LIES OF THE PHOENIX (A Lieutenant Cassidy Mystery Book 1) (6 page)

Sly nodded, “No problem.”

“O.K., I think we’re done here. Thanks, Sly. I can always count on you to come through.”

Sly printed out copies of the images and handed them to Nora. Alec waved a goodbye and they left. Nora followed him through the maze of halls until they were finally outside.

She was anxious to show that she was able to contribute something positive to the investigation. As they climbed into Alec’s vehicle Nora said, “I went through all those crime scene reports like you asked. I did find something—maybe.” She didn’t want to sound too sure of herself in case her find turned out to be nothing.

“Go ahead, I’m listening.” Cassidy gave her his full attention.

“There was one report about material collected from the bottom of our suspect’s shoe. Turns out that it was
dried plant material from a California buttercup. He had to have picked that up on the West coast. It doesn’t grow around here.”

“Good find,” Cassidy responded.

Finally, something that impresses him!
She was relieved and added, “I’ll make contact with the California authorities to see if they recognize our guy.”

Alec smiled. Yes, she was coming along nicely. Not quite there yet, but making progress, he thought. “I think there’s a more intriguing connection. Jordan Lawrence used to work in California. Interesting that our dead assailant may have a California connection too, don’t you think?”

The big picture was coming into focus for Nora. She was anxious to get back to the office and start following up on her leads.

* * * * *

Nora sat at her desk and picked up the phone. Jordan Lawrence had told his wife he worked in Los Angeles before coming to Chicago so that is where she would start. She called the Los Angeles Police Homicide Department hoping that they would be most inclined to help out another homicide department on an investigation. Her call was put through to Lieutenant Mark Jennings, L.A. Homicide.

Lieutenant Jennings came on the line, “I understand that you are looking for some help identifying a suspect with a California connection. Why don’t you tell me what you have and we’ll see what we can do for you.”

Nora ran through the details and evidence to date on their case. “We’ve run fingerprints through all the national data bases and haven’t found a match. Our local facial recognition data base has come up blank. I was hoping that maybe you might have something in your system to help identify our guy. My Lieutenant thinks that there is something more to our break-in incident than a simple neighborhood robbery. We need to find out who this guy is in order to figure it out.”

“Your perp sounds like a career criminal. It’s surprising he isn’t showing up in the system. If he’s a pro for hire, he must have been taking great pains to keep a low profile. Our Organized Crime Unit may have him on their radar, though. They have a watch list of shady characters that they track. Send me whatever photos you have, I’ll run him through our facial recognition program. Better send the autopsy and tattoo images as well. I’ll touch base with our Organized Crime and Gang Units to see if anyone recognizes him or his ink. It might take me a few days to get back to you. Our department is running with a couple of high profile homicides right now. Those investigations are tying up most of our resources and personnel.”

“Any help you can give us will be great. Thanks.” Nora gave Lieutenant Jennings her contact information and thanked him again before hanging up. She faxed him the case evidence he requested. Now all she could do was wait to see if anything turned up.

O
N SATURDAY SARAH
and Jordan went out to dinner with Ruth and their group of friends as planned. They ended the evening at Ruth’s house enjoying one of her fabulous desserts. Jordan was his attentive and engaging self and Sarah felt like things were finally returning to normal.

The following day Jordan said he was going out to shoot some pool with Kyle Mason. From that point on, most of Jordan’s time was spent either working long hours or out with Kyle. He was on the phone with Kyle constantly and arranged to see him almost every day, but never at the house.

The quiet evenings of sipping wine on the couch and watching a movie that Sarah coveted vanished. She understood that Jordan was not from Chicago and an old friend would be important to him. She knew too that Jordan had no family, but she still resented the way Kyle seemed to be taking up the little bit of free time that Jordan had. She was feeling pushed aside.

She tried to tilt the balance in her favor by suggesting the three of them go out together or that Jordan entertain Kyle at their townhouse. Jordan quickly nixed those ideas always saying Kyle wasn’t good in mixed company. He continued to use the excuse that Kyle’s social skills were lacking and he didn’t want to expose Sarah to his crude behavior.

Sarah knew that for the sake of their marriage, she and Jordan needed some quality time together—without Kyle in the picture! She would have to think of something.

