Steve dropped the phone and went back into Mike's office. "We have a problem."
"No buddy boy, you have a problem. I have one of my own: meeting with the Mayor," he paused and looked at the clock, "in 20 minutes. What's up?"
Mike grabbed his coat and hat and followed Steve out of the bull pen. Steve filled him in as they walked. When they got to the door, Mike looked at Steve. "After you are done at the apartment, you know you're going to have to bring her back with you to ID the body."
"I suppose." Steve stared at the car keys in his hand.
"It has to be done and you know it."
"Yeah I know it, but I don't have to like it."
"No you don't." and neither do I, Mike thought.
They parted ways in the parking lot.
When Steve got to the corner of Chestnut and Mason, Lizzy was leaning against the front window of the deli.
"Did you touch anything?" Steve asked as they climbed the steps.
"No. Wait. Yes. I touched the phone, but that's it." She handed him the key.
He looked at the lock before opening the door. It did not appear to be forced. "Who else has a key to the door?"
"As far as I know, only Pam and Nonna." She thought about it a moment and amended her response. "Well with Pam, you never really know who she'll give the key to."
Steve assumed if Ms. Molinaro had a key, it meant Vince more than likely had access as well. That thought was not terribly comforting. "How long were you gone?"
"About an hour. I went to the laundromat after you left, came back and dropped the clothes and everything was fine. I went to the market and when I got back, well you'll see. Funny thing is, while I was walking to the market I had the strangest feeling someone was watching me, but I didn't see anybody."
Steve opened the door and stepped around the discarded grocery sacks. Lizzy waited on the landing.
The place was indeed trashed. Cabinet doors and drawers hung open, contents strewn on the floor. The freshly laundered clothes were dumped and scattered. The furniture was bereft of cushions, upended and the bottoms slashed. Steve poked his head into the bedrooms. The conditions were not much better. After a cursory examination, he concluded the damage was the result of a rather hasty search. But for what? Lizzy was really lucky whoever tossed the place was gone when she got back. It was a lot of damage for someone being there under an hour.
Steve exited the apartment and relocked the door. Lizzy was now sitting on the landing with her head in her hands. "I have to go down and call so I can get the lab guys out here. Is there anybody I can contact for you?"
Lizzy looked up at him with moist eyes. "No, my buddy Jeff's out of town and I don't want my folks to know about this. They never really wanted me to live in the city. One phone call will effectively end their financial support and my college career. I'm not going back to the suburbs, ever."
"Are you sure?"
She seemed to recoup her resolve. "Positive."
Steve knew she was going to need every bit of that resolve. Her day was only going to get worse from this point forward.
Steve took the stairs at a jog. Vince Molinaro was blocking the exit when he reached the bottom step.
"What the hell are you doing back here, cop? You and Lizzy looked awfully cozy last night when you walked her upstairs, you come by for a little fun this afternoon? Betcha she's really something in the sack."
"Would you just shut up?" Steve was annoyed by Vince's crude reference. "I'm here doing my job. Which, I can't do if you don't move."
"Sure you are. What did that crazy chick do now?"
"What crazy chick?"
"Pam. I told mamma to get rid of her. She calls her Venus, yeah Venus my ass, just a cheap tramp if you ask me." He made no mention of Lizzy in his diatribe.
"No one is asking you, now move." Steve made to walk past; but Vince, who was half a head taller and outweighed him by at last 50 pounds, stayed put. Steve was at a disadvantage and he knew it. "Man, are you really this dense? Get the hell out of the way." He was just about at the end of his patience.
"And what are you going to do about it pig?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe arrest you and haul your butt downtown for interfering with a police investigation." One way or another they needed to interview Vince. If he was dumb enough to get himself arrested today, it would just save Steve a return trip.
He was really batting a thousand over the past two days. First, his run in with Walters at the opening, then the fun and games this morning in the deli and now Vince again. The only difference from last night was that he could do something about this jerk now. As Steve reached around to pull his cuffs from the waistband of his jeans, Vince proved how truly intellectually challenged he was.
00000
Mike cooled his heals in the Mayor's outer office for nearly an hour. His temper was at the boiling point when one of the Mayor's minions came out to speak to him. The man offered his Honor's sincerest apologies for the wait, but it seemed he had been called away and would not return until Monday. As aggravated as Mike was, he was also a little relieved. With any luck, by Monday he would actually have some progress to report. If not, the mayor would probably be calling the feds.
When he returned to LTD, he tried to raise Steve on the radio. After no response to his hail, he drove down to the apartment. Cutting over Market Street, he took the left on Mason and followed it over Nob Hill, past the latest crime scene and continued on towards Chestnut. He was paused at the stop sign on Lombard, a block from the apartment, when a light blue VW bus turned right on Mason displaying a plethora of decals and bumper stickers on the back. Mike was agape at his good fortune.
