The Hot Date Mystery Ch. 01

"What about a cellphone?" I asked.

"Not yet, sir." said Detective Teddy Parker, who had just come into the bedroom from the main room. "We have her phone number, though. I've called the Mouseketeers to see if they can get a signal ping."

"Sir," said Joanne Warner, "we're also getting a warrant to take all the camera footage from the security cameras here and across the street."

"Excellent." I said, then said quietly to Cindy: "You have no idea how happy I am to not have had to ask that." Cindy smiled and nodded vigorously in agreement.

"No fingerprints except hers on the computer." announced Labcoat, the technician who always was wearing a labcoat; hence, the nickname. His voice was lilting as if he were a homosexual, and he said in that voice: "And we're not done everywhere, but no other fingerprints anywhere else, including in the bathroom."

"So the guy she had sex with wiped it all down?" Cindy asked.

"No ma'am." said Labcoat. "Nothing was wiped down, either; we usually can tell when that happens. The Commander will kill me for saying this, but my theory is that the boyfriend did not use the bathroom at all. He may have killed her right after sex, put on his clothes, and gotten on out of here."

"Noooo, I'm not going to kill you, Labcoat." I said. "I'm just going to wave this red crowbar in your general direction for theorizing without sufficient facts."

"Welcome to my world, Labcoat." said Cindy. Joanne giggled.

I said "Having said that: your idea could well be correct, Labcoat. Keep searching for prints."

"Sir, do you see any 'strangenesses'?" Joanne very astutely asked.

"Just one at this moment." I said, smiling. "Even if this was a crime of passion, why leave a three-thousand-dollar laptop computer sitting here on the desk? Why not take it, just to make it look like a robbery?"

"It's an Apple computer, sir." said Joanne. "They have those new apps: 'Find my iPhone', 'Find my iPad', and so on. The perp might have thought the computer could be traced."

"That's true." I said.

"The cellphone was taken, sir." said Christina Cho. "She'd put her purse on the breakfast table, and it was emptied onto the table. It may be theorizing without facts, but the perp apparently wanted the phone, and he took it."

"The only problem with your theorizing, Christina," I said, "is that you assumed it's a 'he' that wanted the phone. At any rate, we're back to 'strangeness' again. Yes, the phone can be traced; in fact, that's being done now. But the computer was left behind, for right or for wrong."

I looked around the kitchen, seeing the purse and its emptied contents on the breakfast table. Terry's wallet was still there, and it contained two hundred dollars in cash and her credit cards. Her drivers license had been removed by the Police to be run against our computer databases.

As we had been talking in the kitchen, Martha the M.E. had arrived and was now examining the body in the bedroom. I waited for several minutes for her to do her job as I looked around the main room, the greatroom. It had a TV in the corner, an older model, and a sofa against the wall, looking towards the back wall, window, and television. The black material of the sofa looked cheap and old, especially compared to the nice dining room set, bedroom suite, and the simple but good quality breakfast room table and kitchen utensils. There were no photographs at all on the walls or the side tables. There had been no photos in the bedroom, either.

On the side wall was a secretary desk, not wide but tall with a bookcase on top. There were some papers on it, but they seemed undisturbed, and as Joanne had observed there were no outlines in any dust to show something had been removed.

Against the back wall there was no door, only two side-by-side windows that looked out over the backyard areas, which weren't much: about 60 feet of space with a fence in the middle and more condos on the other side. A narrow deck and raised fire escape stairs were against the outside wall.

I could see the backside of another complex on the other side of the backyard. This area had been heavily built in the last few years, and a lot of homes squeezed into a relatively small space.

"Cindy," I said, "what do you want to bet these are Thomas P. Cook housing developments?"

"I'll take that bet." Cindy said. "I just helped my mom buy a condo in Building 6, which is to our right as we face the backyard. The paperwork said the developer was Edward R. Steele. Those condos abutting the backyard are not part of this development, so they may be Cook developments."

"No back deck." I said. "Hell, I'd put a door here and a back deck on these upper floors."

"My mom's condo has that." Cindy said. "I don't know why these are different."

"Hmm, interesting." I said. Back in the greatroom, I said "Terry Schultz must be a professional woman." I said. "Maybe a lawyer, CPA, CEO of her own company, something like that?"

"Yes sir." said Teddy Parker. "She's the CEO of a small staffing services company. Paralegals, accountants, people that can run applications like Excel, some light software development. I'll be looking further into the company."

