Intentional End
Chapter 25
Noon Tuesday
October 16
Deakins and Bobby walked to ticketing and the Captain went to the counter to purchase two roundtrip tickets to O'Hare with an undetermined return date. The agent asked to see a picture ID and Deakins showed his NYPD photo identification. "Bobby, she needs to see your ID." Bobby, standing off to Deakins' right, handed it over.
The ticket agent looked at the identification and glanced up at Bobby; it was obvious this man had been crying. She looked at Deakins and asked softly, "Is this a compassion trip?"
Deakins looked at Bobby, then back at her and replied, "His wife was found dead this morning."
The woman showed genuine hurt for the tall man. "I'm so sorry. Let me see what I can do." She typed away and was able to get them on the next flight, leaving in ninety minutes, at a most reasonable cost. Deakins paid with his credit card and thanked the woman. "Here, let me give you these." She pulled two cards from a drawer and handed them to Deakins. "These are passes to the Club Room. You and your friend will have more privacy in there than sitting out in the gate area.
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Ted Olewine walked through the building's laundry room heading for the maintenance room behind. He noticed the blue basket setting on the folding table and glanced at the row of front loading washers, saw the load of wet clothes in the bottom of the drum and threw them into the dryer, using his key to by-pass the need for coins. Then, he entered the maintenance room to check one of the water heaters.
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Inside the Club Room, Deakins led Bobby to an area with few people around. He got them each a bottle of water and sat across from Bobby. Suddenly, Bobby said softly,
"They killed her," looking at Deakins and the captain went cold.
"Bobby –," Deakins said, looking away; he had no other words.
"Her apartment is a crime scene. Call your friend and have him seal it. Tell him to get a CSU team in there and confiscate the CO monitor." Bobby said all of this without taking his eyes off his boss.
Deakins finally looked at Bobby and softly, "Bobby, it was an accident; no one killed her, it was a terrible accident."
A fierce, low-grade anger ignited in Bobby's mind and gut. He knew they killed her and he knew that Deakins knew they killed her. And, still, Deakins refused to help. Jesus.
Deakins did not like the look on Bobby's face. Dear God, he wanted to help Bobby. He had never been in such a situation, torn between loyalty and friendship and abject fear. Deakins sat back and closed his eyes; he couldn't look at the other man.
Bobby never thought he could ever hate his friend, but right now, he could have killed Deakins. Instead, Bobby compartmentalised his anger and said, "We talked last night, a lot. She, she told me she loves me. She said she'll love me forever."
Deakins had no idea of what to say. He just listened and a part of him died.
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Ted walked back through the laundry room, noticed that the dryer had stopped and removed the clothes, placing them in the blue basket on the folding table. He turned the basket around and checked the other end – '4D' was written in black marker. I'll just run these up to Mrs. Ziegler, he thought.
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Deakins called his friend, Jack Emerson and gave him their flight information. Jack said he would meet them and take them to the Evanston Medical Examiner's office as Bobby needed to identify the body. Deakins did not tell his friend Bobby's suspicions about I Gleason's death being a murder. Gleason's apartment had not been sealed as the ME determined that her death was accidental. Jack asked Deakins to talk with Bobby about the disposal of her remains; the ME would need the name of a funeral home to deliver her body.
Deakins clicked off and watched Bobby, he could not imagine what his detective was thinking, feeling. This man is so sensitive and vulnerable on a good day, he thought, this is going to tip him right over. At the same time Deakins hated himself; he wanted to help his friend in the worst way, but knew that was not going to happen and he hated himself even more.
"I'm going to the men's room." Bobby said suddenly. He stood and slipped off his coat. He looked around, spotted it and headed in that direction.
Bobby entered a stall and just stood there, knowing he was going to be sick. He waited for it and then threw up. It wasn't much, and he did not feel any better afterward. Bobby flushed, peed, flushed again and went to wash his hands and swish his mouth. He stood and looked at himself in the mirror. He was a wreck.
Gleason is not dead; he sobbed aloud on the word 'dead.' She is not, she is not; there's been a mistake. She is fine. He pulled his cell and looked at the time – she'll be awake by now, he said to himself. He dialed her cell and waited for her to answer. It rang five times and quit. He dialed again. And again. And again. He stood at the sink and cried with the phone in his hand.
Deakins came looking for him. "She won't answer her phone," he told his boss. "She won't answer."
"Oh, Bobby," Deakins said softly, compassionately. He wet some paper towels and handed them to Bobby, taking his phone from him. Bobby wiped his face and tossed the paper into the bin. He took back his phone and the two headed back to their seats.
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Ted stood in the lobby talking to a tenant for several minutes and then made his way up the steps carrying Mrs. Ziegler's basket of clothes. He was way-laid on the first floor by another tenant for another few minutes and continued up the steps. He made it to the fourth floor and started down the hall to apartment 4-D.
"Mrs. Ziegler," Ted said, rapping on the door. He waited and then repeated, "Mrs. Ziegler? It's Ted, I've got your laundry here. Thought I'd save you a trip." Ted listened, heard nothing and thought, she must be in the bathroom. "Mrs. Ziegler?"
Still hearing nothing, Ted tried the knob. Locked. He set down the basket and took his master key, unlocked the door and stopped dead. Old Mrs. Ziegler lay on the floor, her head twisted in an impossible angle.
He and Bobby had spent enough time talking crime that Ted knew to just back out, touching nothing. He pulled shut the door, crossed the hall to his own apartment and called 9-1-1.
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They sat quietly until Deakins said they should head to the gate. Bobby stood, took his coat and followed Deakins. After a short delay on the tarmac, they headed to O'Hare. Two hours later, Bobby sat behind Jack Emerson and the Captain in an unmarked police car, heading to the Medical Examiner's office in Evanston.
