Chapter 26: The Same Path
Unicorn and Dragon Pub
The Wards
12:00 PM
Detectives Harrison and Asher pulled their unmarked police car into the rear parking area of the very chic and eclectic looking Unicorn and Dragon Pub. This trendy pub/nightclub combination was nothing more than a small building parked next to the elevated train tracks that ran through The Wards, the exterior of which was very colorfully decorated with very artfully-done graffiti that mostly featured the pub's titular mascots: the unicorn and the dragon. To put it bluntly, the business almost appeared to be somewhat out of place in a normally unsentimental neighborhood like The Wards.
"Have you ever done a death notification before?" Harrison asked Asher as they got out of the car and headed for the front entrance.
Asher nodded in response. "Yeah", she said, "But only once. When Sunny and I were riding in a patrol car together, we came upon a fatal car accident where the driver of one vehicle was DOA. He had a wife and two little boys."
"Just to warn you", Harrison began to explain, "Telling somebody's loved one that they've been the victim of a homicide is not that much easier of a feat. I suggest we don't tell him the bad news right in the middle of everybody in the bar. There's no telling what could happen when that kind of grief hits somebody."
"We take him out back or in the office then?" Asher asked.
"That sounds about right", Harrison replied.
The two detectives entered the double-doored entrance of the pub and took in the scene. The Unicorn and Dragon's interior walls were lined with very in vogue, multicolored neon graffiti that seemed to very adequately fit the establishment's theme, with different variations of the aforementioned two mascots.
The bar area was packed with very smartly-dressed collegians from the different Chicago area colleges and universities. The sight of this was very remarkable to both Harrison and Asher, considering it was only early afternoon. Meanwhile, on the pub's small dance floor, a handful of young people danced to some very frenetic techno music with roaring bass that boomed from the pair of subwoofer speakers situated in the corner of the room.
Harrison and Asher stepped to the bar where a young twenty-something African-American man was preparing drinks for the young patrons. "Excuse me?" Harrison said in a tone that immediately got the bartender's attention, "Does a guy named Alejandro Lionzo work here?"
The young man nodded in the direction of a nearby table while two-handedly shaking a beverage shaker over his shoulder. "Over there", he said, "Who's asking?"
The two detectives displayed their CPD badges for the young man. "Chicago PD, sir", Asher said, "Mister Lionzo's not in any trouble, but it's important that we talk to him."
The bartender set the shaker down and nodded. "You got it", he said to Asher before turning to the table that Lionzo was apparently serving. "Yo 'Jandro!" he called to Alejandro before motioning to the two detectives.
Harrison nodded with gratitude to the bartender. "Thanks for your help", he said before he and Asher made their way over to Alejandro.
Alejandro Lionzo was a tall, bald Hispanic man who appeared to be in his mid to late twenties. He had just finished serving a table when the detectives came up to him.
"Alejandro Lionzo?" Harrison inquired.
Alejandro nodded. "Yes", he said in an almost probing tone.
The two detectives displayed their badges for the man. "I'm Detective Harrison", he said before motioning to Asher with his eyes, "This is my colleague, Detective Asher. We're with the Chicago Police Department. Is there a place we can speak privately?"
Alejandro gestured to the pub's back door, at which point Harrison and Asher followed him out to the alley beside the building. "What's this about?" he asked as he discreetly shut the door behind him and leaned against a dingy yellow parking pole that stood beside a dumpster, his crossed arms indicating a somewhat distressed attitude.
Perhaps wanting to prove something to Harrison, Asher stepped forward and slightly bowed her head to the man out of sympathy. "It's about your brother Raul", she began, "I'm so sorry to have to tell you this, sir, but your brother was found dead early this morning."
Whatever emotional walls that Alejandro had built up seemed to start crumbling as tears all but immediately came down his face. "Dios Mio", he uttered before wiping his tears with a bar rag he took out of his back pocket, "What happened?" he asked, "Did he overdose?"
Harrison shook his head. "No sir", he said, "His body washed up on the shore at North Avenue Beach. I'm sorry to have to admit this to you, but it appears he was murdered. He was shot."
Alejandro sniffled. "The body they pulled out of the lake earlier?" he asked, "I saw it on the news before I headed here to work. That was mi hermano?"
Harrison nodded regrettably. "I'm afraid so, Alejandro", he said before putting a reassuring hand on the bereaved man's shoulder. "Lamento mucho la pérdida de Raúl", he said softly in Spanish, offering heartfelt condolences to the young man.
Alejandro shook the detective's hand with his free hand. "Muchas Gracias, Detective", he said, "I appreciate you showing me respect by speaking Spanish."
"My pleasure, son", Harrison replied, "Now, if you don't mind, we do need to ask you some questions. For starters, do you know anything about your brother's recent comings and goings that could be helpful to us?"
Alejandro apprehensively shrugged his shoulders. "I wish I did", he said, "But not really. The last time I saw him was when he joined me at our mama's grave on her birthday. May Fifteenth."
"I see", Harrison said as he jotted things down in his memo book, "Did he say anything to you about how life was going for him?"