"Okay, good work. Let me know what you find." I said as I looked around some more. Between the greatroom and master bedroom was a bathroom. Going towards the front of the building, the master bedroom, where the body was, was at the end of the hall. The second bedroom was to the right of the master bedroom, behind (or in front of) the kitchen, and its window also overlooked the street. There was a small bed, double sized, a bedside table, one lamp, and a simple chair. No other adornments graced this extra room.

"All the windows are locked." I said, examining the windows as I had all the others. "to whom are you assigning this case, Captain?"

"Warner as the primary." Cindy said. "Parker helping her."

"Good choices." I said. "Okay, let's spend a few instructive moments with Martha." I went back into the main bedroom, Cindy following.

"Hi Martha." I said. "Anything peculiar?"

"No sir." said Martha. "Well... not necessarily peculiar, but worth noting: there's no bruising anywhere. She wasn't beaten up before she was killed. She had recently had sex, as you know. It appears to have been consentual, and brief. Death did not occur immediately after the sex, though."

"Oh, now that is interesting!" I said enthusiastically. "Do you not agree, Detective Warner?"

"Uh, yes sir." said Joanne. "Since you think so, sir." Cindy stifled a laugh.

"Oh, I do." I said. "Let that work through your mind for a bit. Anything else, Martha?"

"She was grabbed from behind, her throat slit, and she was dropped right there. Bled out quickly." said Martha. "Total surprise to her, I think... virtually no signs of a physical struggle."

"All right." I said. I had been kneeling next to Martha and the body. Now, as I raised up to my full height, I said "Okay, I've seen all I need to. Get that computer to the Mouseketeers for analysis. I'll postpone my trip to Midtown; this takes precedence. I'll see all of you at Police Headquarters tomorrow morning..."

Part 5 - Information

"This is Bettina Wurtzburg, KXTC Channel Two News!" shouted the lovely redheaded MILF at 7:00am, Saturday, January 21st. "Channel Two News is following the story of a young woman killed at the Alberta Pines Townhouses just north of North Street!"

"The victim was a 34-year-old woman and believed to be a local businesswoman." said Bettina. "Police are withholding her identity pending notification of next-of-kin, and so far have no leads on the killer or killers. Neighbors report hearing no altercations or screams during the night."

"And in other news," Bettina went on, "University President Sidney P. Wellman announced that a formal search is underway for a full-time Hospital Administrator for University Hospital, following reports that a whistleblower is about to come forward with allegations of doctors not on Staff at the Hospital being allowed to practice medicine there. Dr. Wellman states that he believes nothing is wrong with the Hospital's practices, but a full-time Administrator is needed to fill the role since Dr. Louise Alcott was dismissed a year ago this month."

"And in State news," Bettina said, her face brightening considerably, "Democrats in the State Legislature are blocking Republican attempts to ramrod through a bill that would gut the SBI and leave citizens helpless against drug dealers and other criminals! State Senator Katherine Woodburn is calling upon Governor Jared to support a strong SBI, or to resign as Governor. Governor Jared reiterated his intention to keep his campaign promise to destroy the SBI, and he has promised to veto any bill that funds the SBI."

"That's not true at all." I said as I drank my coffee. "I don't know what is going on with Bettina, but she is way, way over the line with that stuff. That's not just bias... it's dishonest reporting, and almost libel."

"It's not just her." Cindy said. "Molly was in Midtown, helping Frank Soltis get moved in. She said Meredith Peller down there has gotten really bad in her reporting, and that Meredith used to be a really good and honest reporter. And Diane Williams in the City... she must be auditioning for CNN or something."

"It's almost like the Media has decided to undermine Governor Jared no matter what." said Joanne Cummings Warner as she walked in. "That's what my cousin thinks. The Media really, really hates it that he won."

"Yep." I said. "The Citizens did not obey the Media's orders, and they voted for Jared instead of Lewis. And the Media is now hell-bent on not just getting Jared, but getting payback against the People themselves."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

At 8:00am, the meeting convened in Classroom 'E'. Chief Moynahan surprised us all by being here, and he was sitting at the end of the tables that were put together to be a conference table, the door behind him. I was sitting in the middle, facing the whiteboards and projector screen. Also present were Captain Ross, Detectives Warner and Parker, Sergeant Rudistan, Sr. Patrolman Morton, J.R. Barnes, and all three Mouseketeers. Additionally, Precinct Captain Holsom 'Hal' Briggs of the 1st Precinct had been 'invited' by Chief Moynahan.

