The Cult of the White Owl Page 3
“Hell yes, everyone’s a suspect, even you!” Jake said softening his words with a pat on the mayor’s back and a sympathetic smile.
“Chief,” Wilson said rushing into the room, “The security company said they had been trying to reach the mayor since about 6:30AM this morning to let him know his system was down, but his phone did not answer! They would have sent the police long before this, but it showed the police were already here. They are sending a repair crew.”
“I better call the telephone company to report the phones are not working, as slow as they are, it will probably be Christmas before they get here to fix them.”
“Use the patrol car radio, Wilson you take care of it for the mayor.”
“Yes sir!” and he rushed out to make the call.
Jake thought the mayor had a right to be out of sorts, poor guy, what with everything that was going on in his life. Jake was only half kidding about him being a suspect, history showed that the spouse had the most motivation to commit murder, and was always the prime suspect…. Odd that the security company said the police were already here at 6:30 this morning….hmmm.
“Chief,” forensics entered the room, spotted the coffee tray and helped themselves, “We have been over the whole house and only found this bunch of white roses with this card attached.” The coroner handed Jake the card.
The card was creamy white. The paper was a heavy stock, the signature embossed at the bottom, “The White Owl,” in italics. Jake ran his finger over the printing and it was raised and rich to the touch. There was a message, “Come fly with me”
“Holy Toledo, no wonder you brought this to me, where did you find it?” Jake noted that the stems were dry and the roses were limp and on they’re way out.
“We found the roses in the kitchen, on the counter by the sink. It was as though someone was going to put them in water and didn’t have time.”
“Gerry when you searched the house did you see these flowers?” Jake wanted to know.
“I might have noticed them I can’t recall, I wasn’t looking for flowers I was looking for her keys, her wallet, her bag, and I wasn’t looking for flowers, for God’s sake!”
“Gerry it’s okay, I never saw them last evening either, we never went into the kitchen, we were concentrating on the bedroom and the upstairs rooms. Do not get yourself more upset, we’re on this!” Turning to forensics Jake said, “Thanks guys, I will need a full report. Oh, one more thing, did you fingerprint everyone in the household, so we can determine if there are any unexplained prints?”
“We have the mayor’s fingerprints on file and his wife, no one else however.” The medical doctor answered Jake’s question and looked quizzical. “We do have unidentified prints with no follow up reference. Do you want us to test the card for prints?”
“That’s alright, I am wearing gloves and I need to keep this card awhile, at least until we find the maid and fingerprint her and the card at the station to see if we have a match.”
“Do you really think the maid left the card Chief?” Forensics asked gathering their gloves and powders as they left for headquarters.
“Get outa here you guys, this is serious stuff.” Scott shooed them out the door.
The telephone repairmen arrived with their equipment and started their search for the problem on the perimeter of the property.
“I can’t believe they got here so soon!” said the mayor.
“You are the mayor, that has to mean something.” Jake said, as he closed the library doors, with instructions that they were not to be disturbed until the phones and security lines were repaired.
“Gerry, can you think of any favorite places that Caterina liked to go, hang out. Can you make a list of her most frequented places; hairdressers, restaurants, clubs, shops, department stores, anything and any where?” Jake pushed the note pad on the desk in the mayor’s direction.
“Jake I have to get out of here! I have to look for her! I can’t stay here one more second!” The mayor started to leave the room, disturbed.
“You sit right back down and write a list of Cat’s favorite haunts and friends, close and obscure, I don’t care! I need someplace to start!” Jake said pushing Gerry back down.
The mayor grabbed the tablet as though it was a lifeline, relieved to be doing something, anything positive in finding his wife. Jake left him sitting at his desk writing and went to check on the rest of his crew.