* * * * *

She was at work, but was more focused on her
Kyle
problem than on her advertising accounts. She glanced at the clock on the wall. It was twenty minutes to two. She had some time to kill before going into a meeting. She dug her cell phone out of her purse and made a call to Ruth.

“Hi, Ruth. It’s Sarah.”

Sarah could hear Ruth’s toddler and preschooler squealing in the background. Ruth was a homemaker, a mother, an interior decorator by profession, and the social organizer for their group of friends. She was a wizard at multi-tasking and usually had two or three hobbies or projects she was juggling in her spare time. She had no problem switching her attention from one job to another at the drop of a hat and was the most organized person Sarah knew. She made it all look easy and was at her best when things were at their most chaotic.

They had been friends since high school and Sarah always found Ruth to be a great sounding board. Best of all Ruth always had a plan
.
Regardless of the problem, you could always count on her to come up with some idea to fix it. It might not always be the best plan, but at least it was something.

“Hi, Sarah. What’s up?” Ruth asked. She then turned to her kids and told them to quiet down while she was on the phone.

“Oh, I was just thinking maybe we could get the group together this weekend and do something. Jordan has been working and traveling a lot. I thought it would be nice to do something fun with friends. Have any ideas?”

“Let’s see. I heard there was a new theater venue opening up. It will be featuring off-Broadway type productions and plays by up-and-coming writers. We can get discount tickets through Eric’s employer. I don’t know what play is on right now, but it would be fun to see the new theater, and it would be cheap! Want me to make some calls? See who is interested in going and arrange tickets?”

“That sounds like fun, sure.”

“We could do dessert at my house again after the play. I have a new recipe that I’m dying to try out on everyone. Eric and I can’t do dinner before the play, though. We have a family birthday party to go to—one of our little nieces.”

“O.K., let’s plan on Saturday night then—the play and then dessert at your house. I’m just looking forward to doing something with Jordan. He’s been so involved with work lately and when he’s not working he’s been hanging out with an old buddy that just relocated to Chicago. We haven’t had much time together.”

“Old buddy? Who is that?” Ruth asked.

“Some guy he used to work with in California. His name is Kyle Mason. I guess they were really good friends. Jordan talks to him on the phone every day and when they aren’t on the phone together they are going out to play pool or have a beer. It was O.K. at first, but truthfully, it is getting a little old now. I wish Kyle would get a life and leave Jordan alone. We’re still newlyweds and we need some time to ourselves.”

“You need to have a talk with Jordan. Tell him how you feel.”

“I plan to. I think I’ll arrange a nice dinner at a restaurant before the theater on Saturday. That will give us some time alone together.”

“Sounds romantic, but you better get on Jordan’s calendar as soon as possible— before he books up all his time with
Kyle
.” Ruth said Kyle’s name with an exaggerated tone that made them both laugh.

“O.K., Ruth, I have to go to a meeting. Thanks for planning everything. Let me know the details on the theater arrangements. Talk to you soon.” Sarah said her goodbyes and went to her meeting.

When Sarah arrived home from work, Jordan was not at home. She changed her clothes and went to the kitchen to figure out something for dinner. She decided on a garden salad with grilled chicken. She was chopping vegetables for the salad when Jordan walked in through the back door.

Sarah smiled in his direction and said, “Hi, Honey. I have dinner started. Should be ready in about a half hour if you want to change your clothes before we eat.”

“You go ahead, I’m not really hungry. I was in a business meeting all afternoon and they had food bought in.” Jordan brushed her cheek with a kiss and walked to the living room. He sat down on the couch and immediately opened his computer.

Sarah was surprised. They always ate together. It was the one time of the day that Kyle didn’t seem to invade. She walked to the living room.

“Is everything O.K.?” She sensed that Jordan was tense about something.

“Yes, everything is fine. My afternoon meeting was just draining. I’m tired.” Just then his cell phone rang. He answered it. “Not now, Kyle. I told you I am taking care of it. Your hounding me is not going to make a difference.” Jordan stood up and walked to the other side of the room lowering his voice so Sarah could not hear what was being said.

Kyle, again,
she thought. She went back to the kitchen and halfheartedly finished preparing dinner for herself. She definitely wanted to make Saturday night’s dinner something special just for the two of them.

When the chicken was done she prepared herself a plate and took it to the living room. Even if Jordan wasn’t going to eat with her, they could at least use the time to talk. Jordan was focused intently on his computer and didn’t even acknowledge her presence.”