"Commander, it's your meeting." said the Chief.

"No sir," I said, "it's Captain Ross's meeting."

"I'd say you're passing the buck, sir," said Cindy, "but Detective Warner might go get a hunting license and go after that buck."

"Yes ma'am!" Joanne said happily. She loved to go hunting.

"Okay," said Cindy, "let's hear the autopsy report, and anything else the Crime Lab can tell us. J.R.?"

"Yes ma'am." said J.R. Barnes. "The autopsy showed that Terry Schultz died of a knife wound to the throat. The knife was a serrated hunting knife, often called a 'Rambo' knife, according to Martha. It was a vicious blow; the killer just about sliced her head off her neck. None of the knives in the kitchen could have done this, so we think the weapon was brought in, and was taken away."

J.R. went on: "Terry had eaten about three hours before her death. Light pasta and salad, and wine. And she had sex within an hour of her death. It'll be a couple of days before we get a DNA profile from the State Crime Lab, but Lt. Perlman said she'd expedite it."

"Good." said Cindy. "Nice to have one of our guys in charge there. Okay, anything else from the crime scene?"

"I'll let the Mouseketeers talk about the computer and its contents." said J.R. "Meanwhile, her clothes were piled next to the hamper very neatly, and judging from the rest of the apartment, she kept things very neat. Last, there were no fingerprints besides Terry's on the purse that was emptied in the kitchen, and no other fingerprints on the desk, or on the computer on her bedroom side table. We do not believe anything, except possibly her cellphone, was taken from the scene."

"Okay, camera footage?" Cindy asked. I liked the orderly way she was going through this.

"Ma'am," said Myron Milton, "if you'll allow it, we'd like to present an integrated presentation of both the computer data and the camera footage."

"Allow it?" Cindy retorted. "I insist!" What was with this pawky vein of humor in her? I wondered to myself.

"Thank you, ma'am." said Myron. He turned things over to his wife, Mary Mahoney Milton. For the record, her hair was light purple today.

"We looked at the internet sites her browser had visited." said Mary. "There are a number of them, but the first ones we'll discuss are to dating sites. There's one that Terry visited a lot, called 'Business Singles Meet'. It has professional-level businessmen and businesswomen on it. Terry was in contact with three of the men, and one of them, named Andy Martoli, talked with her a bit, and they agreed to meet for a date."

Mary turned on the projector. "This is Andy Martoli's picture from the dating site." Martoli was in his late 20s or a young-looking 30s, black haired, Italian features. "He's a software developer contracted with a company called Dakota Funding, Inc. They're one of those structured settlement loan companies. Their main office is in the City, and they have their software people here in a small office near the Mall. Andy is 32 years old, never married, no criminal record to this point."

Mary went on: "So here is where the camera footage comes in. At 8:10pm, this nice looking BMW drives up and into the parking garage. The car tag is registered to an Anthony Martoli." The street camera showed the vehicle, then the camera footage of the parking garage attached to the building. "Martoli is buzzed in, then the 2nd floor hallway camera shows him going to Terry's door. She comes out, wearing the clothes that were on the floor near the hamper, I might add. They drive off."

"At 10:38pm," Mary says, "the car drives back along the street, comes into the parking lot. They park, go to Terry's apartment. At 11:35pm, Andy comes out and goes to his car. He's not hurrying, no blood on his clothes. Gets into the car and drives off."

"And the first call to 9-1-1 about the blood was at 12:01am." I said.

"Yes sir." said Teddy Parker.

I nodded. "So, Detective Warner," I said, "what do you think of that guy in the cameras?"

"He never shows his face, sir." said Joanne, showing her own powers of observation. "He's wearing a sportscoat, a button-down shirt, blue jeans and badly out-of-fashion penny loafers... but he's also wearing a hat low over his eyes, he seems to know where the cameras are, he never looks at them, even looks studiously away. We never get a good look at his face."

"Very true." I said. "And an excellent job seeing that."

"Is there a camera in the console where he has to buzz her apartment to get into the garage?" asked Sergeant Rudistan.

"No, Sergeant." said Detective David Krueger. "The apartment manager said it was the only camera in all of the buildings of the complex that was on the fritz. He said it went out late that afternoon, and he had not yet had a chance to get someone to come fix it."

