Chapter 9: Something's Rotten in the City of Chicago
May Stadium
Parker Square
10 Minutes Later
Detectives Hank Voight and Alvin Olinsky were essentially just around the corner from May Stadium when Detective Harrison called and summoned them there. They ducked under the taped off corridor entrance to be met by Harrison, Asher, Officer James DeYoung, and Cook County Assistant Medical Examiner Ned Harlan.
"Hey Harrison", Voight said as he and Olinsky made their way over, "What's so important?"
"We've got a total of seven homicide victims here, fellas", Harrison explained, "All either white or Hispanic males in their early to mid-twenties." He motioned to one of the deceased stabbing victims. "This guy appears to have been stabbed very efficiently." He then turned to Ned Harlan. "Ned", he continued, "What was it you said about the potential weapon?"
"It appears to have been some sort of fixed blade tactical knife based on the condition of this guy's gut wound", Harlan said, "You know, one of those knives that's serrated only on the top end?"
"Like if the perp had military training?" Olinsky asked.
"That'd be my assumption, yeah", Harlan replied.
"I still don't understand why you needed us here so quickly", Voight said to Harrison.
Harrison knelt down, took a pair of blue nitrile exam gloves from Harlan's open kit, and put them on his hands. He then crossed over to the dead man's right arm and rolled up his sleeve, exposing the very recognizable black tattoo sleeve. "These guys all appear to be Black Viceroys", he said, "You guys are investigating them, right?"
"Yeah", Voight said as he knelt down to further inspect the man's tattoo sleeve for himself, "How'd you guys come upon this whole scene anyway?"
Detective Asher then took the opportunity to chime in. "Troy and I were here already watching the game", she explained, "We had our radios on us and we heard the call go out over the Citywide channel."
"I'm sorry", Voight said as he stood back up, "And you are?"
"The apology's all mine, Hank", Harrison interjected before turning to Asher, "Detective Abigail Asher, these are Detectives Hank Voight and Alvin Olinsky with the Twenty-First District Gang Unit. I called them here when you noticed the tats on our dead guys."
Asher shook each of their hands respectfully. "Nice to meet you, Detectives", she said, "Troy speaks highly of the both of you."
"Are you with Homicide too?" Olinsky asked.
"No", Asher replied, "I just transferred into Narcotics at the Thirty-Four. Troy and I are good friends and I invited him to come to the game with me tonight. I guess you could say we were in the right place at the right time."
Olinsky grinned. "I guess so", he said, "So you guys said seven bodies in total?"
"Yeah", Harrison said, "After I called you guys, I noticed the locker room door ajar over here." He gestured to the aforementioned door before carefully opening it.
The five of them cautiously made their way inside the locker room, taking great carefulness considering that the room was a possible crime scene. The interior was in considerable disarray, with various items strewn about the room. The most obvious pieces of probable evidence were the various drops, sprays, and minute spatters of blood which seemed to coat some of the benches, clothing cubbies, and lockers along the front of the room.
"Holy shit", Olinsky said after letting out a deep and contemplative sigh, "We need to get the Crime Lab people in here."
"OEMC told me that they're on the way", Asher said.
Just then, Officer DeYoung received a transmission on his portable radio and momentarily excused himself and answered it. "Detectives", he said after stepping back into the locker room's doorway a few short minutes later, "Lieutenant Henderson's upstairs in the VIP area. He wants an update on what's going on down here."
"Deon Henderson?" Asher asked, "the homeroom instructor at the Academy?"
DeYoung nodded. "Yes ma'am", he replied, "One in the same. He's also my Lieutenant at the Thirty-First. He's upstairs with some members of CPD brass from the Ivory Tower. He's apparently chomping at the bit for an update, and I'll bet the brass that's with him wants one too."
Harrison and Asher traded looks for a moment before they both looked to Voight and Olinsky to try and pass the buck. Voight threw his hands up in opposition. "Sorry guys", he said, "Al and I are allergic to department politics. You want to schmooze with Henderson and the Ivory Tower guys, feel free, but I think we'll keep watch over this locker room until the lab folks show up."
Harrison and Asher made their way upstairs to the stadium's very lavish and spacious VIP area. Four officers were trying to keep at least eight very wealthy-looking, well-dressed, and very obviously peeved people at bay.
"Hey you, sir!" One officer said to one of the men, "Come here!"
"This is bullshit, man!" the irked man barked in response, "You ain't got no probable cause!"
"We're just talking", the officer said in a very strict tone.
The man then started to reached for something inside his brown tweed jacket. "Hey man", he continued, "Look, I got my tickets right here…"
The officer then put his right hand on his gun belt while extending his left out in the man's face defensively. "Nope!" he said in the same sternly tone as before, "Keep your hands where I can see them."
