’s height and weight with his software program. When Frank read off the man’s clothing description, it hit me. The clothes he was wearing matched the clothes Cassidy said were worn by the man who killed her family. The man’s height and weight are a match to Lucas Ramsey’s height and weight, and that’s another thing Cassidy mentioned. She said the man who disappeared into the woods was built like Lucas.”
“So you believe the killer is one and the same in both cases?”
“Other than not knowing if Tom’s killer is bald or not, everything else lines up with Cassidy’s account.”
Lutz frowned. “You know the DA won’t go for it. There are thousands of people who wear denim jackets and dark pants. We need evidence that will stick.”
Tony added his two cents. “We also found a ten-thousand-dollar cash withdrawal Tom made from his bank account earlier in the week.”
“That’s a large amount to keep on hand for fun money.” Lutz cracked his knuckles.
“And his wife and son had just recently died. According to Laura, his secretary, Tom didn’t seem like he was in the mood for fun. Other than the dinner appearances with city officials, he wasn’t going out and whooping it up at all.”
I reminded everyone that no cash, other than what Tom had in his wallet, was found in the house. “Other than those few documents in the safe, nothing else of value was inside.”
“Where is that evidence bag?” Lutz asked.
“Forensics has it. They’re dusting every sheet of paper for prints.”
“Were the documents anything we need to follow up on?”
“Life insurance policies, his will, the owner’s manual and receipt for his pistol, and the family tax records for the last seven years.”
“So nothing, really. Although we should take a look at his will to see who was listed as beneficiaries. We also need to locate Tom’s next of kin.” Lutz turned to Tony. “Did the night crew ask Chad Bellman about Tom’s extended family and if he knew them?”
“He didn’t say, sir. The only thing I know was that Chad was devastated to hear that Tom died.”
“Okay.” Lutz pointed at Frank. “Call Chad and find out. It may be the easiest way to track down Tom’s relatives. I’m sure by now, city hall has leaked the fact that he’s dead. Luckily, they don’t know how he died—yet. Follow up on Jesse’s theory however you can. I want all of you on it. We have to be sure Tom’s death was connected to the Ramsey family and not just a home invasion and burglary.” Lutz checked his watch. “I have a few things to wrap up. I want everyone in the lunchroom in a half hour when the early news begins.” He pointed at the table at the back of the bullpen. “Make sure all those tip-line phones are plugged in and ready to go when we need them. Jesse, see what’s going on with Henry and Shawn at the college.”
I said I’d check, then I listened in on Frank’s end of the phone conversation with Chad Fellman.
Chapter 25
Carl knew better than to pawn the jewelry he’d taken from the Wallace home. The cops would definitely be calling pawnshops in the Chicago metro area once a family member or friend did a walk-through of the house and realized that several jewelry and watch cases were missing. With the fourteen thousand dollars in cash, along with the ten thousand Tom had paid him for the hit at the Ramsey home, Carl would be fine until his gunshot wound healed and he could resume working.
The night shift guys were long gone, but before they clocked out, they’d passed on what they had learned to Tony. He spoke up.
“The son, Morgan, was a student at City Colleges. He’d just started his second year and was given a bid to join one of the fraternities. He was accepted and had begun the initiation period when he died. We were emailed the campus police report, and it appears that they did a thorough investigation. There wasn’t any proof that Morgan died of a hazing incident. Chances are he just drank far too many shots that night.”
I cut in. “Fraternity members stick together, so who actually knows if they’re telling the truth or covering it up.” Something about Tony’s account sounded familiar. I pulled my notepad from my pocket and began flipping pages.
“Something pop into your mind?” Lutz asked.
“Not sure.”
“I’ve got it,” Frank said. “It’s that City Colleges connection. Rita and George told us that Lucas went to City Colleges too.”
I slapped the table. “Yep, that’s what I couldn’t think of. We need to interview all of Lucas and Morgan’s friends.”
Lutz turned to me. “We took all the cell phones from the Ramsey house, correct?”
“Yep, except for Cassidy’s.”
“Okay, start going through Lucas’s contacts and text messages. Have Tech get into his social media account too.” Bob sighed. “I don’t know how we’ll find out about Morgan. Everyone in that family is dead, and who knows what happened to his cell phone during the last few months.”
“Let’s take it one step at a time. I know we’ll connect the dots before long. Frank and I will head to the college as soon as we wrap up this meeting.”
“So, any details about Anne Wallace?”
Tony shrugged. “Stay-at-home wife. Didn’t socialize much unless it was at events with Tom. That information came from Tom’s buddy Chad. He said Anne was prescribed painkillers three months ago for a leg injury and was still taking them. Recently, her doctor gave her antidepressants because of Morgan. Sounds like she took all the opioids and antidepressants at the same time and did herself in.”
