by Alec Peche
Jo just smiled, with a serene look on her face.
Soon they were seated at a table in the sports bar at Lambeau Field. They had to agree with Jo that the bar was a 180 degree turn from their discussion about a murder at a golf course. Wherever you looked on the walls, there were sports pictures of times past and present. Televisions played sporting events ranging from baseball and soccer, to basketball and tennis. Newscasters were focused on the upcoming NFL draft. It could be a great people watching place from the viewpoint of some of the high calorie meals served at the restaurant. You had to wonder how someone could eat all that food.
After a relaxing hour, they journeyed back to Marie’s house. The clock was ticking down and so far all they had was a series of coincidences surrounding Dr. Lewis but no hard evidence anywhere. After the beer and brats at the restaurant, they might have to fight off a desire for an afternoon nap.
“Jill, what would we do to prove Dr. Lewis is innocent?” Angela asked.
Jill appreciated Angela’s prompting her to think like a pathologist and said, “First we would look for an alibi for the time of the murder. We would also look for a lack of a motive – find proof that Dr. Lewis had a good relationship with Dr. Easley. Third, we would find someone else that committed the murder. Fourth, we would prove he lacked the skills to carry out the murder. Can anyone else think of something to add to this list?”
After her friends shook their heads ‘no’, Jill continued, “So we proved that he has the skills to carry out the murder and on the surface it doesn't look like he has an alibi.”
"Let me work on the question of Dr. Lewis's relationship with Dr. Easley and Dr. Phillips. I'm going to look deep to find the love between them all," Marie asserted.
"I, of course, think that money is at the heart of all murders,” Jo observed. “I'll take a leaf out of your book Jill and assume that all is right financially for Dr. Lewis. I'll see what documents I can find to prove that point.”
Angela added, "I wish I could interview Dr. Lewis. I'm going to do some research to see if I can find a connection to him and by happenstance turn up where he is expected to be in the next couple of hours, as long as that's not the operating room. I'm not a talented enough actress to bluff my way into the surgical suite. I think the game would be up the moment I fainted dead away from seeing blood. Do we need Nick for any additional research?”
Jill thought for a moment and replied, “At the moment, ‘no’, though we reserve the right to contact him if something comes up. It must be getting close to his bedtime there, just wish him sweet dreams.”
It seemed like everyone had an assignment except Jill. She couldn’t think of anything to add to the investigation and then inspiration struck. She was soon composing an email to the satellite company in Colorado. She wanted the footage of the north woods where Dr. Phillips was killed in the snowmobile accident. Her problem was she didn’t have an exact latitude and longitude location for his death. She would have to review the death certificate again to see date, time, and location of his death to see if she could narrow the location down.
She went online to the Cook County Sheriff’s website to see what information was accessible. There seemed to be press releases for police related events in the county but she saw no release for the snowmobile accident. She might need Nick to hack into their system. She would see first what she could get from her local detectives.
“Hey guys! I may have a brilliant idea. How about if we view the satellite footage of the northwoods at the time that Dr. Phillips had his snowmobile accident? We should be able to see whether we have the same figure on video footage as we do for the golf course shooting.”
Her friends immediately brightened with renewed excitement.
Angela said, “That is a brilliant idea. If they had that kind of evidence then the police could bring Dr. Lewis in for questioning and we could find out if he has a solid alibi or not.”
Jill said, “I thought about calling Nick and asking him to hack into the Cook County Sheriff's site but then I thought about our local detectives. Could they act as a liaison for us and get that report from that sheriff's Department? That way we would have the geographical markers that are required to ask the satellite company for footage.”
“Excellent idea!” said Marie. “Let’s call them now, and I agree we shouldn't use Nick if we can get the information legally.
Jill dialed Detective Van Bruggin’s cell phone. He must recognize the number now as he said in a resigned voice.
“Hello, Dr. Quint”
“I think I have a good idea to move this case forward especially in regards to Dr. Lewis. How about if you called the sheriff in Cook County and asked him for the police report of Dr. Phillips's death? I was thinking it will include the exact location. With that information, I was planning to ask the satellite company to pull video footage that corresponds with the date and time of Dr. Phillips’s death. But I'm not exactly sure where he died up north and I need the police report to pin down the geographic coordinates.”
“That's a great idea! I’ll make a call to the sheriff right now and see what I can find out for you.”
“I figured if we could confirm some unsavory behavior on the part of Dr. Lewis in regards to Dr. Phillips's death then not only could you interview him for the snowmobile death, but it would give you grounds to bring him in and chat with him concerning Doug Easley's death.”
“That is an excellent idea, Dr. Quint. We have been scratching our heads trying to think of new leads in this murder investigation. If Dr. Lewis is our killer we sure have a lack of evidence to connect him to Doug Easley's death.”
Jill silently commiserated with the detectives. Evidence for them was as difficult to locate as it was for her and her team.