“I talked to Ruth Abbot today. We’re all going to a new theater Saturday night to see a play. That’s O.K. with you, isn’t it?”

Jordan looked up from his computer. “Uh, yeah. I think so. Sure.” He went back to staring at his computer screen.

“You and I are going to go to dinner before the play. I’ll plan something nice, just for the two of us. We haven’t had much time together.” She wanted to say,
not since Kyle showed up
, but didn’t. “Ruth invited us again for dessert after the play. She has a new recipe she wants to try on us. It should be fun.”

“O.K., dinner, a play, and dessert at Ruth and Eric’s, Saturday. Sounds good.” Jordan didn’t even look up from his computer when he said it.

Sarah’s annoyance was starting to show. “Jordan, what’s wrong. You’re obsessed with that computer and you are barely listening to what I am saying.” Her remark broke into whatever world Jordan was inhabiting at the moment.

To her surprise, he snapped back in an equally annoyed tone, “There are some very important time sensitive transactions going on right now. I need to keep track of them. I’m sorry if you feel that I am ignoring you, but this is what I do. I just can’t entertain you at the moment.” Jordan went back to his computer.

His sudden censure stung and Sarah felt embarrassed. She was distracting him from his work. He had never been so short with her before. She knew that he dealt with international investments and that his work crossed time zones around the world. Transactions at odd hours were the norm. She left him alone and went to the kitchen to clean up her dishes from dinner.

Saturday evening will be better,
she thought.
He just can’t get his mind off work right now.

S
ARAH MADE PLANS
for an intimate dinner with Jordan at a quaint French restaurant down the street from the new theater. After dinner, they would walk to the playhouse and meet Ruth and Eric Abbot and the rest of their friends. She was looking forward to a fun night out—without Jordan’s computer, phone, or Kyle coming between them.

It was almost five o’clock. Diner reservations were at six and the play started at eight o’clock. Sarah was already dressed and waiting for Jordan to come home from a Saturday business meeting. She heard the key turn in the backdoor lock and Jordan promptly appeared. It was close to 90 degrees outside. Beads of sweat were on his brow and sweat had penetrated his white dress shirt in several places.

“Hi, Honey,” Sarah said with a smile. “You timed that just right. You should have just enough time to shower and change before we have to leave.”

“Leave? Oh—that’s right—the play and dessert at the Abbots’. I hate to do this to you. I’m afraid I’m going to have to cancel on that. I’ve got some international transactions going on this evening.” He could see Sarah’s crest fallen face and added, “You can still go. No need for you to sit around here and watch me stare at my computer. You’ll have to give my regrets to everyone.”

“What about our dinner plans? Even if you can’t go to the play, can we still go to dinner?”

“What time are the dinner reservations?”

“At six,” she said hopefully. “I can get someone from our group to drive me home. That way you’ll have the car and can leave right after dinner.”

He thought for a moment, “Alright, let me take a quick shower and change.” He headed to the bedroom to get ready.

Sarah was disappointed, but at least she would have him to herself at dinner—that is, if she could keep Kyle from calling.

While Jordan was getting ready, Sarah called Ruth Abbot. “Hi, Ruth. Unfortunately, Jordan has a last minute business conflict and won’t be able to make it to the play tonight. I’ll still be there, but I wanted you to know in case you knew someone who could use his theater ticket.”

“As a matter of fact I do! Eric’s sister’s husband’s brother is staying with us, Ben Taggert.”

“Huh?”

“I guess it would be my sister-in-law’s brother-in-law. Never mind. Ben is kind of a relative through Eric’s sister. Anyway, he is moving to Chicago and is staying with us until his apartment condo is ready at the beginning of the month.”

“O.K., good. I need to run. Jordan and I are still going out to dinner. I’ll see you at the theater.” She ended the call just as Jordan emerged from the bedroom.

“All ready?” she said.

“Yep, let’s go. I need to get back as soon as possible.”

Sarah gave a halfhearted smile and grabbed her purse as they headed for the door.

Jordan found a parking garage not too far from the restaurant. They entered the restaurant and were seated at a table in an alcove that provided privacy on three sides just as Sarah had requested. Sarah selected a rather expensive bottle of wine from the wine list and ordered a seafood appetizer that she knew Jordan would like.