Not wanting to spook the driver, he held back and then followed the van as it turned left on Chestnut, continuing past the apartment and up the hill. He was surprised to see a black and white parked behind Steve's green Galaxie, but proceeded, pursuing the vehicle until it turned into the drive at the Institute. Maybe Steve was right, he thought as he followed the vehicle to a parking place behind the school. He pulled over and watched as a short, middle aged woman with steel grey hair exited the vehicle and entered the school.
Calling in wants and warrants on the plate, he got out of the car and entered the school, catching sight of the woman in the semi lit hall, as she turned the corner in the direction of the main office. He had a sneaking suspicion he was not going to be happy when he discovered who owned the vehicle.
The woman took out a key ring and opened the darkened administrative office. Light flooded the space as Mike reached the door and followed her into the room. She was hanging a key ring on a hook by the desk when she turned around, startled by Mike's sudden appearance.
"What the heck are you doing in here?" she shouted in a thick German accent.
Mike pulled out his ID as explanation.
"Oh, cop. I should have known by the hat and raincoat," she said in a more reasonable tone. "You really scared the scheiss out of me."
"Sorry about that. "Name's Lieutenant Stone. Can I ask you a question?"
"Millie Eichenmuller. She extended her hand, "Sure, shoot."
"The vehicle you pulled up in, is that yours?"
"No, the Beluga belongs to the school. I was borrowing it to move some paintings."
"The Beluga, like the whale?"
"That's what the kids call her." She laughed, "They are also responsible for most of the artistic additions on the back. Pretty much anybody can borrow her, as long as they have a driver's license. Most of the kids and a lot of the staff live in the city and don't have access to a larger vehicle or a vehicle at all. It's a real help when you're moving artwork or supplies."
Helpful at moving dead bodies as well, but not much good to our investigation, but maybe... "Is there a log book?" He asked hopefully.
"Well, technically there is, but you're dealing with artists here, so most the time it's borrowed on the honor system." She laughed again, "When people are done they just hang the keys back up on the hook."
"Do you know who the vehicle is registered to?"
"Not sure, maybe the school, maybe one of the administrators or benefactors, why?"
"I'm afraid I can't say right now. When did you pick it up?"
"About ten o'clock this morning and to be honest, I wish the log would have been filled out this time. Whoever had it last left a heck of a mess in the back. You should see it."
"I intend to." Mike was slightly encouraged by the presence of a mess. Maybe their killer had finally left a clue, assuming it was the suspect vehicle.
Eichenmuller raised an eyebrow at Mike's last comment. "Anything else, Lieutenant?"
"Yeah, two things. Do you mind if I take a look in the back of the van* and is there payphone anywhere around here?"
00000
Steve could not believe that Vince had been stupid enough to take a swing at him. He was even more stunned when the punch landed square on the jaw. The surprise didn't last long, he gained control of the larger man easily in the confined space. "You have got to be kidding me," he swore before reading Vince his Miranda rights. Steve marched him out to the Galaxie and shove him in the backseat before radioing for backup.
He leaned on the hood of the car and pulled out his handkerchief, dabbing at the blood on the side of his face. He felt foolish for letting Vince get a shot at him and was going to have a hell of a bruise as a reward. He cautiously shifted his jaw. While he was pretty sure nothing was broken, it didn't feel great either. Lizzy, who had run down the steps when she head the fracas, went into the deli and got some ice, which he gratefully pressed at the site of the rapid swelling.
Uniformed officers took care of transporting Vince. Lizzy and Steve went back in the deli. He used the pay phone to call for a lab team and then tried the number for Mike's desk phone but got no answer. Lizzy was trying to calm Mrs. Molinaro when the chimes announce an arrival. Steve wasn't overly surprised when Mike came through the door.
Steve looked at Lizzy pointedly and asked her to take the older woman in the back with a sweep of his head. He had no desire to recount her son's misdeed in front of her. After the women had gone, Steve related his close encounter with Vince's right hook.
Mike pulled down the ice pack and let out a low whistle. "That's gonna leave a mark, probably should have ducked."
"No, kidding. You should feel it from the inside. I can't believe he was dumb enough to take a poke at a cop." Steve rolled his eyes and replaced the icepack. "Have you been at the mayor's office all this time?"
"No, he stood me up and as opposed to you," Mike winked. "I have actually been making progress on the case. I think I found the van." Steve winced when he attempted a smile. "But don't get too excited, wait until you hear who has access to it."
Mike briefed Steve on the parentage of the Beluga and the lack of a clear chain of possession.
"Great." Steve sighed. "So the presence of the van at the crime scene last night and the trace on the body doesn't really prove anything. I hate to say this, but we still could be looking at a copycat."
*Probable cause laws in the United States allow police officers to legally search a vehicle if it matches the description of a vehicle used in a crime, or suspected in a crime, without a search warrant. Also, if evidence is clearly visible through a window, a vehicle can be lawfully opened.