"Fancy that." I said. "Detective Warner, what do we think about coincidences?"

"We think that Police Commanders with crowbars don't think much of them, sir." Joanne replied. Everyone laughed.

"You are correct about that." I said when I stopped laughing with everyone else. "So take note of that 'strangeness'. Okay, carry on, Mary. Tell me about the apartment manager."

"Tommy and Tina Yaris are their names." said Mary. "They're both on the payroll. Sorry sir, I have not yet worked up anything on them."

"I know you'll have a lot more on them the next time we talk." I said, and Mary correctly realized that was an instruction.

"Yes sir." Mary said, then handed the presentation over to Krueger: "David has the information on Martoli."

"I ran Andy's finances." said Krueger. "His credit card was used at Luigi's last night, at 10:10pm. Luigi's is a fairly new Italian place near the Mall and north of the Cop Bar, with a back balcony overlooking the River... well, there's a parking lot between the balcony and the River, but it's a view. People gather after work on that balcony and have beers and sometimes light dinners. It would be a good place for a first date, as they can enclose that balcony and heat it. It's also not cheap: Andy's bill ran over $60 for what appears to be light dinners, pasta, and wine."

"What are his finances like?" Cindy asked before I could.

"Okay." said Krueger. "He's making good money. He's paying off the car, and he lives in an apartment complex not far from the Mall and Luigi's, where many younger singles live. Runs up credit card bills on restaurants and wine, but pays the bills every month. We'll have to work up his employment record on Monday, when people are there to answer our calls."

"So where is he now?" I asked. The room got quiet.

"Sir" said Sergeant Rudistan, "we procured a warrant late last night... more like 4:00am this morning... to bring him in for questioning. We went to his home address, but he's not there. His car is missing, also. We put out an APB for him and his car in this State and the States east and west of us. So far, no joy; he hasn't been spotted."

"We have patrols watching his home and his place of business here in Town, sir." said Teddy Parker.

"Additionally, sir, "said Myron Milton, "we are not getting any pings from Terry's cellphone. Nothing at all, despite an extensive search, if you get my drift. We think the cellphone has been destroyed."

"Okay, y'all have done all you can to this point." I said. "So tell me more about our victim, Terry Schultz."

"She does have a few features of interest." said Myron. "First, she's been running a small company called 'Schultz Elite Staffing', or S.E.S. for the last six years. As Detective Parker found out, her goal was to provide high quality temps, such as paralegals, accountants, experts in software such as Microsoft Access and Excel, and some software solutions people."

"However," Myron went on, "her business has been struggling, especially the last two years. Many of the paralegals were hired away, and most attorneys don't want temp paralegals for sensitive things. Likewise, all the software people found better paying jobs, and she began having problems replacing them with new hires. And other, larger companies were providing accounting temps at much more reasonable costs, so she was losing that. With the cash burn she was beginning to have, she probably would not have lasted three or four more months."

"She didn't do secretarial temps?" I asked. "Or 'professional' ladies like Delise Patrick was providing?" (Author's Note: Return of the Black Widow)

"Not that we've found, as of yet------" Myron started.

"Uh, sir, I'll get to that in a minute." Mary said. "Sorry to interrupt, Myron."

"That's cool." said Myron. "But no, she didn't do secretarial staffing... way too much competition out there for that. Looks like she wanted to make a niche, but chose the wrong niches."

"Okay." Cindy said. "Go ahead, Mary."

Mary said "We're now going to get into more of the contents of Terry's computer. She had work-related files of her accounts receivable, and one column was the source of the income." She turned on the projector again, and brought up the file on her computer.

"One source that kept being listed, as you can see, is called 'Red Flag'." Mary said. "There are entries here of $500, $200, $1000, and so on. Lately, this was the only real income she was getting."

Mary continued: "I began looking for what a 'Red Flag' might be, and there are no businesses registered in the State under that name. Then I searched her browser again and found a URL to this site."

She brought up a site. "This site tells women that they will 'research' those women's husband's infidelities and make a report, and gives a contact number and email. That email and the URL are on record as belonging to Terry Schultz's staffing firm. Wives hire her to have women 'woo' the suspected cheating husbands. I broke into the emails, and have made a full report of the names and email addresses. Some of the reports are 'Green Flags', where the husband resisted advances, or otherwise had no fidelity issues. Then there's 'Yellow Flags', and I'm sure you don't need a red crowbar to know what a 'Red Flag' means." Laughter broke out.