Things were starting out as she had planned. She was going to try to ensure that nothing interrupted their dinner, including Kyle.

“Jordan, we’ve had such little time together lately. I want this dinner to be just you and me. Would you mind turning your cell phone off, and I’ll do the same?”

She pulled out her phone, clicked it off, and placed it on the table. She watched Jordan to see if he would do the same. He hesitated a moment, but then followed suit. Sarah couldn’t help but smile. It wasn’t the complete evening she hoped for, but she was going to enjoy every minute of it.

Dinner was wonderful. There were no interruptions and they talked the whole time. It was just as it had been when they first met. All of his attention was focused on her and she was glowing. They paid the check and Sarah reluctantly rose from the table. It was time for Jordan to leave and she was going to have to hurry to get to the theater before curtain time. They walked out onto the sidewalk.

Jordan gave her a quick kiss, “See you when you get home.”

“I don’t think I’ll be late, but don’t wait up for me. I know you’re tired.” She gave him a small wave and he started off to the parking garage while she walked in the opposite direction toward the theater.

What a nice dinner,
she thought.
Maybe I just need to schedule things like this more often and make sure that it’s not in conflict with any of his work
. She still needed to talk to him about Kyle, though. Work obligations may not be completely within Jordan’s control, but Kyle sure was.

Sarah entered the theater lobby and saw Ruth and Eric Abbot across the room waiting for the rest of the group to arrive. Standing beside them was a tall, nice looking man, in his mid-thirties. He had an athletic build and looked uncomfortable in the suit he was wearing.

Ruth called out as soon as she saw Sarah, “Hi, Sarah. Over here!”

Sarah made her way through the throng of people entering the theater.

“Did you enjoy your dinner?” Ruth didn’t wait for an answer. “This is our house guest, Ben Taggert. I think I told you, he’s related to Eric’s sister by way of marriage. Ben, this is my best friend, Sarah.” Just then Ruth saw another couple from their group and she moved on to the next greeting.

Ben stood there for an awkward moment and then said with an engaging smile, “I guess I’m your stand-in for tonight. Sorry your husband couldn’t make it. It was nice of Ruth to ask me. I don’t really know anyone in this city yet.”

Sarah relaxed. He seemed nice enough. “Oh, don’t worry about it. We have a nice group of friends. You’ll fit right in. I’m glad that Ruth knew someone who could use the ticket. I would hate to see it go to waste.”

Ruth rejoined the group and announced that everyone had arrived. She passed out tickets to each person and then herded them toward the appropriate theater door for seating. Ben and Sarah were told they would be seated next to each other and that they should stay together in the group to facilitate the seating.

As they jostled toward their designated theater door entrance under Ruth’s direction, Ben leaned down to Sarah and said under his breath, “Reminds me of lining up for recess in elementary school. She doesn’t give out detentions, does she?”

Sarah muffled a laugh. “You haven’t seen anything yet. Just don’t ask to go to the restroom after we’re seated or you’ll be in real trouble.”

He responded with a smile and they continued to move toward the theater door. An usher escorted them to their seats. After they were seated both Ben and Sarah paged through the playbill booklet they had been handed. Up to that point, Sarah had no idea of the name of the play they were to see or as to what it was about.

Ben looked at the booklet and read the title of the play, “
No life, No friends.
Hmm. This title does not bode well for us. Do you know anything about this play?” he asked Sarah.

“No, I don’t think Ruth does either. This is a new theater and Eric was able to get discount tickets so we thought we would go just to see the new theater venue. Have you heard something negative about the play?”

“No, no. Nothing negative. I guess we’ll just have to wait and see.”

Sarah decided to make conversation until it was curtain time. “So Ruth tells me you have relocated to Chicago.”

“Yes, I’m a freelance writer. I was working with a number of business contacts here in Chicago and it was just easier to make this my home base. I used to be in Milwaukee.”

“A writer? What kind of writer?”

“I do articles for magazines, some newspaper work, feature articles, a book or two. Mostly reality based crime stuff. I’m always looking for a good story.”

“So what makes you so knowledgeable about criminal activity?” Sarah seemed a bit skeptical.

“I used to be a cop. Other than that, not much,” he said casually. “So, how long have you been married? Kids? ”

“Oh, I’ve just been married a few months. No kids yet. We’re still getting to know each other.”

