Michael Harvey - The Chicago Way

“Dishes?”

“He puts the brother on the floor and lays the dishes on his legs and body. Says if he hears the dishes move, the sister is dead. Brother is next.”

“That’s a new one.”

“Yeah. Then he goes back into the living room where he has Miriam tied up. Rapes her repeatedly.”

“How long?”

“Maybe a half hour in the living room. Then he took her into the laundry room. Made her jump up on the washer.”

“Raped her there?”

“Yep. Vaginal in the living room, anal and oral in the laundry room. Then back to the living room. Kept running the knife up and down her body. Then he cut her throat. ‘Just enough to scare her,’ he said.”

“That’s it?” Nicole said.

“Yeah, she says he wore a mask and gloves the entire time.”

Vince’s PDA beeped. He stepped away to make a call as Nicole opened up her laptop and began to tap away. After a minute or so, Vince returned. Nicole spoke without looking up from her screen.

“Did he use a condom?”

“She says he did.”

“We’ll find out pretty quick when we do the kit. Did she struggle with him when he cut her?”

“A little,” Vince said. “You’re thinking he might have cut himself?”

“Yeah.”

“I already asked her. She doesn’t think so.”

“Where’s the brother?”

“Sent him downtown. He never moved a muscle until the police showed up. Dishes still in place. They got him medicated.”

“Who’s handling the rape kit?”

“Christine Sullivan is your nurse.”

“She here?”

“Just arrived. She wants to do the examination back at the hospital.”

“I’ll need a few minutes with the victim first.”

“That’s fine. I was just finishing up her statement.”

Vince led us back into the room. The woman from the refrigerator was half sitting on the bed, talking quietly to a counselor who was holding the woman’s hand. I could see red and purple welts on the woman’s wrists where the rope had cut her skin. She was wearing a long nightshirt that said NORTH SIDE CHICAGO GIRL on the front. It was ripped up the side and stained with blood. She had fuzzy slippers on. One foot was tucked up under her. The other dangled and shook lightly. A bandage covered her neck. The wound didn’t seem serious. Then again, it wasn’t my neck. Vince crouched down so he was eye-level with the victim before he spoke.

“Miriam, these people need to collect some forensic evidence. I’m not going to introduce you because I don’t want you talking to them. As I explained before, I want you only to talk to me or the counselor here. Makes it a lot easier when we catch this guy. Okay?”

I could see why Vince was on the team. His voice was soft, smooth, and reassuring. Miriam’s eyes rolled around a bit in their sockets and settled back on the detective.

Nicole opened up her case and set out some small envelopes and tweezers. She began with the victim herself, collecting small bits of evidence off her clothes and bedding. Meanwhile, Vince and Miriam continued to talk.

“Let’s go back to the attack, Miriam. Why do you think he used the knife? Was there something you said, maybe, that got him angry?”

“I don’t know.”

“You remember what he was saying at the time?”

“No. Like I told you, I think he felt like he was losing control.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know. I just think he needed to scare me, to show me he could use the knife. I think he could have killed me.”

“Why didn’t he?”

“I talked him out of it.”

Miriam’s voice firmed up a bit. She looked around the room and returned to Vince.

“I read about it in People magazine. If you’re being raped, the best way to survive is to talk to your rapist. Make him see you as a person. So that’s what I did. Told him about my life. About my brother’s visit. About T-Kat. Where is T-Kat?”

“I don’t know, Miriam. We have an officer looking around the neighborhood.”

“Oh no, T-Kat is here. He never leaves the house. Neither one of us likes to leave the house very much. Anyway, I told him about T-Kat and about my job. About the shows I watch at night. American Idol. Anything I could think of. After a while he put down the knife and just listened. Then he took me down the hall and into the bedroom.”

“What did he do then?”

“Well, he didn’t rape me anymore. He just lay down beside me.”

Nicole touched Vince’s arm.

“Hold on a second, Miriam.”

Nicole and Vince conferred for a moment, then Vince returned to the victim.

“Can you show me exactly where he was lying?”

“Sure. Right here on the left side. I think he might have been crying at one point. That’s when I knew he wouldn’t kill me.”

Vince’s PDA beeped again.

“That’s the ambulance, Miriam. We’re going to take you to the hospital for the examination I told you about.”

“Will I spend the night at the hospital?”

“Probably.”

“Where’s my brother?”

“He’ll be at the hospital, too.”

“Okay. But you guys have to find my cat. His food is in the kitchen.”

“You got it, Miriam.”

The ambulance rolled out five minutes later. Vince came back into the bedroom. Nicole was just finishing up.

“I called in a couple more techs,” she said. “They’re going to process both bedrooms, living room, kitchen, and laundry room. They’re also going to take that carpet up.”

“What do you think?” Vince said.

“I think he probably used a condom. If he was wearing gloves, he probably didn’t cut himself. But it’s worth a shot.”

“Yeah.”

Nicole pointed to a set of rolled-up bedsheets.

“The victim thinks he was crying. If so, we might have some tears.”

Vince smiled.

“And some DNA?”

“Maybe. I’ll let you know. Okay, I gotta run. I’ll call you.”

“Thanks, Nicole.”

The two shook hands. Very proper and professional. Too much so. Vince turned my way.

“Thanks for staying out of the way. Find it interesting?”

“Very much. For what it’s worth, your guy’s a killer.”

Nicole glanced up at that. Vince cocked his head and gave me a funny look.

“What makes you say that?”

“The way she described him. The guy was on his way. Almost there.”

“You think he was going to kill her?” Nicole said.

I looked at Vince.

“I think it was a close thing. Not sure why he stopped, but you can bet it had nothing to do with Miriam or her stories.”

“Or People magazine,” Vince said. “Come on out here for a second.”

Rodriguez led us through the kitchen and into a small backyard. It was dark now. Pieces of light from the kitchen window cast the scene into silhouette. A clothesline ran off the back of the house. A cop stood nearby. As we got close, I could see why. Miriam Hope’s cat was hanging from the line, stiff in the cold, a length of panty hose cinched tight around its neck. Vince shone his flashlight on the animal, then to the ground.

“We think he took the cat as he left the house. Found it like this. Didn’t want to tell the victim until I got a statement.”

Rodriguez snapped off the light and ordered the officer to cut the animal down. The highway was nearby, and traffic rolled into the night. Some chatter floated in from the open door of a tavern down the street. Otherwise, it was quiet.

“Call me when you work up the evidence, Nicole. Nice meeting you, Kelly. How long you been off the force?”

“Been a couple of years.”

“Well, you still got the instincts. Thanks for the input.”

Then Rodriguez was gone and it was just me and Nicole.

“No, I’m not sleeping with him, Michael. Not yet. And consider it your good fortune he doesn’t have a personal life. First year in Homicide. Probably the only detective in the city that doesn’t know you just got pulled in for some face time with the DA. Now buy me a beer and you can tell me just how much trouble you’re really in.”