Chapter 4, enjoy! Please let me know what you think, I'd really appreciate it!
"Are you ready to answer some questions Mr. and Mrs. Upton?" Kim asked. Derrick and Sarah nodded. It had been a few minutes since the incident with Claire, they had all finally calmed down and were ready to get moving on the investigation.
"So she was living in an apartment?" Kim asked. Derrick nodded again. "Was she living alone?"
"No, she had a roommate, one of her college friends. Her name is Laney Brooks," Derrick answered. Kim wrote that bit of information down in her notebook, they would have to question the girl later on.
"And did she have a boyfriend?" Hailey asked. It was weird that being the girl's aunt she didn't know this bit of information. This pained Hailey and reminded her of how distant she and her niece had become.
"They broke up a while back," Sarah answered.
"What was his name?" Kim asked, thinking this could possibly he a suspect.
"Ryan Taylor," Sarah answered. "He was a nice kid," she added.
"So you don't think he did this?" Kim asked.
"No, I don't," Sarah replied, looking to Derrick for his opinion.
"I don't think he could have done this. He was a good kid," Derrick agreed.
"Do you know of anyone who was upset with Alana or would want to hurt her?" Kim asked.
"No," Derrick replied. Sarah shook her head no.
"Ok, we will look into the information you have given us," Hailey stated giving her brother and sister-in-law a supportive smile.
"Thank you for your time," Kim thanked as she and Hailey left.
"Sorry you had to witness all that," Hailey apologized, slightly embarrassed.
"Hailey, it's fine," Kim reassured her. The rest of the ride back to the district was quiet.
"Gosh, took you long enough," Adam joked when Hailey and Kim climbed up the stairs to the bull pen.
"We got a call from my sister in-law, our victim's mom showed up at my brother's house and we had to go intervene," Hailey explained.
"So what'd you learn at the club?" Kevin asked, wanting to focus on the case.
"He finally told us she was there last night, but he didn't know if she was with someone or not. He wouldn't give us surveillance footage, so we're going to need a warrant to get that from him," Hailey reported.
"He acted a little off," Kim added. "Wouldn't look at the picture and wouldn't tell us much."
"What if he's involved?" Adam asked.
"Let's not go down that trail just yet," Hank interjected. "Hailey, did you find anything out from talking with your brother?" He asked, turning towards Hailey.
"She has a roommate that might know some information. Derrick also mentioned she had an recent break up, so that ex-boyfriend could be our suspect," Hailey informed. "But neither Sarah nor Derrick believe he would have done this," She added.
"It's a good starting point," Hank stated. "Do we have names?"
"The roommate is Laney Brooks, ex-boyfriend is Ryan Taylor," Kim replied, looking back at her notes.
"Get addresses and go talk to them," Hank instructed. "I'll go get the warrant for the club's video footage signed by the judge," Hank announced, leaving down the steps of the bullpen. The members of Intelligence began searching through their databases for addresses for the roommate and ex-boyfriend.
"I've got an address for Laney Brooks," Jay announced. "Hailey, you want to go talk to her?" He asked. He figured, for Hailey's sake, it would be better to interview the friend than the possible suspect. Hailey nodded and the two ventured down the stairs and to the parking lot where they both got in the truck. Jay drove to a small apartment complex near the University of Chicago's campus. They got out of the truck and entered the building. They searched for apartment number 203, the one Laney and Alana shared. They finally located it and knocked on the door. A young girl with dark brown hair and bright green eyes opened the door.
"Are you Laney Brooks?" Hailey politely asked.
"Yes," The girl shyly answered.
"We are detectives from the Chicago Police Department, we just want to ask you a few questions about your friend Alana," Hailey explained.
"Ok, come in," The girl invited.
"We are really sorry about your friend," Jay expressed his condolences. "We are doing everything we can to find out who did this, and that is why we wanted to ask you a few questions," Jay explained.
"When was the last time you saw Alana?" Hailey asked.
"Yesterday morning," Laney answered. "Before I went to my parent's house."
"Did she say anything about going to a club?" Hailey asked.
"She mentioned something about it," Laney answered. "But I wasn't really paying attention when she told," Laney added, looking down at the ground.
"It's ok, any information is helpful," Hailey reassured her.
"Do you know if she was meeting someone there?" Jay asked.
"She did say something about going in a date," Laney answered.
"Good, that's really helpful," Hailey encouraged. "Do you know who she was going on a date with?"
"No, I don't sorry," Laney apologized.
"It's alright," Hailey reassured. "Had anyone been bothering Alana recently? sending her threats, stalking her?"
"Not that I knew of," Laney answered.
"Ok, thank you for answering these questions," Hailey replied before she and Jay left. They drove back to the district to report their findings. They climbed up the stairs to the district and were greeted by the rest of the Intelligence Unit.
"What'd you find out?" Kim asked once Jay and Hailey had made it into the bullpen.
"The roommate said Alana told her she was going on a date at that club last night," Hailey reported.
"Do we have a name?" Adam asked.
"No," Hailey answered. "What did you find out from the ex-boyfriend?"
"He had an alibi that checked out," Kim replied as she crossed his name off the short suspect list.
"Did we get the warrant for the camera footage?" Jay asked.
"Yes and I already checked over it, you can see her coming in alone but then she goes and sits in a corner where the camera doesn't reach," Kevin stated. Hailey's phone buzzed in her pocket and she pulled it out to see a text from her brother: Mom is having brunch at her house tomorrow for all the family, I really hope you'll come. She sighed and simply responded: ok. If her whole family would be there, her dad would be there, and Hailey wasn't quite sure she wanted to face him.
"You all go take the rest of the day off, get some rest and lets get back at it tomorrow," Hank instructed, it was nearing 7 pm and everyone was tired from the long day. Everyone got up from their seats and started to leave, but Hailey stayed glued in her chair.
"Hailey, take the rest of the night off," Hank repeated.
"I'm going to stay and look at some more surveillance footage," Hailey replied.
"No, you are going to go take the rest of the night off - that's an order," Hank instructed. Hailey finally complied and got up from her seat, venturing down to the parking lot to drive home.