Chapter 7: Almost Convincing
The next morning Kowalski and Fraser were standing around Francesca, as she was
seated at a station's computer and pulling up files on Dan, Michael, and Peter.
The Mountie and detective had decided to get more information on Collin's 'buddies'.
After trying to flirt with Fraser, and realizing she was getting nowhere, Francesca grudgingly focused on the screen.
Ray noticed that his 'sister' was getting quicker at noticing the Mountie's ignorance and disinterest.
"Okay, so it says here, wait, what's his name again? Don?" the Italian looked at the screen a little closer. "Oh, Dan! It says that Dan Mitchell-"
"Sorry Francesca, but I think it's time for your break," Kowalski cut in and got her to move away from the desk. He then sat down in Francesca's chair, ignoring any reaction she may have had.
Fortunately, Francesca only made a face at the back of the detective's head and covered it up with a smile towards the Mountie. "I'll just get some cappuccino, then."
The detective let out a breath of relief because 1) Francesca had finally moved out of the way and 2) she didn't ask to get the Mountie a cup which would have taken too much of their time.
He cleared his throat. "So anyways, this guy has two counts against him: one being assault, the other alleged money laundering." Kowalski studied the screen some more. "Got off of both for lack of evidence. Sure," he emphasized, not surprised.
Fraser shifted a little closer and bent his head down for better view of the screen. "Who was the victim of the assault?"
"Uhhh," the blond scrolled down the screen, searching for the answer. "Jenna...Nicholson!" His hand went up in surprise.
Fraser nodded, not as surprised. "It was obvious Dan had something over Collin. Collin did not seem to want to participate in Dan's endeavours."
The detective, half-hearing, continued. "Lack of evidence, huh?" He smiled in determination.
Michael and Peter's files were also pulled up by Kowalski.
It turned out Michael Knox had similar cases to Dan's file, except there were more counts on his record. Michael was only charged with a bar fight once a couple years ago and served time for a few days.
Peter Roemer only had very petty crimes to his name, starting from his teens when stealing fairly inexpensive items from stores to hit-and-runs.
Kowalski scribbled down something, logged off the computer and stood up. Before he could say anything, the Mountie put in his two cents.
"The background information is very useful, but..."
"But we should be focusing on the big picture, in seeing what's so special about that information they wanna grab, and maybe have a little talk with Jenna Nicholson?" He held up the paper he had just wrote on. It was her address.
"You read my mind, Ray."
The detective stretched. "Yeah, I can do that Fraser. So you better be thinking good thoughts about me at all times."
The Mountie smiled and ushered Ray to lead the way.
Half an hour later, the two were knocking on Jenna's apartment door. There was a slight pause, but the door swung open by a plain looking woman in her later 20's. She had thin medium-length blonde hair and was a little wiry in size, similar to Collin. Her makeup added a bit of enhancement to her looks.
Kowalski threw up his badge. "Chicago P.D., are you Jenna Nicholson?"
He braced himself for a slammed door, but instead none came. The woman just looked slightly afraid.
"Um. Yeah, that's me," Jenna answered, still holding the door.
"Could we ask you a few questions?" Fraser asked gently.
The blonde woman slightly hesitated, but then nodded and let them in.
The apartment had a mod feel, as most of the furniture was black, the walls were white, and the plastic accessories were mostly in silver, metallic colour.
She invited the men to sit down, and they did.
"Is this about my brother?" Jenna asked.
Fraser and Kowalski looked at each other.
The detective looked back at Jenna. "Yeah. I mean, some of it is." He wiped his mouth.
"First, do you know a Michael-"
Jenna visibly reacted, leaning back and blinking rapidly.
The Mountie joined in. "Sorry, ma'am, if we're making you feel uncomfortable. Any of your answers would really help us out. It would also help your brother."
The blonde woman closed her eyes briefly, and then slowly opened them. It was obvious that she also knew about Collin's attempted break-in.
She cleared her throat and finally responded. "Uh, yes. That's right. At first he was just coming onto me, but I said no and, well," she paused, as everyone there knew what happened. "Collin was steamed about what happened."
When Jenna didn't continue, the detective spoke. "And Michael got off," he concluded. "Do you know any of Collin's friends?"
Jenna gave a quiet laugh. "He used to have friends, but he's been kind of a loner lately. I think he does talk to a couple people."
"Does the name Dan Mitchell sound familiar?" Kowalski asked.
The blonde woman turned and look at the detective. "Yes it does. That is one of the people Collin talks to. I'm sure of it."
"Just exactly how long has he been talking with Dan?" The Mountie asked.
Jenna slightly shook her head while thinking. "Maybe, a few months?"
The detective and the Mountie again looked at each other although their minds were far away.
"Just one more question. When was the last time you saw Michael?" the detective put in.
"A couple months ago. I thought I saw him following me, but then he got a call on his cell phone and seemed to disappear."
Fraser gave a friendly smile as he and the detective rose. "Thank you, Ms. Nicholson."
Jenna slightly smiled back and nodded at both men as they left.
Outside the door and into the hallway, Kowalski started putting together the pieces of the puzzle. "I remember from the file that the assault only happened about a year ago. Collin then starts to converse with Dan and Michael. Jenna doesn't know about Michael, though."
"Which begs the question, why would Collin work with Michael at all? Unless he's being pressured into it somehow, maybe even blackmailed," the Mountie added.
"That must be it. Collin didn't look too happy with those two punks. And he wouldn't side with someone he's against unless..."
"He had no other choice. If Michael got off of hurting Jenna one time..."
"Then he could probably do it again." Kowalski snapped his fingers as they solved some of the puzzle.