“Detective Van Bruggin, one thing that we have somewhat rundown is the call schedule for the hospital, the operating room, and the clinic; it seems that Dr. Lewis was not in or scheduled to cover any of those three areas at the time of the murder.”
“How did you get that information?” asked the detective.
“Let's just say that one member of my team has some very good acting skills and it's amazing what you can find out if you ask the right questions.”
“Good work. Expect a call back from me soon,” and the detective ended the call.
Jill looked over at her friends and said, “He is going to call me back as soon as he gets the report from the county up north. Have you guys come across anything yet?"
She got exasperated looks from her friends as they had been searching only a short period of time.
"How about that gun group he belongs to? Are there any pictures of him with that group that might supply clues?”
“I’ll add it to my list of websites I’m looking up on Dr. Lewis,” sighed Marie.
“Jo, is Jack available to come over later and help us with the footage if we get it from the satellite company? He was so much faster than all of us with viewing largely boring video.”
“Let me give him a call and ask. I don’t recall him having any pressing appointments that would prevent him from helping. I’ll leave him on stand-by for us until we know when the video footage will arrive.”
Soon silence reigned in the room again as her friends returned to their searches and she was left staring at the murder board. She kept replaying the story in her head. She shuffled through information seeking another suspect. Had they pursued every avenue open to them, legal or not, to cement the connection of Dr. Lewis to the murder? Was Michelle involved in the case somehow? Until she had some more information from her friends she was really just banging her head for nothing.
She decided to step outside and call Nathan. Marie had a nice patio and she could park herself on a comfortable lounge chair for a relaxing chat with the love of her life. Hopefully he was available as he had such an unpredictable schedule.
“Hey babe, how is the murder investigation going?”
“I’m stuck at the moment and thought that mayb
e hearing about Trixie and Arthur or wine glass design might steer my mind in a new direction.”
“It’s rare for you to have so few clues to follow. Your dog is missing you mostly because Arthur is in charge. Clearly Trixie thinks it’s wrong for a cat to be lord of all he surveys.”
“Sounds like you have the usual comedy troupe with those two. What else is on your schedule for today?”
“No meetings, just time to design all day.”
“Wine labels, wine glasses, or marketing materials?”
“So far, none of the above. I’ve been working late which means I have been getting up late. All I have done today is take Trixie for a run and practice my hapkido skills in the gym. I was just finishing lunch and about to settle down in my studio. It’s been a real lazy day.”
“You know you need those on occasion. It keeps you fresh.”
“So how I can help you with the investigation? You told me the doctor was shot on the green and you were close by and your suspect is some other doctor. Have you got to question the suspect yet?”
“No, we don’t have enough evidence to bring him in for questioning yet.”
“Is this going to stop you from getting home on time tomorrow?
“I don’t think so. I can run the investigation from California. The others have to return to work as well the next day so even if I stuck around I wouldn’t have any help.”
“Have you thought of doing some surveillance? Watch your suspect for a few hours?”
“That’s an interesting suggestion. I don’t recall doing surveillance in the past, but I am getting on the nerves of Jo, Marie, and Angela because I essentially have nothing to do at the moment. They would, I am sure, love to see me exit the house. I am waiting for the police to call me back with information on a potential connected case, but once I get that information I could handle the next steps with my iPhone. I guess I’ll follow your suggestion. Got to run and go do that. Thanks for the great idea. Love you honey, goodbye,” and Jill ended the call.
Fortunately, Nathan was used to her abrupt changes in direction when she was in the middle of an investigation. She would call him again later, if the surveillance proved tedious.
She went back inside the house and asked them if anyone had Dr. Lewis’s home address. Shortly thereafter, she was out the door with plans of heading towards the home of her suspect. Twenty minutes later in her rental car, she drove past a two-story Tudor home in the village of Howard. Being new to surveillance, she knew she didn’t have a clue as to proper technique. She had actually taken a minute before leaving Marie’s house to look up surveillance techniques on the internet.
Dutifully following her newly acquired advice, she parked as far down the road as she could, yet still see the front door and driveway. She had grabbed a pair of binoculars from Marie, and was wearing black clothing, and a black wide brimmed hat. She owned her own set of dark sunglasses to complete her ‘disguise”. Angela had lent her a camera with a zoom feature in case she wanted to take any pictures. Besides Dr. Lewis, his wife and two children also inhabited this home, but it was late afternoon so they could be any number of places around town.
She watched a Range Rover SUV, with a woman at the wheel and a teenager in the passenger seat turn into the driveway, wait for the garage door to open and then disappear from sight as the big door closed. Well, isn’t this exciting, Jill thought. I watched a car pull in to the house and what did that tell me? Pretty much nothing. What to do next?
Jill waited another half hour. During that time she had received an email from the detectives with more specificity on where Dr. Phillips was killed. She sent the email off to the satellite company and they thought they would have an answer within the hour. Jo was arranging for Jack to drive over to Marie’s to assist them with the video and the detectives would be joining them as well. Jill had her head down typing away on her cell phone. She jumped when she heard a knock on her window.