Murphy walked over to Jake with his report. “Chief, Mr. Sam Gordon from next door saw a white pick-up truck parked in front of the mayor’s house about 4:30 yesterday afternoon! He did not recognize the driver. He said there was some sort of logo on the car door, but he could not make it out. The strange thing was... he saw the same pick-up truck this morning when he went out to get his newspaper, around 6:00 or 6:30AM. He gets up early to have coffee and read the paper before his wife and the maids arrive to; as he puts it, “destroy inner peace!” Murphy explained.
Jake puzzled at the time line. Coming back to cut security wires and telephone lines after Caterina was missing, why take the risk? The suspect could have been stalling for time! Why? In order to keep communications to a minimum, disable the phone lines, no calls in or out! Disable the security system? Did it give easy access to the house or buy the kidnappers more time, create more confusion, more activity, muddying the waters? Jake shook his head frustrated, trying to figure it out, or maybe the white pick-up was superfluous to Caterina’s disappearance? Maybe not.
An officer came in just then and corroborated Murphy’s account. The neighbors saw a white pick-up truck parked near the mayor’s house. A young man leaving his house to take a morning run, passed the truck and noticed the logo on the driver’s side door, but, could not remember what it was or the license plate number.
“It doesn’t sound as though this is a ransom demand at all. Why cut the phone lines just before the police arrive? This disappearance feels more sinister than that. We better bug the phones anyway, to cover all our bases, record all incoming calls, hell record all the calls in and out!” Jake said. “Make sure we have everyone’s statements in writing. No one saw Caterina leave the house yesterday, right?” At their negative answers Jake dismissed them
“Maybe the maid will shed some light on our confusion.” Jake mused.
CHAPTER 3
Johnny, Scott and the police officers quietly pulled onto Mifflin Street in South Philly and headed for the maid’s address. “428 Mifflin, this must be it!”
“You and your partner secure the back door by the alley. Phil and I will knock on the front door.”
Johnny looked up and down the quiet street; there was very little activity except for a few cars passing and an elderly woman scrubbing her front steps talking to a young girl playing ‘Jacks’ on the pavement. The row homes were brownstone, close together and three stories high. They were built to stand the test of time.
Phil was getting impatient waiting for someone to answer the door, “Does this doorbell even work?” he wondered, still no answer after five minutes.
“Phil lets see what’s happening out back in the alleyway, this lady is supposed to be too sick to work, so why isn’t she answering the door?”
Johnny and Phil Greeves made their way through the debris-strewn alleyway and opened the side gate to where the other officers were standing alertly by the back door. Some of the neighbors were leaning out of their windows checking on the activity in the alleyway below, their laundry on clothes lines blowing in the afternoon breeze between houses.
“Any activity?” Johnny asked.
“Quiet as a grave out here.” They answered in unison.
Johnny tried the door and to his astonishment it opened! They drew their pistols as they quietly walked into the kitchen. An empty coffee cup was on the table beside a half eaten sandwich on a plate. The ashtray was filled to overflowing with cigarette butts, the kitchen chair was pulled away
from the table and there was a red sweater on the floor by the chair. Nothing else was disarranged. The kitchen was clean and smelled of detergent. Detective Scott noted the clean dishes on the draining board.
They proceeded down the hall, past a dining room that smelled of furniture polish and into the living room, everything was neat and empty. They were very aware they had no warrant and were trespassing but nothing stopped them. Johnny pressed on certain that something was wrong. They looked at each other hesitating whether to go upstairs, but Detective Scott climbed the dark mahogany stairs and the men followed him to the first landing where there was a full-length mirror. Johnny had to laugh at their scared faces reflected in the glass. The officers were sure they were going to get in trouble with the chief, but they continued up the stairs to the second landing. The house was deadly quiet except for the heavy breathing of the men.
Most of the bedrooms off the long narrow hallway had closed doors. One by one the officers opened them, they saw nothing significant! When they got to the master bedroom at the end of the hall, distinguished by the fancy wooden double door the men opened it slowly and entered.