The two men stood on either side of Bobby as the ME rolled the steel table from the refrigerated unit set into the wall. Bobby's breath came fast and shallow as he stared at the sheet covering the body before him. Deakins put his hand on Bobby's shoulder. The ME stood on the opposite side and looked at Jack Emerson who nodded slightly. Carefully, he lifted the sheet.
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Mrs. Ziegler's apartment had been sealed as a crime scene, her body taken to the morgue. Not knowing to which department this case would be assigned, Ted had called Bobby's work phone to let him know about his neigbour's murder. Eames answered and immediately drove to Bobby's apartment building. She didn't say anything about Gleason's death over the phone.
Eames arrived and explained to the responding detectives that her partner lived next door; and, she assured them that she was not encroaching, the case was theirs. They understood and gave her access. After Eames examined the body and site, she wanted to interview Ted.
"Where's Bobby?" Ted asked Eames in the hallway.
Eames had to look down and steady herself, "Can we talk privately?"
Ted led the tiny detective into his apartment, Becky moved to her husband's side and both looked at the woman expectantly.
"Uh, Bobby is," her voice caught and she breathed deeply. "Bobby is on his way to Evanston. Gleason was found dead this morning."
The couple gasped, Becky's hands going to her face. "What! What happened?" Ted asked with shock.
Eames nodded and continued, "Carbon monoxide, apparently her alarm was faulty or had dead batteries."
No one said anything for a moment and then Becky asked, "So it was an accident?"
The way Becky asked implied more than a simple question. "It seems so," Eames answered cautiously, looking at the other woman. "Why do you ask?"
Becky looked up at Ted and then said, "Are you sure it wasn't suicide?"
Eames was shocked. "Suicide? Why would you say that?" Ted and Becky both shuffled uncomfortably. "What?"
"Detective, you should sit down."
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Bobby stumbled and the two men caught him; he issued a soft anguished cry. "Come on, Bobby, let's go."
"No, no. I need to stay with her. I need to stay. Honey? Oh Christ. Gleason. . . ?" He couldn't catch his breath.
"Bobby, come on. Let these people take care of her. Come on."
Bobby reached for Gleason's body, Jimmy gently pulled him back, and the ME quickly covered her again. "Come on, Bobby. We have to go."
Bobby allowed his boss to lead him to a bench in the hallway. He sat, hitching sobs. Jack and Deakins stood away, leaving the man in his private grief. "Where does her body go? Did he give you the name of a funeral home?" Jack asked softly.
Deakins could not talk with Bobby about this right now. "The medical examiner's office in Manhattan will look after her body until Bobby knows what to do. Send her to the attention of Dr. Elizabeth Rogers. I'll let Dr. Rogers know the body is coming."
Jack nodded and moved to speak with the ME. Deakins looked at Bobby sitting with his face in his hands, elbows on his knees.
"Jimmy, the ME wants to speak with you."
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"Why do you think it was suicide?" Eames asked.
Ted began, "Bobby and Gleason, they. . ." Oh, this was hard; Ted felt as though he was betraying his good friend. "It's not been good between them for a while." He looked up at the detective and said, "You know him better than anyone, were they separated? Was, was Gleason hospitalised?"
Separated? Hospitalised? "No, neither. Gleason was," Eames didn't know how much to tell. "She was away for several weeks, working, conducting research." She looked at the couple and asked, "Why would you think she was hospitalised?"
Becky shifted in the chair and answered, "We heard Gleason screaming several times, she had to be taken to hospital in an ambulance on Saturday."
"I've heard Bobby screaming at her. The neighbour, Mrs. Ziegler, phoned one night saying she heard yelling and screaming."
Eames' chest tightened. Bobby had called on Saturday saying Gleason was not well and he needed to stay with her and would not be in. He had not said Gleason was in hospital. Eames also knew Bobby's temper, she had witnessed Bobby scream at Gleason one morning when she had stopped by to pick him up.
"I cannot believe Gleason would kill herself," Eames lied.
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Jack and Deakins met with the medical examiner, Dr. Calvin Pritchard, "I don't know if her husband knew, she may not have known, but she was nearly thirteen weeks pregnant."
Deakins felt sick. "Jesus Christ," he said and his hands went to his face. Jack glanced back through the window at the man hunched over on the bench. He didn't know this man, but he imagined what he was going through. Jack wanted to call his wife and tell her he loved her.
"I want to give you a copy of the autopsy report. A copy will travel with her body; it will ship to your ME this afternoon." Dr. Pritchard handed Deakins the brown envelope and continued, "I'm sorry for your friend's loss," and handed Deakins a much smaller brown envelope. "Her necklace and wedding band are in here." The three men looked over at Bobby sitting in the hall. "He's going to need a lot of care through this."
Deakins nodded and slipped the tiny envelope into his breast pocket; then, he expressed his thanks and shook the doctor's hand. Dr. Pritchard turned as did the other two. Deakins and Jack stepped back into the hallway.
"Do you want to take him to the apartment tonight?"
Deakins looked back at Bobby and said, "Christ, I don't know. Help me here, Jack. I can't think straight."
Jack Emerson glanced at the tall man on the bench. "He's pretty messed up, Jimmy. Why don't you two get a hotel room for tonight, guest of the Evanston PD? Let him sleep and then start fresh tomorrow. The Hilton is a nice place."
Both men turned and looked at Bobby, staring at nothing.
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The conversation turned to the murder and Eames interviewed Ted and Becky. She explained that they would be re-interviewed by the detectives of the Midtown North Precinct. Having gotten the information she needed, Eames thanked the Olewines, found the lead detective and expressed her thanks, then left. Her head was spinning.