She looked up into the eyes of Dr. Lewis. He looked exactly like his picture and his sudden appearance startled her. This would be Jill’s last surveillance assignment as she was an utter failure at this thing. She rolled her window down.
Dr. Lewis said, “Why are you parked in this neighborhood? I’ve seen you from my window for the past thirty minutes, and you seemed to be watching my house. I’ll be calling the police if I don’t have a satisfactory answer from you and I have written down your license plate.”
Jill was the poorest actress at the best of times. Coming face to face with a potential murder suspect was shocking and her brains were slow in responding. She opened her mouth but nothing came out. She closed her jaw and mumbled, “I like the landscaping and paint contrast of your house. I was snapping pictures then looking up the various plants on the internet so I could figure out how to duplicate your design.”
Jill heaved a silent sigh of relief at what she thought to be a pretty good lie for her appearance. She had that relief for all of about three seconds as the man was not stupid.
“If you were taking pictures of my landscaping why are so far away from the house. You can’t get good pictures from this angle. Let me see your camera. I don’t believe you.”
Yikes! This was getting hairy. She decided to go on the offense.
“Look my being here is obviously upsetting you. I’ll just leave,” Jill said as she quickly started the car and put it into drive.
She watched him in her review mirror as she continued down the street. She would have to remind herself to avoid doing surveillance for future cases as she was such an abject failure at the technique. She had not seen him walk up to her car and her heart was still pounding wildly over that encounter. She would bet the only reason he hadn’t reached in the car to try and disable it was because she was a woman and she had noticed a neighbor out front watering at another house.
The trip back to Marie’s house was a little faster as her heart was still pounding. She soon entered the house and went straight to where the wine and wine glasses were kept. She poured herself a full glass, took a large swig, then turned around to find her three friends had moved into the kitchen and were staring at her.
Chapter Eighteen
“Okay, I am failure at surveillance. If I ever say I want to do surveillance again, stop me. Remind me how bad I am at spying on people.”
Angela asked, “What’s wrong? What are you trying to fix with that very large glass of wine? You seem unhurt so what went wrong?”
“While I was busy composing an email to Jack and the detectives about a time to meet here to look at the video footage, Dr. Lewis came over and knocked on my car window. He scared the bejeezus out of me as I hadn’t seen him come over to the car,” Jill described the encounter with her hand to chest, still somewhat breathless.
“You’re kidding. OMG! I would be sipping a large glass of wine too,” replied Marie with a grin. “Why don’t we all have a glass and we’ll toast the end of your unsuccessful career as a private detective doing surveillance.”
“Thanks guys, I need the laugh,” smiled Jill. “I have never stared into the eyes of a suspected killer before and it was unnerving. He said I seemed to be watching his house and he was ready to call the police. I then told him I was admiring his landscaping and taking pictures of it and looking up the individual plants, a comment I thought quite brilliant on my part to be created on the fly like that while my heart was still pounding.
“Then he said he didn’t believe me and asked to see the camera. So I just turned the engine on and put the car in gear and drove off. Uh, that was why I needed the big glass of wine when I reached your house.”
“Based on your brief encounter with him, what was your impression?” Angela asked.
“I thought his approaching the car and yelling at me was over the top. If I had passed him on the street, I wouldn’t have thought anything of it. He looks like an average guy. I wonder how he spotted me. I wasn’t in front of his house and I had only been there just under an hour. Maybe his wife said s
omething.
“Why would she say anything?” Jo questioned. “When did you meet her?”
“I watched her pass me on the street and pull into the garage of their home. She had one of the kids in the front passenger seat. Maybe I raised her protective instincts. Would any of you notice a car parked three houses down with a person in it? I know I wouldn’t have in my old location. Now that I sort of live in the country, I would notice a lone car parked just because there hasn’t been one in the five years I have lived there.”
“You know me, I don’t notice anything going on,” replied Jo. “A car would probably have to be parked at the curb on my street for at least three months before I might notice it.”
Angela added, “I live on such a busy street that it would take me several days to notice a car. If they were beyond the intersection near my house, it might take me a few months to notice.”
Marie offered the dissenting voice, “I think I am a little more paranoid then you guys, so I might notice the car the same day.”
“The whole incident was just weird,” Jill said shrugging. “My heart rate is back to normal, and finally the hair on the back of my neck is sitting down. The video feed should be here soon. Is Jack on his way?”
“He should be here any moment,” replied Jo. “Are the detectives coming here as well?
“They’ll be here sometime within the hour. They like Jack’s technique with the video. Of course they also want the tape and depending on what we find on it, I imagine the Cook County Sheriff might want a copy as well. We’ll see what’s on the feed. I heard a ping a few moments ago and when I checked my inbox it was the video email. I am dying of curiosity as to what we will see on the feed.”
They heard Jack come in through the kitchen door yelling “hello”. In his hands was his laptop. He was soon seated at the island counter and began the process of opening the video feed from the satellite company. The four women were peering over his shoulder at the screen.