Asher rolled her eyes at the display of bravado, then took note of exactly who some of the responding officers were. "Holy shit", she said to Harrison in a subtle whisper, "When DeYoung said there was Ivory Tower brass up here, he wasn't kidding!"
"What makes you say that?" an interested Harrison softly asked.
Asher discreetly pointed to the uniformed officer rousing the irked man. "That's Lieutenant Alan Forsberg", she whispered, "He's the Executive Officer to none other than Walter Barron, the First Deputy Superintendent of Police." She then pointed over to another uniformed officer in a white CPD uniform shirt with a very noticeable Sergeant's patch on the shoulder. "That's Sergeant Mickey Goodwin", she continued, "He's in charge of the Marine Unit." She turned her gaze to another officer standing guard in the left corner of the room. "That's Officer Frank Milne", she said, "He's the exclusive driver for First Deputy Superintendent Barron."
Harrison nodded in acknowledgement as another uniformed officer came up to them. Lieutenant Deon Henderson was a tall, fetching African-American man in his late thirties with a very neat dark-haired fade haircut. "Well, well, well!" he said with a smile as he came over to them, "If it isn't Harrison and Asher. It's good to see you two again." He extended a hand to both of them respectively.
"Same to you, Lieutenant!" Asher said, "Are you in charge of the scene here tonight, sir?"
"I guess I am", Henderson replied, "But with all the Ivory Tower guys here, I'm not really sure to be honest with you."
"That's what we were wondering", Harrison said as he motioned for himself, Henderson and Asher to go off to a more private corner of the room, "What are they all doing here?" he asked with a soft tone of voice, "Is the First Deputy here tonight himself or something?"
Henderson briefly eyed the people behind him before shrugging his shoulders. "Your guess is as good as mine, Detective", he said forthrightly, "I heard all the radio traffic over the Citywide channel about the initial Code Five-Eddie call. Then when you guys radioed in about all the homicide victims you found downstairs, Officer DeYoung and I responded ourselves. Lieutenant Forsberg and the rest of the brass were already here when we arrived up here. There's been no sign of the First Deputy since we've been here."
Asher then looked over Henderson's shoulder and took another look at the man heatedly talking with Lieutenant Forsberg. "Who's that dude talking with Forsberg?" she asked Henderson.
Henderson sighed before leaning into both Harrison and Asher. "His name's Joseph DeMarco", he whispered, "On paper, he's some sort of hipster artist type of guy. But between the three of us and the corner we're standing in, the Organized Crime Section has had eyes on him for a while now. It's rumored that he's Lucky Quinn's business manager."
Harrison scoffed. "Lucky Quinn?" he asked, "As in 'the head of the Chicago South Club' Lucky Quinn? No wonder he's got eyes on him."
"Alright", Henderson said, "nefarious characters aside, what's going on with your seven bodies downstairs, guys?"
"Hank Voight and Alvin Olinsky from the Gang Unit are helping us out with the investigation", Asher said, "All the victims appear to be members of the Black Viceroys. They all have the ink on their arms. Some of them were shot and some of them were stabbed, plus it looks like some sort of bloody assault went down in the White Sox locker room. There's blood drops and spatter everywhere, so the Crime Lab's just starting to work the room as we speak."
Just then, a very thunderous electrical buzzing sound was heard, followed by an even louder popping sound that seemed to cover the entirety of the stadium. Everyone and everything were then drenched in pitch black darkness.
"What the hell was that?" Henderson exclaimed.
"Uh…apparently the power's out", Harrison said, "Hang on." The anxious detective grabbed his radio and keyed the mic. "Hey Voight", he said into the radio, "Do you copy?"
"Copy Harrison", Voight answered a few seconds later, "Be advised, the power seems to have gone out for both the stadium and this whole section of Parker Square. OEMC just broadcast a call over the Citywide about a transformer breach, over."
Harrison groaned in frustration before composing himself. "Ten-Four", he replied, "Tell Ned to get those bodies out of there as carefully and quickly as possible and have the Crime Lab team sit tight. They have their auxiliary work lights down there, right? Over."
"Ten-Four", Voight answered after checking with the Crime Lab leader on scene, "The team leader says that their lights run on battery, so there still working the scene as best they can, over."
"Copy", Harrison replied, "I think the best thing to do is just to sit tight until we know exactly what's going on. You and Olinsky cool with that? Over."
"Ten-Four", Voight answered back, "We're not going anywhere. Voight out."
Harrison then turned back to Asher and Henderson. "This is too weird", he said to them.
"Right on, Troy", Asher said, "Call me paranoid, but I don't think this is a coincidence."
"I hear you, kiddo", Harrison replied, "Something's up. I think we just have to figure out what."