I shook my head. “And there’s always that chance when one’s left alone. Tom was pissed, Anne was heartbroken, and maybe they withdrew into themselves instead of supporting each other.”
“Sounds logical,” Frank said.
“Okay. Let’s not overload our plates. Shawn and Henry, I want you to go to the college and find out who the friends were for those young men. Frank and Jesse, stay put and work with Todd on that mystery man, and Tony and Kip, pull the bank records for the Wallace household. The warrant was already approved.” Lutz pushed back his chair and stood. “Let’s make the rest of this day as productive as possible.”
Chapter 23
As much as I wanted to interview people at the college, I knew Henry and Shawn were fully capable of doing a good job. Lutz had made the right call. Frank and I had been to Wicker Park and spoken with Jacob and Rose. If the news channels needed more information, we were the go-between with the Shapiros, and we’d do whatever we could to help Todd find the best shot possible of the man from the bench.
We headed downstairs to see what progress Todd was making with the video. Entering through the double glass doors, we found Todd and Billy hard at work. They both sat at one computer and studied the footage I’d sent them earlier.
“Getting anywhere?”
Todd stretched and rubbed the back of his neck. “I see what you mean about the man never facing the camera. It’s doubtful he even saw it, though, and he seems to be acting normal enough, not nervous. The best images we have of him were when he looked to the right a few times, but of course those are just side views, and him having a stocking cap pulled down to his eyes doesn’t help.”
“What are the chances that he’d be recognized by somebody who knows him?”
Todd groaned. “Not very good in a seated position. If we aired the video of him walking, instead of using still shots, we might get a caller who recognizes his clothing or his stride, something like that.”
“Humph. I wonder if that’s a better idea. I’ll have to see what Lutz suggests.” I glanced at Billy, who was still deeply focused on the video. “Too bad the guy’s car wasn’t parked within the camera’s range. That could have given us a plate number.” I jerked my head toward the door. “I’ll call you if Lutz says okay to the video instead of a still shot of the side of the guy’s face. Either way, we need to get something on the news today.”
We headed out, and just as I pushed the door open, Billy yelled. Frank and I stopped in our tracks and spun around.
“Hold up, guys! You have to see this.”
We rushed to his side. Todd had already reclaimed his seat, and Billy was backing up the footage.
“What is it?”
“You aren’t going to believe what I just saw.”
We crowded at his back, and I spoke up. “You’re right, so show us.”
Billy inched the footage forward. “This is after the mystery man walked away. I’m assuming he’s going back to his car beyond the camera’s reach.”
“Okay, I’m following. So what did you see?”
“Watch closely. The camera still has him in view. Ready—there!”
I frowned at Billy. “What?”
“He turned his head slightly to the left, and that park systems trash cart caught his reflection in its side window.”
I leaned in, only inches from the screen. “No way.”
Billy pointed. “Look at the driver’s-side glass. The man must have seen or heard something that got his attention for a split second, but that’s all it took to capture his full face as a reflection.”
Todd studied the image. “I think I can work with that by reducing the sun’s reflective glare and enhancing the man’s face.”
I patted Billy on the back. “Great catch, man.” I looked at Todd with renewed hope. “How long will it take? The sooner we have something to give the news stations, the better.”
“Call me in an hour. I should have it done by then.”
Frank and I raced upstairs. I could barely contain my excitement before telling everyone the news. Finding that man’s reflection in the glass could possibly break the case wide-open since somebody had to know him, and thanks to the local evening news, everyone in the Chicagoland viewing area would see him. The chances of a viewer calling our tip line and telling us who that man was had just gone up exponentially. If we found him, he could tell us what he and Tom were arguing about and if that argument had anything to do with Tom’s murder.
We burst into the bullpen, and every head snapped in our direction. I dropped down in my chair and dialed Lutz’s phone.
“Boss, we have news to share with everyone. Frank and I are back in the bullpen.” I hung up, and for the first time since learning of the Ramsey murders, I sighed with relief.
The sound of footsteps in the hallway got closer. Lutz reached the bullpen in less than a minute from when I ended our call.
“Okay, where’s the fire?” He took a seat at Chuck’s desk and bore a hole through me with his eyes.
“Billy caught it, and I swear I would have never seen it.”
Lutz swatted the air. “Just say it. Seen what?”
“The man’s face. He turned toward a park cleanup cart, and his reflection was caught in the window glass.”
“And the camera got that?”