The bedroom was dark, the curtains were drawn across the windows not allowing much light to enter the room “I can’t see a damn thing!” said Detective Scott. Johnny reached behind the open door and turned on the lights, and they were taken aback by the shocking scene.
The woman lay face down across the bed; her totally nude body revealed she was somewhere in her thirties. Blood trickled from the corner of her mouth and congealed on the bedspread. White roses were scattered all around her body, on the bed and on the floor where they had fallen haphazardly, red blood covered some of the white blossoms.
“Holy cow,” one of the officers exclaimed, “I guess we won’t get in trouble for entering the house now!”
“Let’s get out of here we can’t disturb anything till the chief and forensics’ get here. I think I saw a telephone in the living room.” said Scott backing away from the bed trying not to disturb the scene. “I have to tell the chief about this right away, he isn’t going to like it one bit.”
Scott ran down the stairs followed by Johnny and the other officers, “Yeah there’s the phone!” Johnny pointed it out.
Scott covering his hand with a handkerchief, quickly picked it up and dialed the chief at the mayor’s house hoping he was still there. “Hello, let me speak to the chief, listen this is important, get him on the phone, thanks.” Scott waited, “Chief, we are at the maid’s house, she is quite dead! Your calling the coroner, yes, we will wait, yes sir,” Scott hung up and turned to his men, “Johnny you stay with me, the rest of you get back to headquarters and wait for further orders.”
“What should we do now?” Queried Johnny.
“We wait and try not to mess up any evidence that could help find her killer.” Scott said walking through the kitchen and out the back door, Johnny following.
“You didn’t tell the chief that it’s the back door that’s open!”
“He’ll figure it out!” replied Scott sitting on the back step, moving his gun out of the way of his butt. Johnny sat next to him and lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply.
“Do you have another one of those,” Scott asked indicating the cigarette.
“I thought you gave up smoking” Johnny said shaking out a cigarette, “Oh, you just gave up buying.” He said with a laugh giving Scott a light off his cigarette.
“Wait till the chief sees all the white roses, same kind of roses that were found in the mayor’s kitchen, that will throw him for a loop!” Johnny said.
“Nah, not the chief, he already figured that this wasn’t just any disappearance something more diabolical was going on, and now this murder seems to prove him right.” Stubbing out his cigarette Scott stood up and sauntered to the front of the house to wait for the chief, Johnny following.
When Jake arrived he went directly to the second floor master bedroom. He looked down at the nude woman dead on the bed, noting the scattered white roses, “Was there a card?” he questioned his men.
“No sir, no card that we could find easily. We did not want to disturb anything till the coroner got here.” Scott answered, indicating Dr. Smith standing next to Jake with his stethoscope and measuring tape ready to proceed, the M.E having arrived just ahead of the chief.
“Dr. Smith,” Jake addressed the coroner. “Let me know when you are through with your preliminary exam and when you’re moving the body. I want to go over this bedroom very carefully. I don’t want to get in your way.”
“Okay, Chief, give me ten more minutes and I will be out of here!” Dr. Smith said getting to work.
“Can you determine cause of death or time, as yet?” Jake asked noticing the stiffness in the fingers.
“I have to get back to you on that one, but it wasn’t today, that’s for sure!”
Jake nodded and left, so that the forensic team could get on with their work, while he and his men went down the stairs into the kitchen.
“Scott, you and Johnny look in the waste paper baskets, the garbage, any trash receptacle inside and out, there must be a card!”
While his men were busy searching for a card that may or may not exist, Jake went through the rest of the downstairs. He noted that there were no personal touches, no photos of family or friends. No mementoes or keepsakes, no collections like woman seem to surround themselves with, no clutter.
“I wonder if she owns this place?” Jake made a mental note to check out the ownership of the house. “What was her name, it seems to have escaped me. I really should remember who our victim is, right!” Jake mused to himself, “Or did I ever know? That’s right Caterina only listed her as maid.”