Alejandro sighed. "He kept scratching his arms over and over again", he admitted, "so I figured he was using los narcóticos again. He had been on and off heroin for about two years or so. He said he had been eating meals at the soup kitchen they have at Saint Augustine's Church."
Asher wrote down the information in her own memo book. "I know that drug addictions can really take a big toll on family dynamics", she candidly said, "But even so, were you guys very close?"
"We were very close growing up, yes", Alejandro replied, "He lived with me and our mama until he enrolled in the Pharmacy Technician program at Chicago State when he was eighteen. But he dropped out after just six months. I don't know why."
"That had to be tough", Harrison said.
"It was", Alejandro replied with a nod, "But I'm happy to say that I plan on following his footsteps. I'm enrolled in that same program right now and I take classes on the nights I'm not here. I guess Raul and I thought alike, like we were on the same path or something."
Asher smiled. "Good for you", she said, "I didn't know your brother, but I know that both he and your mother would be very proud of you, Alejandro."
Alejandro smiled. "Gracias to you too, Detective Asher", he said warmly.
Asher gave an equally kind smile back to Alejandro as Harrison handed him one of his business cards. "If you have any other questions", Harrison said, "Or should you think of something else that might be helpful, feel free to call me at the number on that card."
Alejandro took the card and placed it in the side pocket of his jeans before shaking each of the detectives' hands. "Thank you both so much", he said in a tone that was equal parts candid and compassionate before heading back inside the pub to get back to work.
Harrison gave Asher an impressed look as the pair started walking back to their car. "Nice job breaking that news to him, kid", he said, "Like I was saying before, it takes a certain skill to break that kind of sad news to someone. You handled it very well."
"Thanks, Troy", Asher said as she tucked her memo book and pen into the front satchel pocket of her hooded hunter's camouflage sweatshirt, "I don't know if this is a good time to be thinking about food, but I'm getting hungry. You?"
Harrison pondered things for a moment before nodding. "Yeah", he replied, "I guess I'm a bit famished, too. How about we grab a pizza and go see Sunny at the hospital?"
Gaffney Chicago Medical Center
Medical/Surgical Unit
1:30 PM
Asher and Harrison walked down the hall of the hospital unit in which the recovering Detective Tran was staying, with Harrison carrying a box containing a large Chicago style pizza in one hand. Asher, meanwhile, was talking on her cell phone before the pair was stopped by a young-looking nurse who was clad in very intensely pink scrub attire.
"Excuse me, Miss", the nurse said softly to Asher, "I'm sorry, but we don't allow cell phone use on this floor."
Asher nodded before quickly bidding goodbye to whoever she'd been talking to, hanging up her phone, and clipping it back onto the belt loop of her jeans.
Harrison looked to his friend as they resumed walking. "Dare I ask who that was?" he asked.
Asher scoffed. "It was Father O' Malley at Saint Augustine's Church", she replied, "He confirmed that Raul Lionzo had been present at their soup kitchen at least six days a week for the past month for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He apologized, but he says that he never really spoke to him at length about anything. He did say that he'll add both Raul and Alejandro to his prayer list."
"That's nice", Harrison said, "And it confirms what Alejandro had said. Good work, Detective."
Asher smiled as the pair reached Tran's room and went inside. Detective Sunny Tran was sitting up in her hospital bed, her right shoulder secured in a sling. She smiled at the sight of her friends coming into the room.
"Hey guys!" she greeted warmly.
"Hey Sunny!" Harrison said as he set the pizza box down on the wheeled table that was set up beside her bed, "We're working a case and we were hungry, so we thought we'd stop by and bring you a snack."
Tran put her unaffected hand on Harrison's shoulder. "That's really sweet of you guys. Thanks."
Asher sat on the side of the bed and gave Tran a partial hug, being careful not to go near her injured side. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"I'm doing much better than I was when they rolled me in here", Tran said, "That's for damn sure. Doctor Willhite was able to close the wound and I haven't shown any sign of infection."
"That's great, Sunny", Harrison said, "When do they think you can go home?"
"Tomorrow, probably", Tran replied, "Captain Broussard requested that I take at least two weeks leave after that, but I'm itching to get back to work already. It's not fair that you, Brooks, and Dobbs were left shorthanded."
"We aren't shorthanded", Harrison said as he took a piece of pizza from the box, "Sergeant Mahoney pulled some strings and had Hank Voight and Alvin Olinsky temporarily re-assigned to us for a while. They've been a huge help."
"That's good", Tran said, "How's the case going?"
Harrison scoffed as he ate his pizza. "Now, now, now", he said after taking a moment to swallow, "You're on leave, Detective. As your partner, I want you to concentrate on getting better. I will tell you that I've been cleared in the shooting of that asshole who shot you, though. IA already gave me my gun back."
"The case is in good hands, Sunny", Asher chimed in, "Ernie and I have even been pitching in here and there."
Harrison eyed the flatscreen TV mounted high up on the wall across from Tran's hospital bed. "Who's up for great pizza and lousy TV reruns?" he asked.