“Just getting to know each other?”

“Uh, yeah.” She hadn’t intended to get into personal details with a person she had just met, but she was stuck now. Besides, knowing Ruth, he probably had heard it all already. “After my husband and I met, things moved pretty quickly. We were together for just six weeks and knew we wanted to get married. We decided there was no reason to wait.”

“Sounds like you knew what you were looking for. It’s nice it has all worked out for you.”

“Yes, we’re very happy.” She wanted to change the subject. “So, how about you? Are you married?”

“No, not that lucky. When I was on the job, I never found anyone willing to take on the stress of being a cop’s wife. Since I’ve been writing, I’ve been traveling a lot and things have been pretty unsettled. I haven’t had much time to cultivate a social life. I was actually happy when Ruth asked if I wanted to step in on the theater outing tonight.”

The house lights dimmed briefly signaling it was almost curtain time. People who had been milling around moved toward their seats and focused their attention on the stage.

The curtain opened and a single actor seated on a metal chair in the center of the stage came into view. The rest of the stage was bare. A spot light focused on the actor and he began a soliloquy of the trials and tribulations of his character’s life. Twenty minutes later the actor was still glued to his metal chair and expounding unendingly on his character’s personal miseries and the boring minutia of his everyday life.

People shifted uncomfortably in their seats and a murmur here and there could be heard in the audience. A few people at the rear of the theater got up and left.

Ben leaned over to Sarah and whispered, “I know why this guy has
no life and no friends
.
This is awful. If he had any friends, they probably would’ve killed him.”

Sarah muffled a laugh and nodded her agreement. Ruth and Eric were sitting in the same row, but closer to the aisle. Sarah could see that Ruth had her cell phone out and there was a discussion of some sort going on between her and Eric.

Ruth whispered a message to the couple sitting next to her in their party. It was passed down the row from person to person until it reached Sarah who was sitting at the other end. Ruth’s message was that she had received a text from her babysitter. One of the kids had been jumping on the bed and fell off. He hurt his arm and the sitter thought it might be serious. Ruth and Eric had to leave and take him to the hospital for an x-ray. She apologized, but they would have to cancel dessert at their house after the play.

Sarah looked down the row and caught Ruth’s eye. She nodded that she had received the message. Sarah then whispered a response to the person sitting next to her who passed it along down the row. Sarah’s message was, “Is that story true, or did you make it up to get out of sitting through another hour and a half of this misery?” Ruth got the message, smiled and nodded in agreement. Then she and Eric left.

The actor on stage continued to drone on. After about ten more minutes Ben whispered to Sarah, “I can’t take any more of this. If he keeps this up, somebody in the audience is going to storm the stage and do him bodily harm. Would you like to go get a coffee or something?”

Sarah looked down the row and could see that several of her friends were getting ready to leave. She really hated to walk out in the middle of a performance, but this was an exceptional circumstance. It was definitely the worst production she had ever seen in her life and every minute it became more excruciating to watch.

“Coffee sounds good,” she said. She found her purse and they rose to leave.

They had been sitting near the front of the theater. When she turned to look at the seats behind her she saw that the once full theater was now more than half empty. They made their way down the aisle to the rear of the theater and several stalwart members of the audience nodded their heads in agreement as she passed. Meanwhile, the actor on stage remained seated on his metal chair and droned on about his joyless life.

They reached the lobby and Ben let out a loud sigh of relief. “O.K., that was the worst! I think this will be opening and closing night all wrapped into one.” They both laughed. “So, where shall we go? I’m not familiar with the options around here.”

Sarah moved out of the way of others escaping the theater and answered, “I know of a little place within walking distance. We might even get some dessert there.”

“Sounds good! Lead the way.”

They went outside and walked down the street about a block and then turned down a side street. A few store fronts from the corner was a small restaurant advertising deli and bakery treats. Sarah led the way inside. At the front of the shop was a large glass display case showcasing several shelves of luscious looking pies, cakes, chocolate éclairs and other sweet treats. Ben stopped to look, but Sarah motioned him to follow her to an empty booth along the wall.

“My office is not too far from here,” Sarah said. “I come here for lunch sometimes. They have great desserts—all made here in the shop. I can recommend all of their pies. The carrot cake is really good too.”