“Men we have to identify this woman, see if you can find her purse or anything with her name on it, and maybe if we are lucky a driver’s license or a picture I.D.”
Dr. Smith and his team were clumping down the stairs and Jake met them at the bottom, “Anything?”
“Chief, we found this! The coroner handed Jake the white card with ‘The White Owl’ embossed on it in raised letters. He also noted the careful script in the back of the card, “Spasibo!”
“What do you think that means?” said one of the orderlies carrying out the body, not really expecting an answer. He had been reading over Jake’s shoulder as they were waiting to be dismissed.
“Okay get out of here,” Jake waved the body past. “Doctor I would appreciate your findings as fast as I can get them. Please take a full set of fingerprints, I will need an identification also I need to know the cause of death, how was she killed?” Jake saw that the hands were bagged and he raised a questioning eyebrow?
“Yeah Chief, maybe something under the nails, I saw some residue, just want to cover all the bases.” The coroner was the best in the city, trained at the University of Pennsylvania and devoted to his job full time. Jake had confidence in his ability over anyone else in his department; he was a detective with a scalpel.
“I found her passport along with some jewelry and loose bills!” Johnny exclaimed entering the living room his hands full of stuff. He held out his overflowing hands to Jake. Some of the money floated to the floor along with a clink of an object that rolled under a chair leg. “I’ll get it Chief.” Johnny dove under the chair to retrieve the fallen object, “Oh, it’s a ring!” He then gathered up all the hundred dollar bills and put them on the table besides the ring and the rest of the jewelry.
Jake stared at the ring, expecting it to be the emerald ring of Caterina. But no, not Cat’s ring! The mayor said she must have been wearing her special emerald ring when she left the house. A large square cut emerald ring, very valuable, unlike the ring in Johnny’s hand obviously a costume jewelry piece, gold filled with an imitation green stone.
“The maid was involved in Cat’s disappearance and the money was her pay-off, she really got paid off! When the roses
were delivered she felt loved and then Bam! No loose ends.”
Jake ran a hand across his forehead thinking bleak thoughts...how to tell the mayor what they discovered so far. It looked bad for Caterina. Jake fingered the other things on the table and then picked up the passport, he hesitated opening it half- knowing...Natalie Ivanova, citizen of the USSR. Wow, he thought her old girlhood friend! The photograph scowled up at him, mocking him, because he knew! It was her! When you’ve been on the force as long as he, some things are self evident.
“Let’s get back to headquarters and coordinate what we have so far with the mayor, our window pertaining to Cat’s safety, has closed!”
Jake put his hands in his pockets looking for his pack of cigarettes, he took one last look around, lighting a Lucky with his Zippo, “Scott, count and bag the cash, the wallet, etc. Cordon off the house and lock it up tight, get a beat cop to stand guard for 24 hours. I don’ t think anyone will return, but this case is a strange one, you never know.”
“Johnny leave your car for Scott and ride with me. Scott you can leave when the uniform arrives. Got that!”
Jake and Johnny walked out and got into the Packard. The officer got behind the wheel and Jake got in beside him. He needed an answer to his question, “was Cat dead?”
All his instincts told him at this point it was not a rescue but a recovery. The murder of the maid, the white roses, the cards, all pointed to a maniac bent on murder and mayhem. Was it a Russian plot? Just because the victims were Russian, most likely the man in the photograph was also from that country.
It could be a vendetta so the killings might stop. Maybe so. My God I truly believe it is to late for Cat. I keep thinking in the plural. I feel she is gone, long gone even before Gerry called me. Horrible thought. Jake shuddered and turned his thoughts on his driver.
The officer John Davis seemed a determined young man and was detective material as far as Jake could see. He chose to ride with him to get a feel for that fact. Jake was always willing to give a young officer a hand up through the ranks if he had the right stuff and John seemed assured and willing. “I think I will let him drive me today just to find out.” Jake thought to himself. Satisfied with the plan he relaxed in his seat as they headed for the station.