. roommates .
Hunter College
695 Park Avenue
Tuesday, July 20th
"Look at that," Fin said as he parked the squad car in the parking lot of the college. "The corner of Madison and East 67th, where Brad dropped Amber off, is just a coupla blocks away."
"And the apartment is probably somewhere in between," Munch said as he unbuckled his belt and got out of the car. They proceeded to a reception desk where a young man with sandy-blond hair and a nose piercing was working, pounding away at his keyboard with near-blinding speed. The man looked up as the detectives approached and stopped working. "Can I help you?" he asked in a pleasant voice.
"We hope," was Munch's reply as he showed the man his badge. "We need information on one of the students that attends this school. His first name is Jeff and he lives close by here."
"No last name?" the receptionist asked.
"None yet."
"That all of the information you got?"
"For now."
"Okay, well, let's see what I pull up here…" the man typed at his keyboard for a moment, peering at the screen intently. He turned back to the detectives and said, "Well, I've got five Jeffs here that live within a ten block radius of the college."
"What about a five?" Fin asked.
"That narrows it down to two."
"Either of 'em have classes today?"
The man looked back at his screen before shaking his head. "Nope."
"Can you print off those names and addresses for us?" Munch asked.
"Sure." The man clicked with his mouse and stood up to retrieve the document that printed. He handed it to Munch with a smile and asked politely, "Is that all?"
"Yeah, thanks." Munch turned around and he and Fin started walking towards the door.
"Who're we gonna talk to?" Fin asked.
"Jeffrey Adams and Jeffrey Schakowsky."
…
The apartment door had open to reveal a tousle-haired individual clad in a fuzzy, light blue bathrobe that would have looked more appropriate on a woman. The young adult man had stared at Munch and Fin for a short moment before he asked in a thick voice. "Who're you guys?"
"Jeffrey Schakowsky, I presume?" Munch said in a sarcastic tone.
"Yeah. Cops?" He looked confused when Munch and Fin showed their badges. "What's this about?"
"You know a girl named Amber?" Fin asked.
"Um…" Jeffrey thought for a moment and it seemed to be taking a lot of effort. "No, no, I don't." He turned and let loose an earth-quaking sneeze that made the detectives jump from the unexpected noise. Sniffling, he turned to face Munch and Fin, muttering a muted "Sorry."
"Do you know this girl?" Munch showed him a picture taken of the second victim.
"Oh my god." His blank expression changed to one of shock. "That's my roommate, Jacqueline. She's dead?"
"Yeah, she was found yesterday in Central Park."
"Wow, um, please, come in." He let the detectives into the apartment and closed the door. He gestured them into a small kitchen and they sat down around a small dining table. Jeffrey asked, "What do you want to know?"
"First, tell us her last name."
"Monroe."
"And when was the last time you saw her?" Munch asked.
"Sunday morning," he answered, reaching for a box of Kleenex to blow his nose, "When she didn't come back that night, I wasn't surprised. She likes to stay out nights sometimes. But after I came home from classes, I didn't see any sign of her and that made me worried, especially when she didn't come back at all last night. She never stays out two nights in a row."
"You know of any relatives?" Fin asked.
"Uh, no. I've never seen any pictures of her family and she only mentioned her parents and brothers in passing. Her friends at work might know more though."
"We've already talked to them and they didn't know much about her," Munch said. "But they didn't even know her real name so I guess we shouldn't expect any of them to be best friends with Jacqueline."
Jeffrey looked at them questioningly. "They didn't even know her real name?"
"Yeah, they called her Amber," Fin replied.
"You must have been at the wrong diner then," Jeffrey said.
"Diner?" Fin and Munch exchanged a confused look.
"Yeah, she worked at a little diner a couple blocks from here. Here's the address." Jeffrey wrote it down on a little flower-printed notepad and gave the slip of paper to Munch.
"You didn't know about her second job then?" Munch asked.
"What second job?"
"Jacqueline worked as a prostitute."
Jeffrey stared at Munch for a moment before shaking his head. "No, no, Jacqueline wouldn't do that. You've got the wrong girl."
"C'mon, man. You know it's her. Didn't ya ever suspect? Income seem odd for a girl just workin' at a diner?" Fin suggested this all in a non-threatening but cajoling tone.
"Yeah, sometimes I wondered," Jeffrey conceded. "But she was such a nice girl. Not that type, you know?"
"Yeah, I know."
Suddenly, Jeffrey asked, "How'd she die?" Munch and Fin paused, not knowing how to answer the question. To relate all of the gory details to him would be cruel, but did he deserve to know?
"Did you read the paper on Sunday, about the nun who was killed?" Munch asked.
"Yeah." Jeffrey nodded. "It didn't specify how she died, but it said she got pretty messed up."
"We believe the same man murdered Jacqueline."
"Was it painful for her?" He sniffled, but this time not from his cold.
Munch nodded grimly and the college student picked up another tissue, dabbing at his eyes. "Poor Jacqie…" Jeffrey murmured.
"Don't worry. We'll get this guy," Munch assured Jeffrey as he and his partner stood up and let themselves out of the apartment.
"Should we head down to the diner and talk to Jacqueline's other coworkers?" Fin asked Munch as they began descending the apartment building's stairs.
"Yeah, that's probably a good idea. See if any customers liked to harass her or something," Munch agreed. However, he suddenly stopped walking down the stairs and motioned for Fin to stop also. Putting a finger to his lips, he gestured towards an apartment door one flight down where a familiar, brown-skinned individual was putting a key into a door lock. After unlocking the door, Abdullah Ali entered the apartment and closed the door behind him.
"Isn't that the guy we talked to at the Abbey?" Fin asked and Munch nodded. Fin shrugged. "It could be just a coincidence."
"Coincidence, my ass!" Munch proclaimed, walking down the stairs and towards the apartment door. "You should know by now that I don't believe in coincidences, especially when it comes to crime or government conspiracies." With that declared he knocked on the door with a domineering air and waited for the occupant to open it.
The man who opened the door however was not the one expected. The man was tall, swarthy and had pale white skin that boasted of rarely seeing the sun. In fact, his features were quite the opposite from those of the man the detectives had seen enter the apartment. "Detectives?" He seemed confused, as were Munch and Fin, for this was another man that they had briefly talked with at the Abbey after the murder of Sister Abigail.
"David, are you and Abdullah roommates?" Munch asked the man at the door.
"Yes," he replied.
Munch turned to his partner, repeating in a dry tone, "'Just a coincidence'?"
Woohoo, I'm proud of myself. Found Hunter College and it worked out great. XD Yay for actually researching fics.
Oh, and I'm sorry if this chapter wasn't the best quality/up-to-par. I'm sick and tired right now and it's past midnight, so forgive me. I just had to obey my muse and write and get the chapter done so I could have two new chapters posted in one night. Hope you enjoyed it though.