“Yep. Todd is doing what he can to reduce the sun’s glare, and he thinks he can enhance the image enough to air on the news stations.”
“That’s fantastic. How soon will it be done?” Lutz tipped his wrist and checked the time. “One forty-five. We’ll still be able to get it on the local evening news if he hurries. The deadline to submit something for a news segment is three thirty. We need to include what the man was wearing and our best guess for his height and weight.”
“Frank and I can work on that while we’re waiting for Todd.” I took a seat and powered up my computer, and Frank pulled my guest chair around the desk and sat next to me.
“We’ll head to the college.” Henry grabbed his jacket, then he and Shawn left the bullpen.
Tony and Kip busied themselves with phone calls to the banks of both Tom Wallace and the Ramsey family.
Lutz told me to call him the second Todd was done with the man’s image, then he walked out.
“Okay, partner, let’s try to figure out how tall that guy is,” Frank said.
“Hold on. It’ll be a lot easier if Mike does it. They have the right software that’ll give them an accurate height and weight for the guy. All we need to do is describe his clothing.” I forwarded the footage to our crime lab and powered down my computer. “Come on. Let’s see what they can do for us.”
Chapter 24
The clock was ticking, and we needed all of our ducks in a row before contacting the TV stations. The viewers wouldn’t be told we were looking for a man connected to a crime, and at that point we didn’t know if he was, only that he might have witnessed an event the police needed to discuss with him. Hopefully, that would eliminate the barrage of kooks who called the tip line whenever something was aired about one of our cases. We needed the right caller, and it had to be a person who actually knew the man, not somebody who’d only seen him at the park.
Mike had come up with the man’s approximate height and weight, and his software’s approximation would be far more accurate than our best guess. The mystery man with Tom Thursday was between five foot ten and six foot tall and around one hundred seventy-five pounds. With a jacket on, the weight could vary, but it would only be a few pounds either way of what the software calculated.
Back in the bullpen, I stared at the video. Something nagged at me as I wrote down Frank’s description of how the man was dressed. According to the footage, and even from the distance between him and the camera, it was clear that he wore a black or navy-blue stocking cap, a dark-blue jacket, possibly denim, and dark pants. The pants could have been black or navy blue. That much, we couldn’t tell.
“Hang on a second. I have to look for something in my notepad. Call Don and confirm Lucas Ramsey’s height and weight again.
“Sure thing.”
Frank ended his call with Don almost at the exact time I found what I was looking for.
“Don said Lucas was five foot ten and one hundred seventy-seven pounds, but he’s told us that before.”
I nodded. “I know, but it’s faster getting the information from him than looking for it.”
“So where are you going with that?”
Turning to Frank, I read the notes that I had written down from Cassidy on the morning she called 911. “Cassidy said the man who killed her family was built like Lucas.”
Frank rubbed his brow. “Yeah, I remember that.”
“She also said the perp was bald and wore what she believed to be a denim jacket and dark pants.”
Frank snapped his head toward the video. “Son of a bitch. I’m no expert, but that guy could be wearing a denim jacket, and the pants are definitely dark. According to Mike’s software, the guy’s height and weight are dead nuts on.”
“Yeah, but so was Ross Booth’s, and dark clothing is worn every day by millions of people. It isn’t enough to confirm that the man at the park is Tom Wallace and the Ramsey family’s killer.” I reached across my desk for the receiver then dialed the tech department. “Todd, tell me you have the guy’s face as good as you can get it.”
“I do, and I’m emailing it to you right now. Just an FYI, I ran it through the facial-recognition program and didn’t get any hits.”
I was disappointed yet excited at the same time. “Thanks, buddy.” I hung up and opened my email. Seconds later, a new message arrived in my in-box. “This has to be it.” I clicked on the attachment and opened it. “Damn, look at that. The guy’s face is distinct enough for someone to recognize. I better call Lutz since we have plenty to tell him.”
I called Lutz, and he said he’d be right in. I glanced at Tony and asked how the bank record search was going.
“We’ve found something that could be considered suspicious in Tom’s account.”
“Really?” I crossed the bullpen to his desk and looked over his shoulder. “Show me.”
Tony pointed at a ten-thousand-dollar withdrawal dated earlier in the week.
“That is interesting. He withdrew the money in cash rather than writing a check to whatever it was for.”
“Maybe he put that money in his safe so he’d have cash on hand, and the thief found out about it.”
“Maybe. Or it was a payment for something that he didn’t want traced. Was there anything in the Ramsey account that seemed off?”
“Not that I noticed. No large deposits or withdrawals. Just everyday bills paid with their joint checking account.”
“Humph. Okay, let me chew on that for a while.” When Lutz walked in, I turned around.
He crossed the room to my desk. “Got the guy’s face?”
“Yep. Todd did an excellent job enhancing it, and I think we’ll get some calls. I have a theory to run by you, though.”
“Not yet. That picture and the man’s description need to go to the TV stations before anything else. I don’t want to miss the deadline. You have his height and weight as well as the clothing description?”
“Right here.” I handed Lutz the sheet of paper with the description.
“Email me that still shot. As soon as all of this is in the news station’s hands, I’ll be back to listen to your theory.”
I couldn’t take up any more of the commander’s time. Getting the information to the TV stations took priority, and I would go over my thoughts with him later. I watched as he walked out, then I addressed my colleagues. “Did anyone check the local pawnshops for someone trying to dump jewelry yesterday?”
Frank chuckled. “That was a note you wrote to yourself to take care of.”
“Oh. That’s right, damn it.” I typed “Chicago pawnshops” into the search bar and waited a few seconds for it to complete the results. “Shit. There’s damn near sixty pawnshops in the greater Chicago area.” I let out a discouraged groan. “This is going to take forever.”
“Why don’t we hold off on that for now? We may get exactly what we need from the news segment without putting in a lot of tedious work.”
“Yeah, you’re right.”
Minutes later, Lutz returned to the bullpen. “Okay, the news stations have everything they need. Hopefully, after the segment has aired on the early news, the tip-line phones will start ringing.”
I hoped for the same thing. “Boss, do you have time now to listen to my theory?”
“Yep, my ears are all yours. Go ahead.”
I waited until Lutz took a seat and gave me his full attention. “A thought came to me after we had Mike figure the man’s height and weight with his software program. When Frank read off the man’s clothing description, it hit me. The clothes he was wearing matched the clothes Cassidy said were worn by the man who killed her family. The man’s height and weight are a match to Lucas Ramsey’s height and weight, and that’s another thing Cassidy mentioned. She said the man who disappeared into the woods was built like Lucas.”
“So you believe the killer is one and the same in both cases?”
“Other than not knowing if Tom’s killer is bald or not, everything else lines up with Cassidy’s account.”
Lutz frowned. “You know the DA won’t go for it. There are thousands of people who wear denim jackets and dark pants. We need evidence that will stick.”
Tony added his two cents. “We also found a ten-thousand-dollar cash withdrawal Tom made from his bank account earlier in the week.”
“That’s a large amount to keep on hand for fun money.” Lutz cracked his knuckles.
“And his wife and son had just recently died. According to Laura, his secretary, Tom didn’t seem like he was in the mood for fun. Other than the dinner appearances with city officials, he wasn’t going out and whooping it up at all.”
I reminded everyone that no cash, other than what Tom had in his wallet, was found in the house. “Other than those few documents in the safe, nothing else of value was inside.”
“Where is that evidence bag?” Lutz asked.
“Forensics has it. They’re dusting every sheet of paper for prints.”
“Were the documents anything we need to follow up on?”
“Life insurance policies, his will, the owner’s manual and receipt for his pistol, and the family tax records for the last seven years.”
“So nothing, really. Although we should take a look at his will to see who was listed as beneficiaries. We also need to locate Tom’s next of kin.” Lutz turned to Tony. “Did the night crew ask Chad Bellman about Tom’s extended family and if he knew them?”
“He didn’t say, sir. The only thing I know was that Chad was devastated to hear that Tom died.”
“Okay.” Lutz pointed at Frank. “Call Chad and find out. It may be the easiest way to track down Tom’s relatives. I’m sure by now, city hall has leaked the fact that he’s dead. Luckily, they don’t know how he died—yet. Follow up on Jesse’s theory however you can. I want all of you on it. We have to be sure Tom’s death was connected to the Ramsey family and not just a home invasion and burglary.” Lutz checked his watch. “I have a few things to wrap up. I want everyone in the lunchroom in a half hour when the early news begins.” He pointed at the table at the back of the bullpen. “Make sure all those tip-line phones are plugged in and ready to go when we need them. Jesse, see what’s going on with Henry and Shawn at the college.”
I said I’d check, then I listened in on Frank’s end of the phone conversation with Chad Fellman.
Chapter 25
Carl knew better than to pawn the jewelry he’d taken from the Wallace home. The cops would definitely be calling pawnshops in the Chicago metro area once a family member or friend did a walk-through of the house and realized that several jewelry and watch cases were missing. With the fourteen thousand dollars in cash, along with the ten thousand Tom had paid him for the hit at the Ramsey home, Carl would be fine until his gunshot wound healed and he could resume working.
